Innholdsfortegnelse for February 1998 i Hawaii Fishing News

■ “Hey, Richard, when are you going tako fishing again?” That was how it all started. I had run into Richard Murakami at Hale’iwa Harbor, and was anxious to try my hand at dragging for tako (octopus). Masa Ibata of the NAOMI had been nice enough to give me two of his special tako lures, and I had won one, made by Jason Fukumoto, at a Waialua Boat Club meeting raffle. So, with my three lures in hand, I met Richard at his 38-foot deluxe Haole Sampan, the MURA MARU, which had been made up in Wahiawa by the legendary Tokoshige Nakahara, one of the famous boat-builders from the Kewalo Basin-Tuna Packers boat yard heyday. The MURA MARU is a showcase example of what an impeccably built and immaculately kept…

■ As a youngster, fishing was a popular weekend and summertime activity. It was an exciting and challenging adventure that often resulted in a discouraging “whitewash.” I’m not sure of the origin of this term, but for me it meant zero catch. Nothing! Living close to Nu’uanu Stream, we found that crabbing was also something that we could do; and with crabbing, it was “almost” guaranteed that there would be no whitewash. We generally crabbed in the shallow brackish waters on the muddy bottoms. Our favorite locations were the sides of the waterway on River Street or College Walk, between the Kukui and Beretania Street bridges. Occasionally, we would drop our nets from the bridges. Our catches were usually the red crab (long-eyed swimming crab) with its dark maroon color…

■ Hau’oli Makahiki Hou na lawai’a i Hawai’i nei! Ua mana’olana au ia ‘oukou e loa’a ai na makana a nui. Eia ho’i, mahalo no ia ‘oukou e heluhelu ko‘u koloma a me keia nupepa i na makahiki mua. He mea ho’okahi, ke pomaika’i ia ‘oukou i ka makahiki e a‘e maika’i a me ka lawai’a pono! ‘O ka‘u mo’olelo e pili ana i ka i‘a ‘o ‘u’u a i ‘ole ka menpachi (hua ‘olelo Kepani). Happy New Year! I hope you folks got a lot of gifts. Further, I’d like to thank everyone for reading my column and this newspaper in the past years. One thing, I wish everyone another prosperous year and good fishing in the upcoming months. My story this month is about the ‘u’u (red squirrelfish),…

Conference: Is a Port Authority in Your Future? ■ A maritime conference was recently sponsored by the Maritime Board of the Chamber of Commerce, the Propeller Club, the transportation committees of the House and the Senate, and the maritime members of the AFL/CIO. The general session of the conference had over 120 members of the maritime and boating public represented, and the heads of the agencies who control coastal property, as well as the U.S. Coast Guard, were in attendance. The general session allowed the agencies and property managers to describe what they thought were the developing problems and possible solutions concerning their management and administration of the various sections of the waterfront. The Department of Transportation spoke about the 2010 master plan, the local development authorities talked about Kewalo…

New Year Resolution “I will never again tighten the drag on my reel when a big fish is on!” ■ Twice on the same day in December did one angler at Nu’uanu disregard the above, old advice, and twice he lost a good catch. Setting the drag is supposed to be done before the cast, not after. This particular angler was worried about a good-sized fish stripping off line, and, judging from the bend of the rod, his drag was set almost to the maximum for the line. He tightened the drag, and the line snapped. It happened on a windy day after he had rerigged to keep the bait above the silt level. Lots of disappointment, evidently; but would you believe he did it again, 15 minutes later? Yours…

■ Hunters no longer care what Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) Chairman Mike Wilson says about ethical poaching. Hunters say, “Show me the money.” A hunter picket of Hilo DLNR offices, a DLNR gag order forbidding media interviews and a legislative hearing to restore hunter confidence were the latest rapid-fire rounds fired by hunters and Hawai’i government officials in a burning poaching controversy that is becoming a full-blown political conflagration. Hunter activists are now calling for a hunter-fisherman coalition to seek legislative redress. Fireworks aside, Hawai’i outdoorsmen now want to know if there has been fraudulent use of sportsmen’s Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act moneys. Hunters are making a simple demand of Hawai’i wildlife officials, “Show me the money.” Poacher Promotion The Division of Forestry and Wildlife…

■ Happy Valentine’s Day to all you fishermen and fisherwomen out there. If you’re looking for a nontradi-tional gift, fishing tackle contains no calories and lasts longer than flowers. Plus, when was the last time you heard of someone hooking up using a dozen roses or a box of chocolates? In general, offshore fishing has been a little slow this winter with the exception of live-baiting at the buoys for marlin. Trolling has produced some nice-sized marlin and a few ‘ahi, but for the most part the aku have had lockjaw and the shibi-ko have yet to show up in consistent numbers. Mahimahi have been few and far between; and ono, which are traditionally scarce this time of year, have been so rarely seen as to command prices as high…

■ 1. The Quick Pitch Rig. Unexpectedly, a big fish boils in the wake, spoiling for a bait. You have a few whole baits in the cooler, but nothing rigged. If you can rig a bait in a few seconds and get it to the fish before it loses interest, you might have the catch of your life. Otherwise, you just have another tale for your collection of stories about the one that got away. No such thing as just slapping a bait on a hook. An excited fish will just tear it free. What do you do? Here’s a solid rig you can put together in seconds. It secures the bait by the tail stump, a firm anchor. It presents the bait headfirst and positions the hook so it…

■ In early September, the Townsville Game Fishing Club played host to the Annual Sheraton Breakwater Billfish Challenge, and the event’s first team from Hawai’i, in a celebration of light-tackle sport fishing for black marlin and sailfish on the grounds known as Cape Bowling Green, located off the historic port city of Townsville on the North Queensland coast. The team from Hawai’i included world-record holders George and Sharon Handgis and Jeanette Foster, and yours truly. After a week of ultralight tackle action in the area aboard the BALEK III with Capt. Laurie Wright and mate Simon Carosi, we were ready to take on the world. After spending a week living on board, following the fish, we were impressed by the hospitality of the club and the venue for the competition,…

Dear Chuck, I would like to tell you of an ulua fishing tale that was the talk of Hilo town for weeks. The ulua season was finally over for my husband, Layne, with a 50-pounder for the season and the Hilo Casting Club Tournament being a big disappointment. Our families’ favorite front yard ulua spot became washed out due to the heavy rains on the Hamakua Coast during the tournament. This “fishing tale” started one afternoon while Layne, daughter, Hillary, and I were relaxing at home. It just so happened that I was in the final stage of pregnancy and was waiting for any labor signs for Layne to take me to the hospital for the birth of our second child. All of a sudden, we got a call from…

■ ZAO, a trendy restaurant in upscale Palo Alto, California, offers fish, noodles and philosophy (“The way of the noodle is long and narrow”). After eating there several times on a recent trip to the “Bay Area,” we were inspired to innovate some dishes based on the ones we tried. Each is, of course, a variation of the heart of ZAO cuisine-the noodle (“A bowl of noodles is a snapshot of the universe”). I was particularly fond of the restaurant’s seared Pacific red snapper over soba noodle salad served with wasabi creme fraiche. The snapper available on the West Coast is none of our local varieties, but any fillet of white-meat fish will do as well as the sample we tasted. The advantage of a one-dish serving like this is…

Honolulu Laboratory Southwest Fisheries Science Center NMFS, NOAA ■ Given the interest among Hawai’i’s fishing community in local oceanography, I think the following local ocean current map will be of interest. Computer models of ocean circulation driven by observed winds and incorporating topography have improved greatly in recent years. One of the best is the U.S. Navy ocean circulation model run by Dr. Harley Hurlburt. Recently, Dr. Roger Lukas, SOEST, University of Hawaii, provided me with the following idealized current map, which was produced by this Navy model. The map shows long-term annual mean ocean circulation around the main Hawaiian islands averaged over all months for the years 1981 to 1995, and averaged in depth from the surface down to 160 meters. Because this represents a long-term average, the currents…

■ After being stuck for a few months in Southern California on business, it was time I went fishing. Pua, a friend from Hawai’i, was flying over to visit me, and 1 wanted to take her fishing. I was right up the coast from the famous fishing grounds of Baja California, Mexico. I had never been to Loreto, but I had heard and read of the great yellowtail fishing it had to offer, and it was the only place the travel agent could get us booked on such short notice. Loreto is located about 300 miles north of Cabo San Lucas and about 200 miles north of La Paz, on the Sea of Cortez side of Baja California. California’s Western Outdoor News (WON) reported that Loreto’s fishing was slow due…

■ In November 1997, The Lanai Company opened Hawaii’s first and only resort sporting clays course in a scenic 200-acre tree-shaded valley with sweeping views across the ‘Au’au Channel to Moloka’i and Maui. The Lanai Pine Sporting Clays course provides all the pleasures of shooting, without ruffling any feathers. A growing number of hunters and gun enthusiasts are participating in a sport that is said to include 10 million participants worldwide. The sport of shooting at “clay pigeons” originated in England in the 1880s, and has grown dramatically in recent years, partly due to environmental concerns over killing wildlife. The 15-acre Lanai Pine Sporting Clays course is akin to a golf course, but for shooters, A series of 17 different shooting stages, connected by paved walkways, is arrayed over a…

Dear Chuck, The morning sun, an orange fireball in the eastern sky, slowly crept over the volcanic haze-shrouded Wai’anae Range as Christa Otake and I approached the Victor-buoy off Ka’ena Point on our first fishing trip of 1998. We had left the Wai’anae Boat Harbor at 5:45 a.m. on Friday, January 2 with the anticipation of having a good day on the water. The glass-smooth waters produced by this Kona-wind day provided for a good boat ride, but would it provide us with a good day of fishing? This question would be answered about four hours later. Three passes around Victor-buoy resulted in one shibi-ko and two oioi, all between 1 and 2 lbs. Several other boats began circling the buoy, so we headed toward the Hale’iwa side of Ka’ena…

‘Opakapaka Tagging Update ■ The division conducted tagging studies in an effort to better monitor and understand our valuable bottomfish resources. During 1989 to 1994, approximately 4,000 ‘opakapaka were tagged and released off O‘ahu and in Maui County. Although there have been no further tagging efforts due to the retirement of the senior project biologist, submittal of tags and information by cooperating fishermen and data collection on recoveries have continued. • Estimated growth rate…… 2 inches per year • Longest time of freedom…… 2,176 days • Farthest distance traveled…… 235 nautical miles • Largest fish caught……26 inches (about 9 lbs) • Growth of largest fish recovered……11 inches Current tag recoveries (from fish recovered between July 1, 1996, to June 30, 1997) prove that ‘opakapaka cross channels between the islands. This…

■ Last month, the topic of discussion was whether or not to back the boat in pursuit of a fish, with the answer not being a right or wrong, but lying in the mind set of the angler and crew. This time, we will assume that the decision has been made to do whatever it takes from the standpoint of boat handling to assist the angler and facilitate catching or tagging the fish. When the fish either can’t or doesn’t opt to put a lot of distance between itself and the boat, then there is very little maneuvering that needs to be done other than keeping the fish behind the boat and maybe a well-timed reverse bump or two to help the crewman reach the leader. Then there is the…

Most Memorable Catches • Sharon Handgis, Hawai‘i-IGFA world record on 6-lb test: 38-lb ulua • Pete Parker, Colorado-IGFA world record on 12-lb fly tippet: 58-lb ulua • Kibbie Bone, Georgia-IGFA junior girls world record: 59-lb ulua • The Durham brothers from Texas-three bluefin tuna (100, 170 and 197 lbs); three blue marlin up to 250 lbs; several big trevally, mahimahi, wahoo and tuna. • The Cyrus family from Alabama-two blue marlin tagged (up to 750 lbs); four sailfish tagged; one striped marlin tagged; plus numerous yellowfin tuna, mahimahi and wahoo. • Dennis and Dan Hatfield from Montana-30 ulua hooked on flies. • Ken Marlin from Florida-three ulua landed on flies (up to 50 lbs) in one morning. • Flyfishing great Nick Curcione-O-for-31 on ulua on a fly (and he loved…

■ The impact of sea walls on the beaches of Hawai’i has been an increasing subject of discussion in the news, the courts and our state and county governments over the last year. The broadening interest in solving the long-standing problem of deteriorating beaches is healthy and certainly environmentally correct; however, it may not prove to be politically or economically correct, or even feasible in many cases, and the ramifications of a sea wall moratorium are beginning to be heard. The primary problem with sea walls is that they alter the impacts of the normal influences on a shoreline. The cyclical movement of sand on the beach (technically described as littoral drift), the impacts of wave and current action on the beach, the redirection of wind energy along the shore,…

■ It’s the time of the year when offshore fishing slows up a bit, the big ulua aren’t ready to bend all the poles on the point at the same time, and the divers looking for lobsters, fish and just plain recreation are wearing their wet suits! Still, there are good times to be had in and on the water. There are also some good things happening on the land. The time for the annual Hawaii Council of Diving Clubs (HCDC) annual awards banquet is fast approaching. The 1998 banquet will be hosted by the entire HCDC board, and will be held at the Natsunoya Tea House at 1935 Makanani Drive at 6 p.m. on February 21. Tickets are $20, which gets you the ‘ono buffet plus the great pupus…