Innholdsfortegnelse for September 1998 i Hawaii Fishing News

■ During the last week of July, the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council (WESPAC) met in Kona and approved final action on several fishery issues important to fishermen in Hawai‘i, as well as fishermen in other regions of the Pacific. WESPAC is represented by 16 members representing American Samoa, Guam, Hawai‘i, the Northern Mariana Islands and several federal agencies including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Department of State and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). The council was established in 1977 as one of eight regional fishery management councils authorized by the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976. The council’s jurisdiction includes all waters from 3 to 200 miles offshore around American Samoa, Guam, Hawai‘i, the Northern Mariana Islands and a…

■ In last month‘s HAWAII FISHING NEWS, we told you how fish cutter Shane Balucan of Kealakekua got a $500 cash reward for recovering a National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) archival tag that was inside a fish he processed for sale at the KTA Superstore in Kailua-Kona. The tag was full of data on swimming depth, light level, body temperature and water temperature recorded every eight and a half minutes for three months. The 98-lb fish was captured ika shibi fishing by Michael Berman on July 2, 1998, on the KUKALAKI toward the end of a long night of fishing off Ho‘okena, along with two other bigeye of about the same size. The fish was tagged by scientists on the NOAA ship TOWNSEND CROMWELL off the South Kona Coast on…

■ The following rules have been formulated by the Hawaii Freedive Spearfishing Association (HFSA) to promote ethical and sporting spearfishing practices, to establish uniform regulations for the compilation of game-fish records, and to provide basic spearfishing guidelines. Hawaii waters are defined as any body of water surrounding the main Hawaiian islands (the Big Island, Maui, Lana‘i, Moloka‘i, O‘ahu, Kaua‘i) from the shoreline and extending 200 miles outward to sea. Included in the boundaries are Fish Aggregation Devices (FADs) and weather buoys. However, excluded are all Marine Life Conservation Districts (MLCDs), Fishing Management Areas (FMAs) and any special management areas, such as the island of Kaho‘olawe, which is protected by a 2-mile perimeter around the island. This ruling is also subject to change pending any rule change by the Department of…

■ The Hilo Casting Club (HCC) held its 23rd annual fishing tournament from Tuesday, July 21, to Saturday, July 25, 1998. A total of 106 anglers from O‘ahu, Maui, Hawai‘i and California participated in the state’s most prestigious shorefishing tournament. The weather conditions for the week could not have been any better. A total of 28 anglers managed to bring 49 fish to the tournament scales. The weigh-in was held on Saturday on the grounds of the Hilo Hawaiian Hotel. The weigh-in started at noon and ended at 2 p.m. Despite a few trade wind showers, the expectant crowd of about 200 people were still present to witness this year’s typically impressive Big Island ulua catches. The weather did not deter the hard-working HCC members from conducting the weigh-in procedures…

Confidence. How many limes have you heard that word used in the same sentence as fishing? I hadn’t heard it very much growing up: but in recent years, one of my good friends reminded me that to be successful, you have to be confident. You have to be prepared for whatever couid happen, and you should have a plan of attack, however basic. I had no recourse but to listen to him. He is one of those fishermen we all envy. He is one of those guys who time after time is successful. As you all know, it’s very difficult to argue with success. Those of you who know Rick Nosaka, know his fishing success is well-earned. He plans ahead and knows what he wants to catch and how to…

Novice cooks and gourmet seafood chefs will love the tempting simplicity of the more than three hundred recipes that are offered in “FRESH CATCH OF THE DAY … from the FISHWIFE.” An extensive array of Fishwife’s Tips will guide readers to success-from choosing fresh seafood, to safe handling and preparation, to innovative cooking in the kitchen and barbecuing and smoking seafood outdoors. This, the second work of author and “Fishwife” Shirley Rizzuto, spanned the last decade of the 20th century’. As we enter the next millennium and increasing attention is given to healthy living for longer life, scientists and dietitians predict we will turn more and more to the oceans of the world for healthy eating. With this in mind, “FRESH CATCH OF THE DAY” will most certainly become a…

As anticipated and predicted, the summer weather was kind and obliging for fishermen. Light trade winds of 5 to 15 mph cooled the fishing fever here on Lana‘i-the ono, mahimahi, marlin and aku fever, that is. We had a couple of days of 10-to 20-mph South Kona winds, some 10-to 20-mph trades and occasionally some southeasterly winds. This made conditions ideal for fishing-the water was not too rough and not too flat. As I worked at the Manele Bay Hotel swimming pool/deck area, I could see Lana‘i and Maui boats passing by, trolling the regular fishing grounds. Hordes of charterboats were seen trolling Lana‘i’s waters. They could be heard on the CB radio, Channel 4, telling each other of their good luck with their daily fish catches. A wealth of…

September, a transitional month between summer and winter, is usually the month with the least bad weather. It would be the month of lowest bad weather activity if tropical cyclones did not appear in Hawai‘i waters. The potential of a tropical cyclone invading our waters is about the only major threat during the month. Trade winds will still prevail, but the gusty trades will be at their minimum for the year; only about four days in the month. Northwesterly swell and surf heights are slowly picking up, but the very high surf is still a month or more away. Southerly surf action is decreasing, but there’s still a chance of higher than normal swell from that direction.…

Numero Uno Ono in Kona ■Where else but Hawai‘i can you enjoy a refreshing boat ride and have an exciting fishing trip as an incentive? Thanks to my friends from Kona, Wes, Craig and Ivan, my fishing trip in June was a dream come true. It was the best half-day fishing I‘ve ever had. After about an hour of trolling, we started hooking up with some numero uno ono. After seeing the sizes of these “barracuda on steroids,” I decided to put my light tackle away because it would have been used and abused by these monsters ranging from 25 to 60 lbs. To a beginner, they were big! They went after any color lure we threw at them. For each crank I reeled in, an ono would take 10…

A Record-Keeping Organization ■ It was April 12, 1992, when Brian Yoshikawa called and asked if I would do an article on his fish. He was positive he had a world record. The ono was 5 feet 6 inches long, measured 32 inches around the girth and weighed 68½ lbs. He submitted his application to the International Underwater Spearfishing Association (IUSA), the worldwide governing body of record keeping for speared fish caught by way of free-diving. This organization was formed in 1950 and has certified over 60 world records. Since then, the sport of free-dive spear fishing has grown rapidly. For one thing we have better equipment, boats, guns, wet suits, floatlines and GPS, all of which have the diver in the water faster, longer, deeper. In some cases, the…

■ Here’s a preview of what host Mike Sakamoto has in store for you. August 30 to September 5-Mooching for Cold Kings at El Capitan Mike heads out with George Wilkins, Scott Van Valin and Troy Mench to do some “mooching” for 30-lb king salmon. George is the lucky angler of the day. He lands more than his share and shows everyone that he has the touch. You’ll learn how to rig cut herring and how to “mooch.” Mike fishes with light tackle and has a ball hooking king salmon. September 6 to September 12-Live ‘Oama Trolling in Kane ohe Bay Mike teams up with Stan Wright and Doug Lum, and they work the inside reefs of Kane‘ohe Bay for big papio. The guys hook into their share of small…

■ The morning was cool and serene as I readied my gear with great anticipation. My quarry today would be the great he‘e (octopus). Putting an arrow into a wary uhu or ulu is very challenging, but arrowing an octopus may be the archer’s ultimate accomplishment. The he‘e is the epitome in camouflage. It can change colors to perfectly match its surroundings. One of my tricks is to wear a camouflage long-sleeved shirt. This gives me the ability to imitate the he’e’s ability to hide. Finding the hidden octopus is difficult at best even when you’re in the water (diving), but seeing this cagey critter while standing on dry land takes even more patience. One of my keys to successfully finding he‘e is to look for movement. He‘e have an…

■ School is back in session. That’s good news for fishermen who live near modern institutions of higher learning. There, if you know where to look, you’ll find materials to make two extremely useful casting aids. These days, many schools have replaced their chalkboards and chalk with slick writing surfaces and ink pens. The plastic pen barrels are the perfect size and shape to make casting, chugging floats that work great whether you fish from a boat or the shore. Used-up marking pens fill trash barrels daily. (The best place to look is in math classroom waste baskets-math teachers go through them by the dozens in a frenzy of fractions, formulas and functions.) Start with a discard-don’t monkey around with a pen that still has ink left, or you will…

Top Team Wins $20,000 ■ Capt. Wally Talbot and the crew of the ALII KAI reeled in a 707-lb marlin on the afternoon of August 15 to win the jackpot $20,000 grand prize in the Largest Fish Overall Division in the First Annual Hooters Big Game Fishing Tournament. The ALII KAI was chartered by Rodolfo “Rudy’1 Acosta of Carson, California, and the crew consisted of son Rick Acosta. Bob Yoon and Carl Guerra. Rudy said his son Rick, who had never gone fishing before, saw a poster for the tournament in the Brown Bottle store in Hale’iwa. Understanding his father’s love of fishing. Rick called his dad and asked him to come to Hawai‘i to be a part of the Hooters fishing tournament. Rudy agreed and brought his family of…

■ Many years ago, when I was very young and very poor, I decided to make my own casting rod. A switch from a hazelnut tree, screw eyes for guides and a converted bicycle handle made up the rod. I obtained the reel from a junk shop. It had no brakes, no thumb guard; all it could do was crank line, often in both directions. I did manage to cast a braided line at least 15 feet. True, it did catch fish, but mostly when I was lying on a branch in a tree and fishing the dripline. Because I had used screw eyes as “guides,” I was forced to use the rig upside-down. The rig met with sudden destruction when a pike grabbed my worm and stripped the line…

Special for readers of HAWAII FISHING NEWS! Bob Bourke, shown here, has offered to give a talk and slide presentation on ciguatera fish poisoning to any fishing club on O‘ahu for free! Neighbor-island fishing clubs can also be accommodated with a little more advanced notice. Interested clubs can make arrangements by calling Oceanit Test Systems on O‘ahu at (808) 531-3017. Bob has done a lot of fishing and fisheries research around the state over the past couple of decades. He gives a good talk with lots of factual information about ciguatera that all Hawai‘i fishermen should know about. His fish stories are pretty good, too, but I’m not sure I believe the one about the 70-lb ulua and the kite string. Aloha…. Tim Lee…

During the month, Kona waters produced 17 blue marlin weighing more than 500 lbs each and eight ‘ahi weighing more than 200 lbs each, many with interesting stories. A ‘Grand’ Start Starting the month off with a bang, Capt. McGrew Rice and first mate Capt. Fran O’Brien aboard the IHU NUI landed a 1,019-lb blue marlin for angler Daniel O’Callaghan of Colorado. The fight took three hours, the last hour of which first mate Capt. Brian Toney brought the dead fish up from 300 yards with 60 to 70 lbs of drag. This was Capt. Rice’s first grander as captain and Daniel’s first Pacific blue marlin. World Cuppers The World Cup tournament was held on July 4. For those of you who don’t know, the World Cup is a tournament…

It finally happened: we had an ‘ahi bust. About a week before the full moon, from Sunday through Wednesday, reels were screaming, lines were smoking and fishermen were smiling. That is, until they received a call from the auction block telling them to pick up their fish. It seems that some boats really loaded up. One boat from Hale‘iwa caught 11 ‘ahi on that Sunday. Many other boats had six or more, and the majority of the boats fishing those days had at least one. Low price or the inability to sell ‘ahi caught during those days was the result of low demand, high supply brought in by longliners, and the troll-caught fish grading out at a lower quality, possibly due to not having enough ice aboard for the number…

■ For Bill Ernst, Gerald Lim and Rene Rojas of the GLACD, it was another day at the office. For the HCDC, it was a learning lesson. In the end, the GLACD team walked away with top honors, followed by HCDC Team 1 in second and RI Team 1 in third. Many in Hawai‘i anticipated a victory at Rhode Island. We sent three teams (three men per team) and one alternate, perhaps the largest contingent ever (from out-of-state) in a national competition. In spite of HCDC’s second-and fourth-place finishes in the team standings, their second-, fourth-, seventh-and 10th-place finishes in the individual standings and their sweep of all the large fish categories, some still wondered, “Why did Hawai‘i come up short?” I will try to answer that question and more…

■ A floating device that has a diver’s flag is now mandatory for any sport diver, and boaters are supposed to stay 100 yards away, as a safety perimeter. I’ve been skin and scuba diving for years, and I’ll be the first to admit that hearing a boat zip overhead can be incredibly scary. Getting ground up by a propeller is not one of those things that I look forward to. So, the perimeter rule is one that I totally agree with. As for creating an affordable float, that can be done a lot of different ways. I’ve seen some divers make them out of large sections of bamboo stalks put together in pontoon fashion, jugs, boogie boards and large boat bumpers. To me, inexpensive white boat bumpers are one…

■ For a long time now, many people throughout the state have tried to decide the best way to address the unrestricted and irresponsible use of gill nets. For many, this issue is not an easy one because there are a number of people who have used gill nets responsibly over the years, but even now find themselves having to use more and more net to catch fewer and fewer fish. As you may have heard, in response to a number of requests from the community, the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) has been asked to assist in the formation of a task force to consider possible restrictions on the use of lay gill nets in state waters. The DLNR has in turn asked William Aila and Bob…

■ Nearly 300 women in 72 boats participated in the largest women’s fishing tournament ever held in the state of Hawai‘i off of the Kona Coast. The Third Annual Huggo’s Na Pua ‘O Ke Kai Wahine Fishing Tournament, which is held annually in Kona, is a fund raiser for the nonprofit community organization Family Support Services of West Hawaii, as well as an opportunity for the women to fish in a world-class marlin tournament. The winning teams competed for over $12,600 in cash and prizes. There were prizes for the largest marlin, ‘ahi, ono, mahimahi and a special award for the mother/daughter team catching the largest fish. As tournament director, I was happy to see such a large turnout this year. We all have so much fun organizing this tournament,…

Plastics in the Ocean A recent trip to Midway and a flurry of discussion about plastic on local beaches in the press reminded us once again of the increasing problem of discarded plastics in our ocean. On Midway, one sees the results of mankind’s sloppy plastic waste disposal in the excreta of the Laysan albatross that nest on the island. Bits of colorful plastic chips the size of a thumbnail are mixed with battery caps, pill bottle tops, tiny plastic gear cogs and wheels from various toys and marine equipment, along with hundreds (perhaps thousands) of plastic cigarette lighters. These plastic items of flotsam and jetsam are snapped up at sea by adult albatrosses foraging for their young, then regurgitated to the juveniles back on Midway. The lucky youngsters are…

Update on Haie-O-Lono Harbor By the time you read this, it will be four and a half months since our letter to Gov. Cayetano regarding Hale-O-Lono Harbor was written. Three closing sentences of that letter may jog your memory. “The bottom line is that the public got short changed. Hale-O-Lono should have been returned in good condition and ready for safe public use without the expenditure of any public funds or leasing this precious public harbor resource to private enterprise. This did not happen, and we would appreciate your having the attorney general investigate this matter and seek proper restitution from the leasees to restore Hale-O-Lono Harbor to the ‘good condition’ called for in the lease.” After a month’s wait, we got a response that acknowledged the problem, but passed…

What does the typical Hawai’i-born. Los Angeles transplant miss most about the islands? For Terri Gedo, it’s the food and local flavors. “Sure, there are restaurants in LA that come close to the flavors I grew up with,” Terri said, “but the blends aren’t perfect. Back home, whatever your craving of the moment, you know exactly which restaurant to head for, and you are never disappointed.” How does Terri solve the problem? She duplicates the dishes with the stash of ingredients she takes back to Los Angeies after a visit home to Kuli‘ou‘ou. And. whenever family members and friends visit her or even pass through on their way to someplace else, Terri provides them with a shopping list of ingredients that will keep her happy … for a while, at…

For Letters, with photos, received during the month of july we’ll send you an HFN Holoholo Style Koolzie, HFN Cap and two Offical HFN RV or Boat Window Stickers…our way of saying HFN RV or Boat Window Stickers…our way of saying thanks for sharing your catch! …Hana pa‘a, Chuck Send to: P.O. Box 25040, Honolulu, Hl 96825 Howzit Chuck, Before I go on, I’d just like to say the HAWAII FISHING NEWS is DA BOMB! Ok, on with my fishing tale. I just came back from Honolulu to my home town of Hilo. On May 26, 1998, it was a cherrg day to go fishing, so I did. I went down to a place in Keaukaha called “Brown’s” to do mg fishing. When I got there, there was only one…