me and my partner mike got two hobie AI's this summer. so far they have given us the oppotunity to fish many days. here on the northshore of oahu the wind and waves can get pretty strong most of the time and these boats handle. we take them out in 15-20 knot seas and 4-6 foot wind waves consistently. we sail out max three miles where they have shark cages set up for the tourist. we leave sunset beach and will sail down to haleiwa. along this run is a series of crap pot bouys, aproximately 20 bouys. they extend from turtle bay to keana point between 1 1/2 miles to 2 miles out. they are loaded with bait fish and predators. we use the adventure island to haul ass outside about 20 to 30 minutes under full sail. they can move and point up wind so well. we will then stop and drop the sail. rig up our dead opelu and let the sail back out. if its real windy we will run about 1-3 meters of sail and drift down the crab run. when we get strikes we reach back and tighten the drag. steer the boat up wind, reach back grab the pole and set the hook. with the pole in hand we reach back and furl the sail in. we have gotton this so down it only takes a couple of seconds. sometimes if its a big fish just sizzling out line we will keep the sail out and steer toward the fish. this will help us gain line back. so far this technique has landed me 11 mahi mahi 4 ono 3 ulua 2 uku and 2 cuda ovver 20lbs and that was just this summer. if you want to fish oahu this winter check us out at
www.coastalkayaktours.com tight lines and screamin reels aloha Boogie-d