Innholdsfortegnelse for December 1988 i Hawaii Fishing News

■ When you think about it, fishing with downriggers makes good sense. In many places, there are more fish down deep than at the surface. Downriggers open your fishing to lots of new options for deep feeding gamefish. In addition, it hooks you up to surface fish foraging the depths for easy pickings, a feeding behavior more common than you might suspect. So far, our downrigger has produced ulua, kahala, uku, kaku, kawelea and even some big weke ‘ula, all normally thought of as deep feeders. It’s also notched victories over marlin, tuna, ono and mahimahi, which may surprise you as much as it did us at the time. Unless your know the rules, downrigger fishing can waste a lot of your time. Down-rigging makes you explore water very slowly,…

■ “OK, Laurence, what’s next?” When you own a sportfishing lodge and your guest catches a 75-lb king salmon and then turns to you with “What’s next?”, you’re in trouble. Chuck Johnston, editor of HA WAII FISHING NEWS and his fishing buddy Phil Rarick had just caught and released several large Kenai king, including Phil’s 65-pounder and Chuck’s world-class certified 75-pounder. And they asked, “What’s next?” Usually that comment comes from either a fishing fiend or an outdoor editor in search of the big story. In Chuck, I found both. Dinner that night was a fun time. We laughed and talked about the day’s fishing while we filled; up with baked salmon. When dessert was over, we: started planning the next day’s trips. Not every guest had caught the king…

Due to the limited space available and the large amount of fish caught, catch reports are limited to tuna over 100 lbs and billfish of any size, any species. (S) = Striped marlin, (B) = Black marlin and (T) = Tag and release, weight estimated.…

■ The Kaneohe Yacht Club held its annual Invitational Fishing Tournament, which is the most fun tournament held on the Windward Coast. The one-day event is kicked off with a shotgun start, and the tournament attracts boats from all over the island with its reasonable entry fee and non-IGFA fishing rules format. This year’s chairman, Don Richardson ran a super tournament from briefing to banquet. The dedication of the fishing fleet at Kaneohe Yacht Club was terrific, and everyone was treated so nicely that they vowed to return next year. The largest fish of the tournament was a 215-lb ‘ahi caught by Capt. Godwin Young and crewmen Wayne Rosburg and Andy Mau on the NA WAHINE. They had two other smaller ‘ahi but they did not place in other categories.…

■ The awaawa lazily rolled on the water’s surface and created a large rippling wake that could easily be seen from a distance. As the awaawa rolled and moved beneath the surface, it created long shimmering flashes that were transmitted off its penny-sized scales. It was a sight to behold. As the awaawa (also known as a ladyfish or Hawaiian tarpon) moved off into deeper water, a convoy of 20 or more awaawa followed it. I knew through experience that once the awaawa’s sun basking was over feeding time would begin. The awaawa would head for deeper water and scale the ocean bottom for a quick meal. Then the fish would eventually work their way back into the shallow water. That was when an angler would have his best chance…

■ Q. Why use a downrigger? A: A downrigger will help you fish at a given depth and allow you to use whatever tackle you have. Q: What depth of water is needed to use a downrigger? A: A downrigger can be used at any depth. The main advantage of a downrigger is that it enables you to control the depth you fish at. Q: Does the noise of the cable spook the fish? A: No. In fact in most cases the sound of the wire in salt water will attract fish. Also, when a fish strikes, the sound of the wire will change in pitch, so if you are not looking at the rod when a fish strikes, the change in pitch will alert you. Q: Does the weight…

Town Pier Catch Report Due to the limited space available and the large number of fish caught, catch reports are limited to tuna over 100 lbs and billfish of any size, any species. (S) = Striped marlin, (B) = Black marlin and (T) = Tag and release, weight estimated.…

■ In ancient times, the patriarch Kane had the right fish in front of his hale (house) because he owned the land that touched the shore. That was the law of ancient Hawai‘i. In order to fish, you had to own the land that extended out to the coral reef. If there was no reef, the right to fish extended out to the deep water. The Kane ‘Ohana believed in tradition, and they passed down their fish stories from generation to generation. I was amazed to hear the young boy Oli Kane describe in detail the legacy of fishing tales left by the older Kane generation. Oli, a boy of 15, was assigned to share the family story with me by performing an oil ku‘auhau (family genealogical chant). Upon completion…

Third Annual Waipouli Variety Jackpot Fishing Tournament ■ The Waipouli Variety Jackpot Fishing Tournament was the last shorefishing tournament for the year on Kaua‘i, and I can’t imagine a better ending for the tournament season. This was a really fun tournament to have participated in! It is always a pleasure to be able to go fishing and catch something to put in your ice chest, but the friendly competition and the gala festivities during the weigh-in made the weekend doubly pleasurable. There were prizes galore to be given away and Stan Kono and the rest of the crew at Waipouli Variety Store made sure that there were enough teriyaki, chicken, venison, salad and cold drinks for everybody. It was a big, fun, family, Sunday picnic! While interest in all the…

■ Whenever I meet a child who loves to fish, I know there is a parent beside him who took the time to teach him, praise him and commiserate with him over his mistakes. Ken Brunst, charter captain of the MELE MOKU, is such a parent. His life revolves around fishing; it’s his livelihood and more: lie knows what fish he caught and where he caught them, how high the tide was and the lure he used. He keeps track of how many of each type of fish he catches, and he gives it that little something extra that makes him a cut above the rest. His son Brian is a fisherman, too. He’s a 10-year-old. October 15th was a big day for Brian; Gene Gauthier chartered the MELE MOKU,…

■ In late October, I (Russ) was seriously contemplating buying a little “peashooter,” a small inflatable boat-belly boat or small, light, one-man boat. I was deeply concerned with the low-water level in Lake Wilson, which dropped farther every day. The water level dropped down to 40 rungs or so, and the depth at the boatramp was only 3½ feet. If the dry, rainless weather conditions prevailed for more than one week, the river at the ramp would not even accommodate those little wooden boats with paper sails that we used to make as kids. For those anglers with canoes, inflatabies, bantam boats and other small totable crafts, low-water conditions have little effect. When the level drops down to the point where the boatramp becomes useless to the “big guns,” the…

■ October was an outstanding month for billfish, and the catch report confirmed that. The majority of the marlin caught were small, male blues that weighed under 200 lbs. Toward the second half of the month, however, a few schools of natagi (striped marlin) moved into the area and many boats experienced “rat attacks.” During the last week of the month, some medium-sized aku schools began showing up along the coast. The aku in these schools weighed between 10 and 20 lbs each, and many boats reported some hot and heavy action, catching up to 30 pieces of aku a day. The first day of October proved to be a lucky one for Robert Naiole and his 6-year-old son, Ala. Robert had been trying for months to catch a marlin…

by International Game Fish Association ■ If your favorite sport fish is not among the 151 species listed by the-International Game Fish Association (IGFA) in their current world record programs, you may now have an opportunity to set an ali-tackle world record! IGFA has announced that it is revising and expanding its all-tackle world record program by opening it to game fish species not currently on their record lists (past catches included) and by reviewing well-documerited applications for past catches that exceed their current listings. All-tackle records are maintained for the heaviest fish of a species caught according to IGFA angling rules on any line up to 60 kg (130-lb) class. The listings are being expanded to recognize catches of species which, though popular in various fishing areas, have never…

■ Recently marlin took the place of ‘ahi. Lots of fishermen found these longnose creatures grabbing the lines trailing behind their boats. Oh, the occasional ‘ahi appeared, but the schools of marlin in the 150- to 250-lb range were abundant. Other offshore trolling was quite slow as we began that transitional phase from summer to winter, and, even though the weather was good, the fishing was slow. Crews on the aku boats did well, but their productive fishing grounds were out 50 to 60 miles in areas where only a few boats could fish. Dave White established a family first with his 1401b marlin caught the day after the University of Hawaii beat heavily favored Iowa. Dave is from Iowa, but he supports the Rainbows; so there he was in…

■ The month of October brought beautiful weather to the North Shore of Moloka’i, allowing the charter fleet to fish the malie waters and take advantage of the unbelievable marlin action. The AERIAL with Capt. Chris Rose and Co-capt. Mike Kearns captured the top fish honors for October and also moved into the top spot for the year in Lahaina Town with their $25,000 first-place Pacific blue marlin weighing 646 lbs that was caught during the 12th Annual Lahaina Jackpot Tournament. Congratulations. AERIAL. The MANO KELA with Capt. Denny Putnam and crewman Sal Tarintino had an excellent month. They reported a quadruple catch, two triple catches and three double days. The MANO KELA brought in 14 marlin (11 blues and three stripers) during six charters within a 10-day period. On…

SEND A LETTER AND PHOTO DURING THE MONTH OF DECEMBER AND WE WILL SEND YOU A LUHR-JENSEN KROCODILE CASTING AND JIGGING LURE. OUR WAY OF SAYING THANKS FOR SHARING YOUR CATCH. …CHUCK SEND TO: P.O. BOX 25413, HONOLULU, HAWAI‘I 96825 Dear Chuck, This is a picture of myself and my daughter Melissa with my latest catch. The ulua was caught in Ka‘ena and weighed in at 15 lbs. I used 40-lb test with tako as bait. I have always enjoyed HFN and will continue to look forward to all future issues. Mahalo,Eugene VillafanaAiea, O‘ahu Uncle Chuck, This is a picture of me (I’m on the left) and my cousin Shane Niau and a 25-lb kawakawa we caught from my grandpa’s boat, the MILLIE S II. It happened on June 12…