Innholdsfortegnelse for July 1977 i Hawaii Fishing News

■ The largemouth bass and the tucunare are unquestionably the two species of greatest interest to active freshwater sportfishermen in Hawaii. Quite naturally, once the angler has become adept at catching these fish, he usually prefers the largest size possible. The size of bass and tucunare in the Wahiawa Public Fishing Area on Oahu compares very favorably with other fisheries in the Western Hemisphere. As two-year old adults the bass average nearly four pounds and the tucunare over three pounds in body weight. The growth rate for bass is much more rapid than in many mainland waters, where several additional years of growth may be required to attain the same weight. Personal communications have indicated that the growth rate for the tucunare may be about the same as in its…

■ In Kailua-Kona, there are still a few remaining institutions from the so-called “old days;” but none so meaningful to fishermen as that venerable institution known as “Emma’s Store.” Emma Kawahara, along with her husband Ward, have been running a general store, a flower shop, and an informal meeting hall almost every day since the first day of October, 1949 for anyone that needed a cup of coffee, or the “scoop” on yesterday’s fishing action, or just provisions for the day. The sign above the door says “Liquor - Provisions,” but if you know Emma, as virtually every Kona fisherman does, you know that it means a lot more. It was, therefore, with much sadness that the fleet in Kona learned of her impending retirement. After the Hawaiian International Billfish…

■ I guess I have been spending every summer in Kailua, Kona since 1960. In the first years of this annual pilgrimage, I could only stay one month as the Department of Education frowned on longer stays. Later, however, my summer sojourns increased in length until now I stay from shortly before Memorial Day until Labor Day — three months plus. Naturally, fishing every day, I have gotten to know all the charter captains and list many of them as personal friends. One of these charter skippers is George Parker. He has been chartering longer in Kona than any of the others, dating back to the days of the great Henry Chee, Charley Machado, Tax Waldron, Arthur Spinney, and Spike Simpson. Of all of these pioneers of Kona charter fishing,…

■ Jet contrails are now as common a sight in Hawaii’s seas as they are in Hawaii’s skies. The streamlined multi-hued fishing lures with the aerodynamic nose cones are now the most popular attractors tracking the wakes of the big game fishing fleet. For many fishermen the jet lure has eliminated the plastic trolling plug, but even the anglers who still have faith in Konaheads cover their bets by pulling a brace of jets as alternative offerings. Why this surge of interest in the chrome lures with the built-in whistle? For the best of all possible reasons, they catch fish when others don’t. Fishermen, being patient romantics with a lot of time on their hands between strikes, are known for the mystiques they spin out in their mis-spent imaginations to…

■ It s been a banner year for big fish in Kona, and if the way the year has started out is any indication, this could be the year of the giant marlin, in the many tournaments planned for Kona this summer. The shocker this year was the 1252 Pacific Blue marlin which was brought into the scales at the Kailua pier by a group of commercial ahi fishermen. Out minding their own business in a 20 foot skiff, trolling for ahi, and next thing they knew they were being towed about by this monster marlin. One big fish is a fluke, two or three indicates a trend, and the numbers are better than that so far. In April Capt. Rusty Unger and his regular crew Joe Goold brought a…

■ The Maalaea Boat and Fish Club held their Annual M.G. Paschoal Fishing Tournament over the Memorial Day weekend and contest organizers reported that it was a good fun weekend for all involved. Some 135 individuals signed up to fish out of 38 different boats and in three days of fishing they produced 92 fish. The only thing seriously lacking in the tournament were the big boys, and it proved to be the mystery of the weekend — where have all the fish gone? With CB radios blaring from La Perouse Pt. to Lanai’s Kaena Point, the continuing question was “so where’s the fish?” The Tournament is held every year in honor of the late Manuel Gomes Paschoal, often referred to as the Dean of the Territorial Legislature, by virtue…

Not since Bob Mori caught his 121-lb ulua a few years back has an ulua over 100 pounds been landed by a member of Pacific Casting Club. Another one was bound to be caught eventually and it finally happened on the night of June 3rd. The lucky fisherman is none other than Joe Raydon, who in the past couple of years has won the total weight ulua awards. His monstrous fish weighed 110 pounds. Congratulations Joe. Other ulua catches by members of Pacific Casting Club from March to early June are as follows: March and April Joe Raydon 13½-lb, l4½-lb, 15 lb, 17 lb, 37 lb, 26 lb, 23 lb, 5l½-lb Clyde Watanabe 25-lb, 21-lb, 29-lb, 22-lb Gary Masuda 40-lb, 34-lb, 20-lb, 51-lb Danny Masuda 25-lb Norman Okinaka 33-lb Glenn…

■ Kani Evans, the Outdoor Reporter, recently gifted me with one of his first Clean Sweep flags called the “Golden Broom.” I proudly possessed this for only a week when Kani called saying his flag factory was recalling the flag! It seems that Marilyn, the Flag Lady, will be sewing the “Golden Brooms” on with a new and shiny material called Gold Lame, loomed in France, no less. These Clean Sweep flags should glisten proudly in the sun at the top of the outrigger above all the rest of the flags. Maybe they will bring us all that kind of luck. June was the month this year for the first fast-paced break of ahi, with all of us looking forward to the HIATT Tournament beginning on July 11th. Over fifty…

■ The Kona Charter fishing fleet is the most professionally manned sportfishing fleet in the state and one of the best in the world. The skippers and crewmen of the flowing Kona fleet are an amazing assortment of types and characters and in this special edition, Hawaii Fishing News takes the opportunity to take a brief look into the lives of the men that run the charter boats in Kona. The list is by no means complete and we will include other skippers at a later date. Capt. Tom Rogers picked up the nickname“Tomo” from well known sportsfisherman Shige Tachibana. Starting out with Capt. Bart Miller on the CHRISTEL, Tom earned his keep at first, selling leftover aku on the Kailua pier. Bart soon recognized his enthusiasm, and vegan to…

ONO TEMPURA 1 lb. ono or any other white fleshed fish filletl½ cups cooking oil½ cup flour½ cup cornstarch½ tsp. saltl½ tsp. baking powder1 egg, beatenice cold water Dipping Sauces 1. ½ cup mayonnaise2 Tbsp, soy sauce Mix thoroughly. 2. 2 tsp. Colman’s mustard½ cup soy sauce2 Tbsp, bourbon Add shoyu slowly to mustard, add whiskey. 3. Tartar sauce Cut fillets into small pieces (chopstick size). Mix dry ingredients thoroughly. Beat egg, add cold water, stir, add to dry ingredients. Have oil heated to 375 degrees. Using cooking forceps, dip fish into batter and into oil. Don’t crowd, cook 40 seconds to a side, place on absorbent paper, then to warm platter. Eat quickly, using any of above sauces.…

■ When the hundreds of anglers descend on the tiny South Hawaii town of Kailua-Kona for this summer’s endless series of tournaments, close on their heels will be the fisheries scientists. Where else could a recreational fisheries biologist get the opportunity to study the spleen of 50 freshly caught marlin in the course of five days. Where else could comparative data on strike rates, color preferences, stomach contents and the miriad other facts of interest to a fisheries biologist be collected in a short period of time. With the 19th Annual Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament this year, comes the 16th time the National Marine Fisheries Service will participate in gathering scientific information about billfish in the Kona area. After the fish have been caught, weighed, photographed, ogled at and measured,…

KONA IKI TROLLERS The Kona Iki Trollers Club have announced their Bette Fay Memorial Fishing Tournament. The tournament is a one day affair, to be held July 17 from 5 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Kailua-Kona. Bette Fay was a well known friend to the fishermen of the Kona coast and her weekly stories on Kona catches were read for years. In her memory, the Kona Iki Trailers, have developed this one day wahines tournament. Teams may have up to three women members, and each team must have one male on board. To date some 30 teams have indicated an interest and tournament chairman George Harai is expecting a big turnout for the event. Tournament headquarters will be located in the Kona Hilton and the awards banquet will be held…

■ What 1,117-lb marlin, you may ask. It was Kona’s second grander of this year. Two Honaunau fishermen Randy Holden and Rik Jones had taken to the ocean on their daily search for fish. Aboard Randy’s 19 foot skiff “Ailina” equipped with 130 test line, the men were trolling about four miles outside the lava flow. There were no signs of the impending strike, no birds, no porpoise. As soon as the big fish struck, it was hooked. Instead of running, it headed straight for the boat. Near the boat the blue marlin loomed out of the water showing off its size to the surprised anglers. As a child would dare a smaller companion, “catch me if you can.” The men worked the fish for an hour finally bringing it…

■ It was something like ten years ago, that I began an affair with the Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament. As a gawking school kid from Honolulu, I had been invited by Dave Nottage to fish aboard his boat AUKAKA, I jumped at the chance. Mr. Nottage taught me a hell of a lot about fishing on numerous family outings to Molokai but this was to be my first chance to fish Kona, my first tournament, and hopefully, my first opportunity to see a billfish caught. That year was 1966 and 75 teams were entered in the event. That was a mere 7 years after it was founded by entrepreneur Peter Fithian in 1959. 24 teams were entered, that first year. The founding of the tournament is a simple story, well…

Jerry Seely had been a professional photographer for some 18 years when she, her family and her business moved to Kona in 1970. Jerry shot her first billfish tournament that year and has been the official photographer for the tournament ever since. Jerry’s fast smile, warm personality, and camera have become well known to anglers from all over Hawaii and all over the world. This year Hawaii Fishing News asked Jerry to choose her favorite photos out of the thousands she has taken of Hawaii’s greatest fishing tournament.…

1 Cut off 1/3 of squid tail’s tail. 2 Tie (dental floss or any waxed string is ideal for this purpose) first squid tail around base leaving 1/8 in. clearance for second tie. Use a double loop square knot. 3 Insert second squid tail inside out. Squid eyes should be inside. A pencil pushing in with its eraser head makes it easy. Then cut off 1/3 of its head. 4 Lubricate jet head with water and push inverted squid tail over jet head from hole end over 1/8 in. space left by the first tie. Tie with same double loop square knot into 1/8 in. space. 5 Now, gently flip right side out, with eye on the outside now over second squid tail. 6 The rule of thumb for determing…