Innholdsfortegnelse for February 1996 i Hawaii Fishing News

It is ground to shine, cut to size and matched as closely as possible. The glow is from the top of the shell, and the overall effect is that of a star sapphire. Colors vary. The fish like these lures because of the glow. Some of my lures are solid ‘opihi shell, and they get a lot of hookups. Experiments and trials have proven that they work. I am always improving my lures and testing for better actions and hookup rates. To this day, every week, fishermen are catching something on my lures. These lures may cost a little more than the average lure due to the amount of work involved to make them, but they do catch fish. In most cases, a member of the marlin family will strike…

■ There are two main sets of questions that fishermen and fisheries scientists want to know about Hawaii’s tuna resources. The first set of questions is: Where do our tuna come from, and where do they go? That is, are the large fish that lay their eggs in Hawaii’s waters fish that were born around these islands, or do they come from all over the Pacific? And, do the eggs that hatch here and turn into small “shibi” stay here, or do they roam the Pacific, some returning as adults and some not? Are the tuna that we catch “locals” that have lived here all of their lives? The second, closely related, set of questions is: Do all the types of fishing boats that work within, say, 750 miles of…

■ Here are some fishing-related words and their Alaskan definitions provided by Jan O’Meara in “ALASKA DICTIONARY and Pronunciation Guide.” • Barn Door-Slang term for extremely large hali-but, generally those larger than 200 lbs, sometimes also called “soaker.” • Bore Tide-A rushing, 1-to 6-foot high wall of water produced when a strong incoming tide surges into the constricted channel of an inlet. Most pronounced where the tidal range is great, as it is in Cook Inlet, where it reaches nearly 40 feet! The only regularly occurring bore tides are reported to be in Turnagain and Knik Arms of Cook Inlet, where they are visible twice a day, usually about two hours after the designated low tide in Anchorage. • Cheechako-A newcomer to Alaska, as contrasted with a sourdough. In other…

■ It’s a strange thing, how the huge surf has almost no effect on the seas outside. If you can get out of the harbor in your boat with the bottom side still down and the topside still up, you really don’t notice too much out on the fishing grounds, except perhaps some large, slow-rolling, open-sea swells that don’t do anything but roll on under your boat. No big deal, and we usually get more days of calmer winds during the winter months. You just have to get back into the harbor in the same condition you left: hopefully, with some fish in the box. Sometimes the getting-back-in program can be the tricky and sticky part of the day, sometimes even a real white-knuckle experience, sometimes like hanging 10 on…

■ Here’s how the whale sanctuary is doing at the four Hawaii state city/county councils, the results of the statewide sanctuary public meetings, a news flash from the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council (WESPAC) and a strategy for the near future. City/County Council Status Honolulu City Council. Honolulu City Council Member Steve Holmes sponsored a resolution supporting the Hawaii whale sanctuary. During the hearing on December 6, 1995, he was actively aided by Council Member Duke Bainum in supporting all of the testimony favoring the sanctuary and even went to the extent of parading several school children to the podium to testify on behalf of the whales. The People Opposed to the Whale Sanctuary (POWS) and friends did their best to clear the smoke so that the real issues…

■ You ve stared at the picture of that 129-lb wahoo long enough. Now it’s time to find out what you have to do to catch one like it. First you are going to have to go to the land of the giant ono-Fiji. And there, in Pacific Harbour, stop by “The Fishing Connection,” a tackle shop run by Bill Williams. That’s Bill standing next to the 129-pounder. An ono that size is unusual even for Fiji, even though Fijians boat wahoo over 140 lbs in most years. Get Bill talking, and he’ll gladly tell you about the tackle and techniques he uses to win contests like Fiji’s annual “international” tournament. “I love to catch wahoo,” Bill said flatly. “Their first run is usually a line-burner and can go on…

Dear Chuck and HAWAII FISHING NEWS readers: We are two researchers who work for the Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research (JIMAR) under the Pelagic Fisheries Research Program, and we will be conducting a comprehensive economic survey of Hawaii’s troll and handline fishermen in 1996. JIMAR researchers will in fact be conducting three research projects in the coming year in order to provide a much better understanding of the importance of Hawai‘i’s troll and handline pelagic fisheries. Interest in this information comes from the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, the National Marine Fisheries Service, the state of Hawai‘i and the general fishing public. The focus of these projects is Hawai‘i-based pelagic fishing for species such as tuna, billfish, mahimahi and ono. JIMAR is a University of Hawaii research…

■ A few months ago, Hawai‘i’s offshore fishing community was shocked by the possible loss of the state’s FAD system, which had been a successful and popular program for many years. As a part the state government’s drive to cut costs, the Department of Land Natural Resources (DLNR) decided to get out of the FAD business to save money. That decision resulted in countless letters and protests, and HFN publisher Chuck Johnston formed a FAD Steering Committee consisting of representatives of the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Army, the Division of Aquatic Resources, DBED Ocean Resources Department and yacht and trailer boat clubs across the state to save the FADs. The good news is that the situation has been resolved and the FAD system will continue to exist. The state will…

■ The book spoke to me from the “sale” table at Borders Books & Music: “Quick and Healthy Low-Fat Cooking,” with the subtitle that was the real clincher: “Featuring Cuisines from the Mediterranean.” It said, “Buy me! Review me for HAWAII FISHING NEWS.” So, I did! Published in 1994 by Rodale Press, the volume offers more than 200 recipes ranging from appetizers to desserts, most of which can be prepared in less than 30 minutes. Mediterranean cuisine has captured the interest of scientists and health-conscious Americans because it is tasty and heart-healthy, which equates to facts that show people from the Mediterranean countries live longer and suffer less from heart disease and cancer that shorten the lives of people in the United States. Moderation is the key, and the recipes…

The early morning sun slowly crept over the mountains and began to warm the dark glassy water. The ulua poles were standing still and in desperate need of fresh bait. The dawn patrol had already started, and I figured many ulua had already traveled by the empty hooks. I got out of my beach cot, made a beeline for the ice chest and pulled out a fresh 4-lb tako. I quickly cut off several legs, baited a #34 ulua hook and sent it down my line without even recasting. What a lazy guy! I then proceeded to cut 8-inch strips of tako leg and bait them on my small-game rod, which was loaded with 40-lb test Ande monofilament. I used 16 inches of 80-lb test clear monofilament for the hook…

■ The mad rush to end the year and the importance of the season created a wonderful opportunity for the fishing enthusiast to go fishing and provide fresh fish for the table, either his or her own table or someone else’s, and have a good time doing it. Weather conditions were very good, but the fish were very, very far out-over 50 miles out to the large aku schools-with very little action in between. As always, with the large aku there were large and small marlin. They like to eat the same aku that you do, and they find your lures attractive, too. Jimmy Fernandez and Moses Aiana on the MAUI MAIDEN caught a 500-lb marlin, an approximate weight because they cut up the fish and put it in their…

■ The area around the K-buoy off the southwest corner of Lana‘i continued to be the most productive area around Maui County. West Maui boats caught half of the month’s billfish from there. The North Shore of Moloka‘i also saw some consistent action. There was a congregation of striped marlin in the area off Halawa Valley down the ledge to Papalaua Valley. Among the 119 billfish brought to the scales during the month, 69 were blue marlin, 44 were striped marlin and six were spearfish. Another 17 blue marlin and 11 striped marlin were tagged or released, bringing the monthly total to 147 billfish for the West Maui boats. Longline Escapee With all of the small blue and striped marlin that were hitting the dock, Capt. Roy Dickey and Co-capt.…

■ With another year come and gone, we look forward to a new year of great fishing and memorable catches. In 1995, many captains had the pleasure of fishing with people from all over the world. Men caught the biggest fish in their lives; women caught fish bigger than their husbands’ fish; children caught fish they’d never heard of. Through calm and rough waters, anglers cruised up and down the Kona Coast. Captains and deckhands worked hard looking for fish, hooking them up and boating them-and maybe even setting a record or two. But most of all, they made a lot of first-time anglers and expert fishermen very happy that they came to Hawai‘i. Here are the largest Kona rod-and-reel catches of 1995: a 1,144-lb Pacific blue marlin caught from…

Introduction ■ It’s been quite some time since there has been a steady freshwater column in HAWAII FISHING NEWS. During a recent Hawaii Freshwater Fishing Association (HFFA) board meeting, it was unanimously decided that the time had come to reactivate the freshwater report in the interest of keeping Hawaii’s freshwater recreational anglers informed and up-to-date. Because none of us really has a knack for journalism, it’s going to take three of us to crank it out. Lance Marugame will be in charge of photography and miscellaneous items, Ben Outram will deliver the HFFA monthly tournament report, and Willie Song will report on the overall conditions at the lake. Although the primary focus of our articles will be the happenings at Lake Wilson, other noteworthy freshwater fishing events (such as catfish…

■ Awhile back, while helping with the Kualoa Ranch Keiki Catfishing Tournament, I was approached by one of the guest anglers and told that it was crazy to hold a kids tournament in which they could only fish with bamboo poles. Granted, some of the channel cats where pretty hefty in size, with some of them topping the scales at over 12 lbs. Naturally, a lot of fish got away due to broken lines, and even broken bamboo poles, but it was fun and the kids eventually landed over 200 cats and were exhausted from having so much fun. Other people came up to me later and told me that they were impressed with the amount of cats that were landed with only cane poles. 1 agreed with them. Many…

The 86th Hawaii Big Game Fishing Club Banquet ■ The Hawaii Big Game Fishing Club (HBGFC), the second oldest fishing club in America, ended its 86th year with its annual awards banquet in November. Founded in 1909, the club has served the interests of offshore game fishermen throughout the state of Hawaii since long before the rest of the world learned that Hawaii was the game fishing capital of the Pacific. The HBGFC annual awards banquet is the culmination of a year of sportfishing on all the islands by its club members and a celebration of the best catches by those members throughout the year. Awards for the largest fish in numerous categories are made as well as awards for game fishing prowess, conservation and community service. This year’s awards…

■ If you had a time machine, where would you go? More appropriately, when would you go? Ask Hawai‘i anglers which direction in time they would like to go, and they would almost all say back to when the fishing was unspoiled and great catches were commonplace. An Alaska fisherman is more likely to say, “Don’t touch that dial!” Vast and largely unspoiled, Alaska’s fisheries are carefully monitored and managed as a valuable, renewable resource. Concern for habitat has restored runs of salmon, size limits have produced more and larger fish, and bag limits offer everyone a chance of coming home with full fishboxes. Those are only a couple of the reasons people keep going back to fish in Alaska. Anchor Point Lodge (see the September 1995 issue of HFN)…

■ December proved to be another consistent fishing month for Garden Isle anglers. I wonder if the mahimahi and ono are just going to keep biting all winter long! The aku returned in force, especially the schools of 10-to 20-pounders. I witnessed quite a few marlin catches, but most of them were under 150 lbs. The shibi-ko were also cooperating, especially fish in the 20-to 30-lb range. A few larger ones were coming up also, but mainly for the nocturnal fishermen. One of the largest blue marlin I heard about weighed 255 lbs and was caught from aboard the GENT LEE in early December. Capt. Bo Jordan was running one of his own “bottleneck head” lures off the long ‘rigger when the marlin hit it in the blind. This particular…

State Record Slipper Lobster ■ My friends Rob and Elizabeth Cheney, Mac and Jesse Macmillan and I were quite happy to finally get some diving in Sunday, December 3, 1995 after the previous weekend’s poor weather prevented any such pleasure. We left Waianae Harbor around 7 a.m. and headed south for approximately 4 miles. Not knowing any particular place to dive in that area. Mac donned his mask and dipped over the side several times before finding a likely spot. We finally settled on a position about a mile straight out from Kane‘ilio Point. The sea was relatively calm and there was no appreciable current which made for great diving conditions. A constant procession of rain clouds hid the sun much of the time, however. Our dive lights came in…