Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2019 i Hawaii Fishing News

This is a fish story that was almost five years in the making. From the first time my fishing partner, Mike Moody, set me up with a Penn Battle II reel and beat-up Nitro rod with buss-up eyes, every trip out led to this moment. I’ve caught more papio than I can count, and almost all of them have been ‘omilu. The heart-skipping excitement of seeing that unmistakable electric-blue blur rocketing through our gorgeous Hawai‘i waters is unmatched for me. As my fishing addiction slowly grew and the disease of whipping began to course through my veins, I became more adept with bubbles, grubs and flies. I began to regularly catch 1- to 3-pounders; however, like most people fishing these islands, I craved my first ulua. Not only that–I was…

In the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just above the equator, directly south of Hawai‘i, is a group of atolls called the Line Islands. They include Christmas, Fanning and Washington islands. Christmas is the world’s largest raised coral atoll and closest to the equator. Washington is the smallest of the three atolls and is the closest to Hawai‘i. Fanning lies in the middle. In the old days, access to the Line Islands was limited to a once-a-week flight to Christmas via Fijian Airways. The only way to get to Fanning and Washington was by boat. You could stay either a few days or a few months via the cargo ship. Or maybe you were lucky enough to have a friend with a sailboat in Hawai‘i who would take you. Either…

Started off a normal day; we went out with the intention to try and jig up some smaller-sized ‘ahi. It wasn’t a very productive morning, so we kept pushing through till we found a nice pile of aku birds and ‘ewas. We trolled through the birds with some small aku lures. To our surprise, there were small ‘ahi and aku in the pile of lots of malolo or flying fish. We had gotten a few little guys trolling, but we were not productive enough to keep at it so we stopped to jig them real quick, which worked a lot better. I told my cousin Sam I would just try to jig up as many as I could before the birds disappeared with the pile. I made a drop–not even…

2019-2020 Hawaii Hunting Stamp Contest Winners The Department of Land and Natural Resources, Division of Forestry and Wildlife would like to thank all the wildlife artists who submitted art entries for the 2019-20 Hawai‘i Wildlife Conservation and Game Bird Stamp Art Contest. A committee reviewed all submissions and two winners were chosen. Game Bird Stamp Winner – Carol Tredway. Carol is an award-winning local artist. Birds in their natural habitat is a favorite subject and she has painted many species, both native and introduced. The ring-neck pheasant is a popular gamebird from Asia that was brought to Hawaii in 1860 for hunting. Visually the male bird has colorful plumage and varied patterns while the female has a subtle brown motif that aids her ability to blend into the brush. Their…

For three hours I bounced between weather apps, trying to find the best possible areas to fish the next morning. I obsessively checked the tides, winds and surf at various locations. I was frustrated with what I was seeing. Nothing was lining up. Although weather apps are a good source of information on what’s happening around us, they are not perfect. I chose what I thought to be the most promising option and went to sleep for a few hours. The next morning started off crisp and cool. I rolled out of bed, got my things together, jumped in the truck and headed north. The winds and surf were predicted to be up in the early morning and then settling down by 9 a.m. When I got to the beach,…

The 2019 S. Tokunaga Store Ulua Challenge is on! The entry deadline is less than two weeks after this issue of HFN hits the newsstands or your mailbox! It is time to make plans, commit your crew if you are fishing with others and begin preparations. Entries must be postmarked by April 12, 2019. Late entries will be accepted if they are postmarked by April 26, but there will be a late fee and the entry fee must be paid in cash. The tournament begins on Thursday, June 6 at 6 a.m. The tournament ends on Sunday, June 9 at 11 a.m., and the weigh-in will be held at the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Participants’ vehicles will need to be in line by 1 p.m.…

It was an early Sunday morning. My buddy Roland Gomes and I wanted to try some new zones. With an epic fail of a leader break on a 40-plus-lb ulua a couple of months before–an event that kept replaying in my head every time I hooked up to a fish–it was redemption time. We met at a new spot an hour before the sun was going to rise and got our gear together. I set up my 10-foot Penn Battalion rod and Battle 6000 reel with freshly spooled 42-lb test Gosen braid. It was line that I had never used before, so I was uncertain how it would handle a fish. I tied on my favorite Colt Sniper Green Mack and got going. We walked for 20 to 30 minutes…

Aloha! I had an awesome day fishing with my baby bro’, Zach. We had lots of firsts: first time fishing at sunrise; first time fishing the breakwall; and I caught my very first ‘o‘io! It was a good size, don’t you think? Good thing I had my brother to go down to the water to bring it up with a net that was way too small. I was dunking squid, using a 10-foot Master Power Series rod, Daiwa Strikeforce 4000 reel, 10-lb test monofilament mainline, 10-lb test mono leader and a size 8 hook. It was a small hook. I had a 6-lb test leadline and a 1½-oz lead. The ‘o‘io measured 25 inches from nose to tail fork and weighed about 6 lbs. Zach got his very first papio–well,…

Aloha HFN, One day I went on a short solo dive. In the early morning, I shot an uhu. I went to the store to pick up some ice, and I saw one of my dive partners. He had all his gear and wanted to jump in, so we headed out to the Hamakua Coast and got into the water. I came across another uhu. Before I could drop down to shoot ’im, my partner called out and said there was a school of ‘o‘io. We tried to sit at the bottom, but the ‘o‘io were scared. As I hovered over the school, I saw a big ‘o‘io just cruising below me. I took my dive-bomb drop and got a solid holding shot. The fish took off and gave an…

. . . Mark What’s going on? How did that happen? Who can I talk to about that? Do you have questions like these while fishing or enjoying a day on the ocean? For the past 13 years, high-school students participating in the Marine Science Course on Fishery and Resource Management have received answers to such questions. Selected students entering grades 10 to 12 participate in this unique summer course hosted by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council (the Council) in partnership with Moanalua High School. Hawai‘i public, private and homeschool students are invited to apply. The five-week course is tied to the Hawai‘i Department of Education (DOE) summer-school schedule and runs from early June through July. Hawai‘i DOE students registered for the course can receive one science credit.…

Precious Coral Aloha, Chuck, Harvest of precious coral is back on. We will have less fish habitat for a thousand years. Forty-eight inches or taller is the target; these animals reproduce more than the little ones, so there will be less and it will be slower to recover. I was crew on a precious coral cruise to the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. The scientists patched the towed bottom camera through the ship, and I watched many miles of bottom. Looked like a desert until a coral covered with and surrounded by life appeared. Like an oasis in the desert. They showed us a photo of a precious coral from 30 years prior, tagged, and the same animal was taken that day. There was no growth visible, not even 1/4 of…