Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2019 i Hawaii Fishing News

In July 2014, I was throwing net with my uncle when we saw a kala swimming in the deep. The water was too deep for us to reach with the throw net. The next day we went back and saw the same kala swimming in the same spot. I told my uncle, “If I had a bow, I could shoot it.” I was already shooting compound bows, and I’d seen videos of bow fishing being done on the mainland. I went home, called the DLNR and asked if bow fishing was legal. They didn’t even know what it was, and they told me, “Just don’t shoot illegal fish.” Then I did some research and found some kits with arrows made for bow fishing. I ordered a kit and bought a…

The conditions were right with a new moon, light winds and small waves, so we made the decision to head out to O‘ahu’s westside FAD (fish aggregation device). It was a trip that piqued a lot of interest among the members of the “Kayak Fishing Friends Honolulu, HI” Facebook group. We decided on a 4 a.m. launch from Poka‘i Bay Beach Park. Typically, when the conditions are nearly perfect, the parking area at this park fills up quickly. It’s not unusual for the lot to be full by 4 a.m. Nevertheless, I found a parking spot and saw about 20 kayak anglers. I was one of the last to show up at the beach. Most of my group had already begun fishing for akule, a prime nighttime target for a…

This is a Christmas story about an ‘aha that did not get away. That morning, I asked my mother if she needed help cooking the evening meal, and she asked that I be home by 3:30 p.m. So, I got ready and went fishing at Poka‘i Bay. Only Wayne was there. When I walked by, I asked him how it was going. He said that he’d hooked one but it had been taken away by the larger predator fish, which we call “tax collectors.” I went over past the second break and used a spread of five light green 3mm bicone beads (good for hahalalu and akule) on 2-lb test Ande line. I had a hit and reeled it in on the faster side. It felt like a good-sized fish,…

I was fishing at a spot I had whipped many times before, where nice-sized ‘omilu hit mullet and ‘oama schools. I tried everything on them: plugs, swim baits, then live bait and ‘oama from out of that same school – but I never got a bite. Finally, I got frustrated watching all of those fish. I knew they were there, so I decided to hike my dive gear in, and get in the water. At first I stayed in very shallow water and worked the ‘oama pile. Only small papio came in, so I decided to move out to deeper water. I threw a flasher and went to the bottom. Three nice-sized ‘omilu came in. The two bigger ones were skittish, but the smaller one came right in. I put…

Getting hooked is one of the dangers that goes along with fishing, but there are things that we can do to minimize the risk. I was one of those people who never really worried about getting hooked until I got a wake-up call one Christmas morning. It started as a regular fishing trip, with me casting out my poles, and the next thing I knew I was on my way to the emergency room. As I was casting out my last pole, I managed to hook the line of another pole. The momentum of the cast pulled the other line back at me until the hook ended up in my neck. So, what can you do to minimize the risk of something similar happening to you and what can you…

Aloha, Capt. Bart Dear Hawaii Fishing News, Recently, Capt. Bart Miller’s family and close friends spread part of his ashes on the spot where he hooked his biggest marlin off Kona. A handful of Kona boats joined in, and old-time captains helped send him off. The boat pictured is the original BLACK BART, now called the HUNTRESS, the same boat from which Bart caught his 1,649-lb Pacific blue marlin. When captains in Kona send off a faithful friend, the tradition is to fly our blue marlin flag at half-mast on the boat to signify a memorial and honor the captain who has passed. We are honored to be a part of this celebration of life. Rest in peace, Capt. Bart. Sincerely, Tina Henline Mahalo for All the Good Times,…

You can’t just grab any lure off the shelf, start casting and expect to catch a fish. There are many lures out there to choose from. Pick one lure design, and just look at all the colors it comes in. You also have to select the size you want to use. The choices can be staggering. Here are some of the things I considered when I started trolling for papio in Kane‘ohe Bay with the kids. The papio weighed 1 to 2 lbs. The water was 3 to 5 feet deep. We were using two spinning rods with 8-lb test line. I chose a floating Rapala lure that was about 4 inches long. If the boat stopped, the lure would float to the surface, not sink and get snagged in…

On a recent Sunday with Cody and Dwayne from UFO Fishing, my wife, good friend and I launched out of Lahaina Harbor. We couldn’t have asked for better weather. After snagging some live bait, we made our way to “Elephant Rock,” off the southern corner of Moloka‘i. We made a pass trolling a single lure and hooked a kaku within a couple of minutes. We then took some time to throw plugs for ulua with no success, so we began dropping jigs a bit farther out. We landed a nice-sized kahala and a shark, and battled with an estimated 50-pounder (it had to be ulua) before it broke off our 80-lb test line and took one of my favorite jigs. Toward the end of our trip, our live-bait rig hooked…

Caught My 1st Marlin on a Jetski! My fishing day started off like any other normal fishing day. I’d heard that a lot of guys were catching marlin outside of Wai‘anae. I got to the harbor at around 7 a.m. and started loading up my jet ski with all my gear. I launched and was on the water by about 7:30 a.m. I began to make my way out. My plan was to head out to the point to try to catch some ‘opelu. I got to the point and started looking for marks on my fish finder. I found a few piles of bait and was able to catch six or seven ‘opelu. I rigged up one and started slow-trolling it behind my ski. After a few minutes, I…

Former Manager Fined $15,000 Joseph V. Borden, former Kaua‘i district manager for the Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation (DOBOR), resigned after he was fined $15,000 by the Hawai‘i State Ethics Commission. Joseph had worked for DOBOR since 2004 and became manager in 2012. “Between 2013 and 2017, Respondent Borden authorized nearly $1 million in state funds to be paid to a private contractor, Aaron Hoff, doing business as South Shore Lawn Services and Hoff Enterprises Inc.,” the report stated. Aaron was paid for approximately 107 jobs. About 70 jobs were under $5,000 and not required to be competitively bid, per the Hawai‘i state procurement system; however, for 50 jobs there was no evidence of competitive bids. According to the commission, 42 of these jobs contained “filler” bids: “information suggesting…

Big hooks generally require local anesthesia to numb the area so that a lot of wiggling and prodding can be done. So, when you’ve got a marlin or tuna hook stuck in you, plan to visit a doctor for anesthesia, removal, a course of antibiotics, probably a tetanus shot and a good scolding. The string-and-snatch is quick, like yanking out a loose baby tooth. You can master it by following the directions shown in the diagram and described here. 1. Make a loop from about 20 inches of fishing line of 30-lb test or more. Cut the leader off the hook, and slip the loop past the eye end of the hook. 2. Slide the loop back along the hook until it is in the eye. The pressure helps stretch…

Gone Crabbin’ As a youngster, fishing was a popular weekend and summertime activity. It was an exciting and challenging adventure that often resulted in a discouraging “whitewash.” I’m not sure of the origin of this term, but for me it meant zero catch. Nothing! Living close to Nu‘uanu Stream, we found that crabbing was also something that we could do; with crabbing it was almost guaranteed that there would be no whitewash. We generally crabbed in the shallow brackish waters on the muddy bottoms. Our favorite locations were the sides of the waterway on River Street or College Walk, between the Kukui and Beretania Street bridges. Our catches were usually the red crab (long-eyed swimming crab) with its spotted markings and the prized Samoan crab (serrate swimming crab) with its…

In a marine environment as unforgiving as ours in Hawai‘i, having fishing gear in top shape to handle the sheer power of the fish around these islands is a must. The catch is that with a year-round fishery, declaring an off-season to stop fishing and ensure your gear is in top shape can be tough. It is not always easy to break away from the action. While maintenance is nonnegotiable, it doesn’t have to be a showstopper. I have yet to find a season in which big fish are not a possibility. My biggest marlin was captured in the month of April, my good fishing buddy Pat Murphy got his beast in August, and we both just lost a 500-plus-lb monster in January. I time my maintenance around the annual…

Every year, more and more rules are placed on fishermen: closed areas, bag limits, minimum sizes. Why these rules are made is often emotional, political and sometimes scientific, and how these rules are developed is often poorly understood. Why can fishermen catch a fish only bigger than a certain size? Why can they take only so many fish? The answer is in the data or, more specifically, in the “available” data. Federal fishery managers base their decisions on the “best scientific information available.” This means that they must decide whether the data they have is the best data that exist. More often than not, in Hawai‘i and the Pacific islands not much information is available on many species. Thus, management decisions about these species are either made on very limited…

I Tail grew up in Tales Huntington, New York, located on Long Island. My family .was . . always big into fishing and outdoor sports. We had a summer home in Montauk, all the way east at the very tip of the island, which really brought to life my love of fishing. Many years later, Montauk became my permanent home when I became a heavy-equipment operator for the town of East Hampton. I spend a lot of my spare time fishing from my 2016 Hobie Outback in the waters of Montauk. I am lucky to fish as often as I do in one of the most acclaimed fishing areas in the Northeast. My love for fishing developed at a very young age, but during the last five years it became…

Recreational fishing has a significant economic impact on communities throughout the United States. But what does that really mean? The American Sportfishing Association (ASA) teamed up with Southwick Associates to create the “2019 Economic Contributions of Recreational Fishing: U.S. Congressional Districts,” which updates the 2016 version. This also includes a new series of one-page infographics, which clearly illustrate recreational fishing’s economic impact on all 435 Congressional districts and the 50 states. “For members of Congress, identifying jobs and the economic impact in their districts is always a prime concern,” said ASA’s Government Affairs Vice President Mike Leonard. “By identifying recreational fishing’s economic impact at the Congressional district level, we can clearly show members of Congress that recreational fishing in their district or state is a tremendous economic driver and job…

Auditor Slams DLNR and DOFAW for No Plan For decades, Hawai‘i hunters have incessantly complained to the deaf ears at the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) and its Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) that to the detriment of the public and of conservation of state game-animal resources, the state has no game management plan. Now the Hawai‘i state auditor agrees that long-range plans are critical and that DLNR and DOFAW are planning scofflaws. The auditor’s report, “Audit of the Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Land Conservation Fund,” slammed the DLNR and its DOFAW for managing DLNR’s Land Conservation Fund without a long-range plan. Suzanne Case heads the DLNR, and David Smith controls the DOFAW. “Without a long-range plan, the program and DLNR’s land conservation actions lack…

Veteran Officer Picked to Lead DOCARE Jason Redulla, a 15-year veteran of the DLNR, Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement (DOCARE) and 27-year law enforcement professional, was chosen as the agency’s new enforcement chief. Jason previously served as DOCARE’s deputy enforcement chief and assistant division administrator. DLNR Chair Suzanne Case remarked, “Jason has stepped in and stepped up on multiple occasions to fill leadership voids when previous chiefs have retired or resigned. He knows conservation and resource enforcement laws and rules inside out and is well-respected inside DOCARE and across the broader law enforcement community for his professionalism and dedication as a law enforcement officer.” Jason will lead a team of more than 100 DOCARE officers, charged with enforcing natural and cultural resource laws and educating people about how to…