Innholdsfortegnelse for September 1990 i Hawaii Fishing News

■ Recently one of Kaua’i’s young anglers joined the elite group of anglers who have caught an infamous ulua. This reporter had the rare privilege to witness this history-making moment. The morning started out just like many others. The seas were calm, the winds were gentle, and the skies were clear. We were camping out at Barking Sands just like we’ve done so many times before. Except this time our fishing trip would not be so tranquil. Shortly after 9 a.m. on the morning of July 14, Alison Sakata had just finished a breakfast that would prepare her for what lay ahead. We were all sitting around enjoying what the morning had to offer when Alison’s bell was heard by all. First a soft cling was heard, just enough to…

■ California angler Phillip Chauvet walked off $10,000 richer after weighing in a 700-lb marlin during the Third Annual Firecracker Open Marlin Tournament. Phillip had no points from the first fishing day but ended up displacing two teams with double-marlin captures and two otner teams with 500-lb marlin to win first place in this “most points,” or total weight, derby. The 25 teams entered caught eight marlin the first day and two the second. Four marlin weighed in at over 400 lbs. When Phillip and the team on board the MEDUSA hit the scales with their monster they knocked the PAMELA team into second place. Max Frankum had angled two marlin while aboard the PAMELA on the first day to accumulate 689 points. His 297-lb blue and 392-pounder were good…

Verbalized Bassin’-Newest Finesse Technique ■ In the past month or so, I (Russ) have taken a number of friends bassin’ and taught them how to fish the plastic worm. Although it is quite difficult to learn, worming is considered the most productive method when fishing for bass. A typical worming lesson will begin like this, “You must listen carefully and not do much talking. You must do exactly what I tell you to do and forget what everyone else told you about worming. If you listen and follow my instructions, I’ll guarantee you’ll catch bass on the worm.” And so the lesson begins. I should say that all of my “pupils” did exactly as I told them and caught bass-all of them except my most recent pupil. He happened to…

The species composition of commercial landings, in terms of total weight of fish caught, is shown in Table 1 for the three most recent years, 1987 to 1989. Longline landings grew very rapidly during these years while commercial troll and handline landings declined. During 1989, longliners caught nearly three time more yellowfin than the commercial trailers and tuna handline fishermen did. On the other hand, during 1987 and 1988 the trailers and handliners dominated the landings of yellowfin tuna. Longliners caught most of the bigeye during each of these years, and this is their target species. The longliners also caught most of the albacore tuna. Pole-and-line baitboats and commercial trailers caught most of the skipjack tuna. Commercial trailers and handline fishermen caught four to eight times as many blue marlin…

■ Forty-seven contenders crossed the San Francisco starting line in this year’s West Marine Pacific Cup race, nearly doubling the race’s nrevious entry list of 28 yachts in 1988. The start was staggered over a four-day period, with the smaller boats headed to Hawai’i on July 2 and the larger boats on July 5. The staggered start, a first for the Pacific Cup, was employed to get all the vessels across the finish line about the same time, said Gerry Brodeur, general chairman of the finish line committee. Brodeur described the Pacific Cup race as a “fun race” with mostly cruising yachts. It’s a “low-key, amateur-type fun race” with no real pros, he said. This year the weather during the race was mild, and vessels had to go way south…

■ The MANO KELA brought to the scales Lahaina’s fourth largest blue marlin of the year to date, a 780-pounder. Capt. Denny Putnam and crewman Sai Tarantino had just reached the MC-buoy when they spotted a school of mahimahi bunched up underneath the water. All of a sudden a pod of pilot whales showed and circled the buoy and mahimahi. Sal was on the back deck and was trying to catch some bait for the mahimahi, but the pilot whales were eating the fish before they could hook up. Sal finally got a bait, but a pilot whale raced in and ate it the second it hit the water. Finally the pilot whales left chasing the school of mahimahi. Not long after the whales split, another school of mahimahi showed…

■ Well, folks, summer is almost pau, and what I thought was going to be at least a whole page of fish stories with great pictures instead will once again be a meager one-column update of the same old fish caught by the same old people. I know someone is holding out, so remember 565-7048 is the “Slime Hotline.” Call anytime; bring your fish by the house for pictures; wake me up at 3 a.m.; I don’t care. Jason Fujie checked in with aku, ‘ahi, kawakawa, ono and mahimahi after his weekend trips out to MC territory aboard the HOLO NALU. As usual, Kazus Nohara and Masada have been consistent in their catches on their daily runs out of Manele. Also fishing out of Manele, Dolfo Sanchez landed a 26-lb…

Due to the limited space available and the large number of fish caught, catch reports are limited to tuna over 100 ibs and billfish of any size, any species. (S) = Striped marlin.…

■ Last year, KALOHI Capt. Ron Gates told me that the currents had been funny all year and that he was sure that was part of the reason the fishing was so bad. Capt. Ron has been around something like 70 years, and, fishing at least 50 of those, he’s known good and bad years. Of course, there were more fish years ago when there were fewer boats and people around Hawai’i. I’m not changing my mind about the damage the longliners are doing to our fishing grounds, but I realize there are other things that can result in a year or more of poor fishing. The waters off our island this summer were full of bait fish, and the big ‘ahi were out in force, staying around longer than…

■ The growing movement to conserve our natural resources and grapple with the growing mountain of garbage we humans produce has led to a growing trend toward the recycling of various manufactured materials. The most common form of recycling is familiar to almost everyone. Aluminum cans are collected by a variety of individuals ranging from litter fighters to “street people” and are brought to collection centers for cash. Most of Hawai’i’s small boat harbors and launch ramps are visited by regulars who pick through dumpsters and trashcans to retrieve empty beer and soda cans. Used aluminum cans are melted down and turned into new aluminum products, short-cutting the manufacturing process. The environment benefits in several ways, and the manufacturer saves money in the process. Aluminum is not the only material…

■ The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council has sent out a warning to persons considering entering the Hawai’i longline fishery after June 21, 1990, that their investment may be at risk should the council decide to limit effort In the future. The council established a control date, which states that “persons entering the Hawai’i longline fishery who cannot document either (1) landing fish in Hawai’i caught by longline gear or (2) a substantial financial commitment or investment in gear for participation in the longline fishery by his/her vessel located in Hawai’i or the EEZ surrounding Hawai’i prior to June 21,1990, may be determined to be ineligible for continued participation should the council decide in the future to limit effort in the fishery.” The Hawai’i longline fisheries have been growing…

The 15th Annual Hilo Casting Club Fishing Tournament ■ There were 160 shorecasters who entered the 15th Annual Hilo Casting Club Fishing Tournament. A total of 140 fish with a total weight of more than 3, 724 lbs were caught during the tournament, which ran from June 21 through June 24, 1990. This year’s largest fish award went to Douglas Segawa of Hilo. He brought in an 82-lb ulua. Douglas’s catch made him the winner of many prizes including a two-night stay at the Queen Kapiolani Hotel in Honolulu, an Aloha Airlines airplane ticket to the island of his choice, lunch for two at the Pagoda Koi Dining Room in Honolulu, dinner for four at Kay’s Lunch Center in Hilo, a gift certificate from Itsu’s Fishing Supply, a four-by-four truck…

The setting: Noon, Friday, July 13, 1990, WSW of Lana’i, aboard the HOKULE’A catamaran. Destination: Manele Bay. Crew: Joey Cabell, Tom Gentry and Barry Edwards. ■ When the reel screamed, we weren’t certain we had a strike, but a second or two later, line was spilling off the reel so fast that the reel began to smoke and we knew we had hooked a fighter. Joey’s concern for the fleeting line sounded in his voice, “Better tighten the drag. We’re almost out of line; we’ll lose the fish!” The metal was so hot I took off my shirt to use as a hot pad. A three-quarter turn cinched it down to a slow moan. While Joey slackened sail and turned the HOKULE’A into the wind, he barked, “Barry, get the…

■ James Sloan, Kona professional photographer, passed away Friday, July 13, on his way to Kona Hospital by ambulance. James had undergone two Operations for a brain tumor this past year. James’ funeral was held in San Gabriel, California where he attended high School. He is survived by his sister Evelyn Martin and brother George both of California, and parents George and Nellie of Kona. James was a photographer in Kona for 15 years and was a member of trie Professional Photographers of America. While at San Gabriel Mission High School, his early work included sport photos for the high school, photos tor the school’s special events, yearbook photography and sport photography for several newspapers and magazines. James also attended East Los Angeles College in California where he acquired his…

■ Fish, fish and more fish. What a wonderful month is was on the Windward Coast! The weather was really nice, even for the small boaters, who caught their share of fish. There was a good variety of catches, and it was a pleasure to see such smiles on the faces of many new anglers who came to fish this side of the island. The presence of the new boats indicated that many boaters and fishermen have joined the nautical population of 4he Windward Coast, and we wish them well. “Stormin’” Norman Chun showed up with his little boat and was holding a nice 423-lb marlin with the help of Danny Lee and Brian Yee. Norman and the guys were looking for some mahimahi outside the MM-buoy area when Norman…

■ It was Saturday, July 7, when my good friends Duane Iwashita and Wayne “TJ” Tajiri and my fiance Candie Iwashita got our gear packed up and headed out for an overnighter at the Big Island’s South Point. TJ, Candie and I were mainly along for the ride; Duane was entered in a local fishing tournament. Night fishing was pretty good. We managed to catch some nenue, ta‘ape, and menpachi, which we kept alive to use as bait for the notorious “dawn patrol” (for which South Point was well-known). The predawn hours were rather still, with hardly any wind at all. Therefore, using our “bag” style of fishing seemed doomed. We’d have to use the conventional “lead” style. As the first signs of dawn appeared on the horizon, our growing…

■ The father-and-son team of Rex and Todd Crosland captured a 358-lb and an 897-lb marlin to bring home $33,000 in the Fourth Annual Big Island Invitational Marlin Tournament in Kona, Hawai’i. Todd battled his 897-lb monster from 9:30 a.m. until 11:45 p.m. after 14 hours the great fish was brought to gaff. The huge marlin fought gamely all the way up to the end, and Todd was a complete package of sore muscles the next day. The crew of the PACIFIC BLUE was trying to save their live bait, an 8-lb tuna, from a thieving porpoise when the marlin materialized right behind the boat. When the tuna was brought up to the back of the boat, the marlin grabbed it right off of the tip of the rod. For…

■ 1. Chugging plugs catch mahimahi and ‘ahi when trolled slowly around fish aggregation buoys. Normally, you plug as you simultaneously drag a live bait; therefore, you are moving the boat at only a knot or two. Because of the slow speed, most of the action of the plug comes from jerking the rod tip, which makes the plug throw water, make a popping noise and thrash sideways. To get the right action, you need a buoyant plug like a PILI or a Rebel Popper. Capt. Terry Dahl showed me how to make a very effective chugger/teaser plug from hypalon, the rubber foam tubing used in making foregrips for trolling and spinning rods. Terry selects a 4- or 5-inch length of hypalon of li-inch diameter with a ½-inch center hole.…

■ They say that good things come to those who wait. Well, the fishermen on O‘ahu waited a long time for a decent ‘ahi run, and their patience was rewarded with the best summer ‘ahi run in about five years. But before we start celebrating, keep in mind that the summer ‘ahi runs of the past five years were really terrible in comparison to those of 10 or more years ago. Also keep in mind that last year there were only 68 longline vessels fishing in Hawaii’s waters. According to statistics compiled by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, those 68 longline vessels caught more pmus (pelagics management unit species-marlin, ‘ahi, ono and mahimahi) than the handline and trolling fisheries combined. I suspect that when the statistics for this…