Innholdsfortegnelse for March 1998 i Hawaii Fishing News

Gold’ in Them Thar Hills? ■ Goldfish, that is. Nu’uanu is forever coughing up unexpected catches. Passing by a bucket recently, I noticed it was half full with dark brown, large-scaled fish. “Carp,” the angler gloated. “Good eating!” I became intrigued, because the fish surely looked a lot like carp, but the barbels were missing. “Goldfish,” I said. “Carp!” he insisted. “Good eating! Caught ’em before!” Actually, goldfish are cyprinids, related to carp, and here was a happy angler about to have a goldfish dinner, so who was I to argue? There are different opinions, too, about eating carp. One man’s dislike obviously is another man’s treasure. After all, goldfish did appear as table fare at the courts of the emperors of China. Incidentally, these goldfish did not look like…

■ In mid-January, Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) enforcement officers made an uncommon bust on O’ahu. Two men, Henry Rosa and Donald Watanabe, were arrested for the possession of chemical poisons in the waters off the Kaiwi shoreline, just east of Sandy Beach. The arrest quickly became big news across the state. TV coverage showed footage of the 18-foot boat, which had been boarded by Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement (DOCARE) enforcement officers, who reportedly found small plastic bags of chlorine and gill nets containing over 300 menpachi and other species on board. Outrage was immediately expressed throughout the fishing community, especially when it became clear that the men would have reason to know better. One of the men arrested, Donald Watanabe, 54, is a fire captain…

Objectives and Background ■ Back in March 1997, I summarized the matter of unsolicited boardings and inspections of vessels by the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) in Hawai’i. Since that time, I’ve been able to research the laws and regulations regarding the USCG’s objectives on the high seas. Thus, here is a short overview: Enforcement of Laws and Treaties (ELT) Objective-Enforce or assist in the enforcement of all applicable federal laws on, under and over the high seas and waters subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. Background-ELT is the oldest USCG mission. When the “fleet of cutters” formed in 1790, suppression of smuggling was the main reason for organization. Today, all maritime federal laws are enforced by the USCG. Major present enforcement areas include the following: • Interdicting drug…

■ The COREENE C, one of the most historic of the traditional Hawaiian charter vessels with its 1,805-lb blue marlin catch, still runs military charters out of Pearl Harbor. Bill LeMay, who charters for salmon and halibut out of Ninilchik, Alaska, in the spring and summer, has been skippering the COREENE C this winter. Although Bill has not been fishing Hawai’i’s waters for very long, he has quickly picked up the trolling techniques and has had a great deal of success. On a recent charter, Bill’s deck hand did not show up, so Bill versed his passengers on what to do if they hooked into “the big one,” and they did. Here’s the story in Capt. Bill’s own words: “It all started on a beautiful January morning. The day was…

■ I don’t care how hot it is on land: when the north winds blow and you’re out on the water, it is long sleeves and Levi’s time. This last month has seen its share of cold weather. But, hey! Lucky you live Hawai’i. I’m sure you’ve all heard about the terrible storms that are goofing up the mainland. It’s snowing in Florida. Maybe their marlin will come over here. From what I’ve seen lately, most of the marlin that have been coming in have been from the South Shore. The North Shore is really slow right now. A few mahimahi are coming in, but not too many, and they are generally on the small side. I guess we just have to wait it out. The buoys out on this…

■ Winter months are always unpredictable, so it did not surprise Mike Welle on the PUNALANI that he and his crew were fishing and doing pretty well during what is often the slowest time of the year. They had left He’eia Kea and were somewhere between LL-and X-buoys with a small striped marlin already in the box. Don Salmon and George Tarasawa were aboard, enjoying the ride and looking for birds when the reel sang out and they had another marlin on the line. The fish thrashed the ocean, looking for a way to throw the hook and be rid of the Futa lure stabbing its mouth. Soon, the fish was subdued and hauled aboard for the trip to the scales at He’eia Kea where it weighed in at 242…

■ The New Year began with a bang! The month concluded with excellent fishing for both the charter fleet and private vessels, featuring 12 marlin over 500 lbs, the annual Honokohau Marina New Year’s Day Tournament results and the new largest flag fish of the year! Honokohau had an amazing catch this January. More boats than last year were out on the water in search of fish. The totals came to 108 blue marlin, 14 striped marlin, three black marlin, 33 shortbill spearfish, 11 ‘ahi over 100 lbs and 16 billfish tagged and released. The highlight of the month was seeing 12 marlin over 500 lbs getting weighed in at the scales. The charter fleet got all but one: On the 28th, there were 12 marlin over 300 lbs weighed…

■ Knot-tying is the very first skill you must master as a fisherman, yet knot failure is the second most common reason fishermen lose fish (it follows right behind dull hooks). But just as you can learn to hone hooks to the sticking point, you can sharpen your knotting skills to the point where what you put together stays together. When you have lost a fish (and the rig it was hooked on!), you are left to stare at that telltale curlicue at the end of the broken piece and ask yourself what you did wrong. In most cases, knots fail simply because they weren’t tied with care. Three things can go wrong. The knot slips, or it cuts itself, or the line has been damaged in the knotting process.…

■ Charter fishing captain Chris Rose of Lahaina, Maui, was named winner of the Hawaiian International Billfish Association’s annual 1997 Richard Boone Award recently in a ceremony in Kailua-Kona. The award was shared with Randy Orkisch, co-captain of their boat, the NO PROBLEM. Second was 1995 Boone Award Winner Denny Putnam, also from Maui, captain of the charterboat PIPER; and third was Kona’s Marlin Parker, captain of the MARLIN MAGIC. Capt. Parker won the award in 1994. “I was totally surprised. Last year, we won the Henry Chee Award, which was a great honor, but you know that one is coming as you fish through the week,” said Chris. The award is named after Richard Boone, an avid angler and actor, and is given to the charterboat captain who each…

■ Tender and succulent. What is more delectable than a fish cooked to perfection? We all have recipes we can count on to be juicy and sweet and “good enough for company.” For years, we thought we had the perfect, and only, recipe that accomplishes that feat. We use an uku, scaled, slit open along the backside and backbone and entrails removed from the top. We place the fish stomach-side-down in an ovenproof pan, fill the back cavity with a crab stuffing and bake the uku. We watch it carefully as it cooks so it won’t dry out. It has never failed us and has always earned rave reviews from everyone who has tried it. Now, thanks to a continual craving for tender and succulent fish, we have two other…

Toxic chemicals like chlorine affect entire marine habitats, often destroying much of what’s present. If this were on land, would you burn down an entire forest in order to hunt a single pig? 1. Target Fish Species (eg. menpachi, ‘u’u)-Many methods of fishing aim for specfic individuals; “bleaching” or “bombing” wipes out every fish at the spot, leaving none to reproduce for the next year and affecting entire generations of fish. 2. Shelter Habitat-Caves and holes tend to have limited water circulation compared to open water or reefs, resulting in extended residence time and decreased diffusion of the poison. 3. Non-Target Fish Species-Many kinds of fish share holes. Chlorine kills what it contacts, whether or not a fish is too small or no good to eat. 4. Plankton (microscopic, drifting…

■ “What celebrities once served in the U.S. Coast Guard?” Here is a partial list: Humphrey Bogart, actor Lee Bonneli, actor Beau Bridges, actor (served in the Reserve) Sid Caesar, comedian Robert Maurice Campbell, producer/director Gower Champion, dancer/actor/director Howard Coble, representative (NC) Jack Dempsey, boxer John F. DeCuir Jr., art director/production designer Buddy Ebsen, actor Blake Edwards, writer/director/producer Arthur Godfrey, entertainer Otto Graham, football player and coach William O. Harbach, producer Alex Haley, writer Robert Horton, actor Tab Hunter, actor Monte Markham, actor Victor Mature, actor Sam Nunn, senator (GA) Thomas F. O’Neil, executive Arnold Palmer, golfer Claiborne Pell, senator (Rl) John Perry, producer Tom Philpott, editorNavy Times Richard Quine, actor Caesar Romero, actor Robert Stevens, acto Ted Turner, businessman Rudy Vallee, entertainer Pat Wayne, actor Lothar Wolff, producer/director Gig…

■ The black jumping jack wiggled effortlessly in the foaming white water as I slowly cranked it in with short jerks on my 8-foot graphite rod. As the jumping jack neared the surface, there was a sudden blue flash from a nearby coral head. Within an instant, the jumping jack disappeared and my rod tip shot under the water as I hung on, wondering what was happening. Short spurts of line ripped out of my reel, and I hauled back hard to set the hook. I didn’t get a good look at the fish, but judging by its brilliant blue hues and aggressive demeanor, I guessed it to be a good-sized ‘omilu. The fighting mad fish lodged itself in the rocks, and I was unable to free it. I hauled…

K-Buoy Blues ■ Effects of El Nino finally showed up in the billfish catches during January. There were only 10 striped marlin caught; these fish normally dominate the statistics at this time of year. The blue marlin continued to show a major presence with 46 fish caught. There were also eight spearfish landed, bringing the monthly total to 64 billfish. Of the 45 blue marlin that were weighed, 11 were under 149 lbs and 24 weighed between 150 and 250 lbs. The bigger female marlin began to show up at the scales, with four fish between 300 and 400 lbs and three fish between 400 and 484 lbs. Of the 35 blue marlin that were sexed, 22 were male and 13 were female. The K-buoy, located 5½ miles off the…

■ Well, the first month of the year didn’t exactly bring us any dramatic improvements in the lackadaisical results that trolling has produced lately. Most of the charter captains reported sporadic catches of one or two fish per trip, and most of these were small shibi-ko and mahimahi. There were a few marlin hooked up, but most were of the smaller variety. A lot of the charter captains even turned to bottom fishing in order to keep their guests happy, and this has worked out well as the deeper bite has been really consistent lately. Heck, a big uku or kahala is sure to keep any angler’s interest up when the surface fishing is slow! It seems like recently more and more of Kaua’i’s captains are really varying their methods…

A Heartfelt ‘Thank You’ To All Our Hawai‘i Customers and Dealers on Our 10th Anniversary ■ It feels like the old American Dream become true all over again, and it still works-just don’t give up; go out and do it! Those were my final words during an interview in January of 1992, when we opened our then-new location on Canal Street in San Rafael, California. And a dream it was-sometimes even a nightmare. Today, Helmut and I cannot believe it has already been 10 years! Yes, time is running when you are having fun. • 10 years in this beautiful country that really became home, and • 10 years of Helmut’s Marine Service. We are looking back smiling. When we opened our doors on March 1, 1988, the other dealers…

■ Greetings! It’s kind of chilly nowadays. Perhaps it’s El Nino! Thus, wear a jacket outside when fishing. Bye and bye (bumbye), you catch a cold! My story this month is about a red fish called the ‘aweoweo, or red bigeye. ‘Aweoweo are often seen with red-colored bodies and grow to about 20 inches. They have very large eyes and a large mouth, slanted downward to the rear. The distinctive look of their lower jaw is unmistakable. They have small scales that are thin and rough, making them hard to eat without some difficulty. Several other closely related species are also found in Hawai’i’s waters, including one that is mottled red and silver and another that is silvery red with an olive-yellow dorsal. The ‘aweoweo’s white flesh was good for…

1998 Legislative Report ■ The most often asked question now that the legislative silly season is upon us is, “How can I find out what is going on in the Legislature?” There are only a couple of answers, and none of them are easy: 1. Get elected to office. 2. Help one of your friends get elected to office. 3. Become a lobbyist (I need all the help I can get). 4. Become a “websurfer” on http://www.hawaii.gov/Irb/lib.html. 5. Dial into Hawaii FYI via a modem to reach the Legislature’s Access Computer System. The phone numbers are as follow: O’ahu…… 587-4800 Hawaii…… 974-6640 Maui…… 984-2000 Kauai…… 274-3600 Molokai and Lanai…… 1-800-243-7133 Sometimes you can find bills by a key word search, such as searching for “fish,” “fishing,” “marine conservation,” “boating,” “small…

■ Three Hawai’i fishing vessels have been involved in collisions at sea while underway at night with the vessel’s autopilot engaged or the steering wheel tied down. No one was directly in control of these vessels. In fact, in two of the cases, everyone aboard was asleep. In the third, a lookout was posted, but did not wake the captain in sufficient time for evasive action to be taken to avoid the collision. Although two of these incidents involved large freight ships, no serious injuries or deaths occurred. Given the circumstances, the crews of these vessels are extremely fortunate that they were not hit broadside by the oncoming freight ship, for surely they would have been lost at sea. Apparently, it is common within Hawai’i’s commercial fleet to motor to…

■ Jay Antoque and I could easily hear the sound of the two poppers gurgling and chugging as they made their way back to our oversized canoe. Once Jay’s lure was at his rod tip, he again opened the bail and recast the PILI toward a dark cluster of coral to his left. To our stern, our 40-hp outboard engine was as silent as Dickie-da, our Gilbertese boat driver, and the light Christmas Island trade wind that was gently carrying us across the inner reefs of Christmas Island’s huge lagoon. Above us, a couple of blue-footed boobies pumped their wings once, dipped down and banked to the right and then left as they looked us over. We were just outside of the main town of London, which is about a…

■ “Surf’s up,” best describes the offshore conditions on the Leeward Coast. The National Weather Service posted a caution for the entrance to the Wai anae Boat Harbor on 27 of the 31 days in January. On many of those days, surfers could be observed surfing in the channel entrance. El Nino has made its presence felt with higher than normal surf and reduced rainfall. In spite of the high surf, some fishermen ventured forth. Bobbie Alipio returned to the harbor aboard the KAWENA A with double marlin. His blue weighed in at 360 lbs, and his striper balanced the scale at 40 lbs. Takeo Nishiyama and his family landed their first marlin of the year while aboard their 24-foot Sea Ray, the DAISY N. The 150-lb blue was cut…

Tag and Release Report Charter Desk Report…

OFFSHORE TOURNAMENTS SPRING WAHINE TOURNAMENT April 4 & 5, 1998 Lahaina Yacht Club-Maui (808) 661-0191 835 Front Street, Lahaina, HI 96761 APRIL FOOLS DAY TOURNAMENT April 4 & 5,1998 Hawaii Big Game Fishing Club-Kona (808) 325-7362 P.O. Box 3106, Kailua-Kona, HI 96745 SENORITA’S TOURNAMENT April 18 & 19, 1998 Hawaii Yacht Club-Oahu (808) 949-4622 1739-C Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu, HI 96815 MTBC WAHINE FISHING TOURNAMENT April 18 & 19,1998 Maui Trailer Boat Club-Gary Vinge (808) 244-3304 P.O. Box 672, Wailuku, HI 96793 KONA GOLD‘NBLUE TOURNAMENT May 1,2 & 3,1998 HIBA-Kona (808) 329-6155 P. O. Box 4800, Kailua-Kona, HI 96745 MTBC OVERNIGHTER FISHING TOURNAMENT May 23 & 24,1998 Maui Trailer Boat Club-Gary Vinge (808) 244-3304 P.O. Box 672, Wailuku, HI 96793 KONA CLASSIC TOURNAMENT May 23 & 24,1998 Tropidilla-Kona (808) 325-7300…