Innholdsfortegnelse for July 2019 i Hawaii Fishing News

Cover Story Talk about a surprise fishing trip! We went out on our jet skis to try to catch ‘ahi, mahimahi, or ono and caught a 300-lb marlin instead. After no bites at our spot about 8 miles out, I decided to turn around and come in. That was when my pole started screaming. Thinking it was a big ‘ahi, I turned around and saw a marlin thrashing out of the water and up in the air. I thought, “Oh, no! This should be fun!” I turned off my jet ski and let the fish run a little while. Then I reeled in the line from my other pole so my lines didn’t tangle and set the drag tighter. Once the marlin stopped pulling line from my reel, I started…

WPRFMC Sustainable Fisheries Fund The Hawai‘i online news outlet Civil Beat claimed that money from the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council’s Western Pacific Sustainable Fisheries Fund has been spent in secrecy and with little accountability. The Council’s dealings prompted U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz to request an accounting in last year’s appropriations bill. Civil Beat quoted Sen. Schatz as saying, “We just couldn’t lay eyes on what the money was spent on. We came to the conclusion we needed a robust accounting.” The sustainable fisheries fund gets money from fines from foreign vessels caught fishing illegally in U.S. remote Pacific territory waters. Money also comes from Hawai‘i longliners buying U.S. territory unfilled tuna quotas. In 2010, the Spanish purse seiner ALBACORA UNO was caught illegally fishing off Howland, Baker and…

One year ago, the U.S. Coast Guard required new recreational boats to have more floatation to support the increased weight of newer four-stroke outboards if the boat becomes swamped. Now the agency is implementing those changes as reported in the Spring 2019 issue of the U.S. Coast Guard’s Boating Safety Circular. Boat Owners Association of The United States (BoatUS) advises recreational boaters to be aware of this issue when considering repowering an older model year vessel with a heavier four-stroke outboard. “Repowering with a newer, more reliable, cleaner, fuel-sipping outboard is one way to get more life out of a good boat,” said BoatUS Foundation President, Chris Edmonston. “However, after having gone through the recent repowering of a 22-feet center-console vessel with a heavier four-stroke, and seeing first-hand the resulting…

The Rods For several months I have had the privilege of field-testing the Wasabi JKHB and JKLB jigging rods from TICA USA. These rods were a dream straight out of the box. I love using a rod with a very sensitive tip when fishing for ‘opelu. It gives me a sense of what the fish are doing when they’re on the line. I can even get a rough estimate of how many ‘opelu I have on my ‘opelu rig just by feeling the rod. The TICA Wasabi Blue Deep Jigging rods sport a clean, streamlined finish. The JKHB is a new addition to the JKLB jigging rod series. While the original JKLB came as a one-piece rod, the JKHB is a two-piece rod. The JKHB is easy to travel with…

What Makes People Want to Fish? by Zen Hiraga I’m not entirely sure what makes people take up fishing. Before my first experience fishing, I believed producing results wouldn’t be a problem, or catching fish would be a series of short-lived excitement. Rushing down the cement road to set up my pole and lure thinking about what I might catch, I thought fishing would be as easy as using a magnetic fishing toy. But boy was I proven wrong. Casting my line for what might have been over seventy times in several different places, I caught nothing. I had a fair amount of confidence in imagining that with the number of times I casted my line, surely, the percentage of possibly catching something would increase. Maybe I was just unlucky…

Robert Duerr’s “Splash” column reprints allegations made recently by the Honolulu Civil Beatagainst the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council (the Council), creating a false impression that the Western Pacific Sustainable Fisheries Fund (WPSFF) has “been spent in secrecy and with little accountability.” These claims are baseless and ignore that the Council, Secretary of Commerce, NOAA, National Marine Fisheries Service and the Governors of the U.S. Territories of American Samoa, Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) follow specific procedures for the WPSFF grants and sub-awards as detailed in the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA). As required by the MSA, projects funded by the WPSFF are based on Marine Conservation Plans (MCPs) developed by the governors of the U.S. Pacific island territories. Each step of…

Akule represent the most productive nearshore fishery in Hawai‘i and provide food for many local people. The most efficient method used to commercially harvest akule uses surround-net fishing gear. These operations are often performed in coordination with spotter planes that locate appropriate schools for the fishermen to target. Each morning, schools of akule form in coastal areas surrounding O‘ahu for protection from predators such as ulua and ‘ahi. The spotter pilot relays the location and estimated size of these schools to the fishermen aboard the boat. The fishermen rely on the pilot’s accuracy in determining the most advantageous school to pursue and overhead direction to successfully encircle the fish with their nets. In 2016, the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council (the Council) contracted an aerial spotter pilot to regularly…

Goodwill and good times were celebrated at the Second Annual Fishing for Charity Tournament, which was held April 26 - 28. This year’s event had 139 adults and 36 keiki participants. Weigh-ins were held at the Sheraton Kaua‘i Resort. Forty-eight sponsors contributed to the tournament’s prizes. All place winners received a Sherwin Williams bucket and an annual subscription to Hawai‘i Fishing News. Cash prizes, fishing gear, stays at Kaua‘i resorts, and resort pool passes were also given out. Last year‘s event was only open to Marriott employees. Participants raised $1,325 which went directly to Sheraton Kaua‘i’s annual contribution to the Kaua‘i Visitor Industry Charity Walk. This year’s tournament set a staggering trajectory for the tournament’s output for local Kaua‘i nonprofits. More than $13,000 in sponsored prizes were donated, exceeding the…

READERS’ PAGE For letters, with photos, received during July we will send you these small lithograph art prints from HFN — our way of saying “thanks for sharing your catch!” . . . Hana pa‘a, Chuck Send to: P.O. Box 25488, Honolulu, Hawai‘i 96825 or E-mail: <hawaiifishingnews@gmail.com> Aloha HFN, I just wanted to share a great weekend in Molokai. I know it is not BIG, but this was BIG for our family. Pierson Bicoy-Calairo has been trying for 12 years to catch an ulua, and on 5/19/2019 it finally happened with his son Karson Bicoy Calairo by his side, our dog Snowball, and myself, Tami Michaelson! It was a 12 pounder and it was so much fun! This was off the East End, Rock Point in Molokai. Tami Michaelson Molokai,…