Anglers cast lines as trout season opens at Pu‘u Lua Reservoir on Kauaʻi

The opening of the annual fishing season at Koke‘e on Kauaʻi brought anglers of all ages to Pu‘u Lua Reservoir to catch rainbow trout. The reservoir was stocked earlier with 22,000 trout, the largest number ever.

It was among the items on DLNR Chair Dawn Chang’s bucket list, that she was able to mark off as complete. With instruction from Garrick Tatsuda, of the DLNR Division of Aquatic Resources, Chang learned to bait the hook and cast out into the water. A couple of missed tries and snags later, she eventually filled her daily bag limit of seven fish, in under an hour.

“Growing up in Hawai’i, you always heard about the Koke’e fishing season, and I’ve really come to appreciate how important this is to the people of Kaua‘i. It demonstrates to me the collaboration between the state (DLNR) which provides the fish, and the community which views trout fishing as a generational continuum,” Chang remarked between casts into the reservoir.

Tatsuda said, “I couldn’t be prouder of her. When she started, I had to show her some things, but she picked it up like a pro.”

Fishers began lining up well before 6 a.m. to be first on shore, and first with lines in the water. There are many stories of grandparents bringing their grandchildren out for the season, which runs for the next four months, just like their grandparents did years ago. Today, there were many young families fishing with keiki as young as one or two-years-old in tow.

Small fish are brought in from California and then raised to fishable size at the DAR Ānuenue Fisheries Research Center on O‘ahu. They’re then flown to Kauai and stocked at Pu‘u Lua, where Tatsuda feeds them until they reach catchable size, just in time for the opening of the season.

Chang had a big smile on her face after every catch, and often chanted, “come fishes, come fishes.” She said, “Providing sustainable recreational opportunities is one of DLNR’s mission’s and is part and parcel of the overall mission to preserve and protect Hawai‘i’s cultural and natural resources.”

Since trout are not native to the island ecosystem, when they’re young, they’re sterilized at Anuenue to prevent any fish not caught from reproducing should they escape into any waterways. The trout fishing season does not provide catch and release opportunities, so everything caught is kept by the angler.

With a five-dollar permit (free for kupuna), anglers of all ages can catch as many as seven fish each day during the season, though Tatsuda says after this weekend and next weekend the number of people trying their hand at catching trout will steadily diminish, as will the number of fish available.

When Chang was interacting with a trio of youngsters catching crawdads in the shallow nearshore waters, one boy said he caught 25 fish. We think he meant crawdads, which don’t have a catch limit.

“I come from a long line of fishers, but I always thought it was kind of boring. But this has been really exciting. I’m really enjoying myself and seeing all the keiki lining the shoreline with their folks,” she added.