Innholdsfortegnelse for January 1999 i Hawaii Fishing News

Jigs are important tools in the bass fisherman’s tackle box. Their popularity is due to their versatility and ability to catch fish when many other baits fail. Jigs can be worked slowly to pick apart cover and reach small nooks and crannies just like a plastic worm. They can be thrown into small pockets, worked through logs and branches, or dropped into a tangle of weeds. Other baits, such as crankbaits or spinners would be difficult, if not impossible, to fish in those conditions. Many anglers believe that a jig’s effectiveness can also be attributed to its looks and action. When worked correctly, a jig imitates a crayfish, which is high on the list of favorite foods for bass. A bass jig consists of a nose-weighted hook similar to those…

Net Work Did you ever wonder what happens to old nets? Well, I don’t. Not any more. That’s because I just spent a month (November 1998) as an volunteer retrieving lost and discarded nets. These were nets lost by bottom snags, nets lost in storms, parts of nets cut away for patching and nets that were worn out and simply tossed overboard. Trawl nets, gill nets, longlines-you name it, we pulled it. I was a volunteer diver on a cruise involving the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA), the U.S. Coast Guard, a net company and two environmental groups. We sailed to French Frigate Shoals, an atoll about 500 miles northwest of the main Hawaiian islands. It’s a small sprinkling of low sand islands surrounded by coral reefs rising up…

Fly fishing, some say, is the world’s fastest growing participant sport, thanks, in part, to the growing number of anglers who are taking their fly rods to sea. Yes, it’s happening even here in Hawai‘i, where boats are not known for being fly rod friendly! A boat set up for offshore trolling can be loaded with obstacles to fly casting and may not even offer places to store your gear. On a boat rigged for offshore fishing, where would you put a fly rod? Chances are, you’ll see a dozen places to stow standard boat and trolling rods when they aren’t in action and a half-dozen other holders to secure trolling rods to be ready and waiting. Is your only waiting game plan for a fly rod to lean it…

Aloha to everyone from the Garden Isle! It’s been a few months since I’ve reported, so let me bring you up-to-date on the best reported catches of late summer, fall and early winter. The fishing has been pretty spotty overall, and a lot of windy weather has kept the crowds down. The late ‘ahi run never really materialized, and marlin action has been laggard. The ono have cooperated well. Mahimahi action has been hovering on the slow side of steady, but seems to be picking up slightly now. Luckily, there was a lot of shibi-ko and aku action to help fill out the slower days. Anyway, gang, overall it was a pretty rough, sketchy year, and I think we are all hoping that 1999 will usher in some better fishing…

The Hilo Casting Club held its annual Fall Classic on September 11, 12, 13, 1998. The event was open to club members only, and a total of 23 members participated. The classic began at 12 p.m. on September 11 and ended on September 13 at 1 p.m. A weigh-in was held at the club scale house where pupus and soft drinks were provided by the club. There was also a lucky number drawing for all the participants. Prizes and categories consisted of first-through fifth-place trophies and a $5 optional winner-take-all jackpot. A total of 12 fish were brought to the club scale. Dale Ignacio took top honors with his 55-lb ulua; second place went to Kahana Itozaki for his 45.75-lb ulua; third-place honors were given to Jason Imamura for his…

The International Game Fish Association (IGFA) has announced the initial list of tournaments that they have approved as qualifying events for the IGFA Invitational Tournament of Champions (ITOC) scheduled for the year 2000 The 31 tournaments selected represent over 10,000 anglers, 14 countries and eight states More are expected to join the list in the near future. The IGFA Tournament ot Champions will consist of the winning teams from each of the qualifying events. It will take place in the tabled waters of the Kona Coast on the Big Island of Hawai‘i in spring 2000. Mike Leech, president of IGFA, said, "We selected Kona to hold our championship tournament because of the beautiful locale, year-round calm waters, great charterboats and crews, and the ability to catch large marlin year-round.” The…

n In January, the middle of winter, weather can be varied-ranging from very nice to very bad days. More days will be nice, but the month probably will have some severe weather that no one should be caught in. The onset of bad weather is faster than at other times, and the weather is more severe. The severe weather in decreasing events that are likely to occur are, gusty trade winds, high northwest swell and surf, cold front with gusty Kona winds, upper trough and Kona lows. Expect six to 12 days of gusty trades even though January has the lowest number of trade wind days. High northwest swell and surf continue in January. Expect about eight days with surf heights at Sunset Beach, O‘ahu, to be over 10 feet…

We bade farewell to the 1998 world tournament. Next year’s site hasn’t been confirmed yet. Roger said, “It might happen in Germany,” with Lou mentioning France or Italy. Wherever it is, the fellowship will be there. With our luggage loaded in Rip’s truck, we headed for Galveston. That’s where Jerry’s beach home is. The drive was endless. We stopped at a roadside diner for lunch; Rip always stops at this place for ribs-the best ribs on the road. On the way, we got to see cattle grazing and, on one occasion, a cow lying down. Actually, the cow was dead. Rip said he, “saw a coyote next to the cow.” He stopped and reversed. Sure enough, a coyote was there. After seeing us, it backed off. I couldn’t understand how…

When the mighty fish first showed itself, Capt. Brett Middleton knew at first glance that it was huge. It was reminiscent of the monster marlin he had seen when he crewed on a game boat off Australia’s Great Barrier Reef years earlier. But he was fishing his home waters off Madang in Papua New Guinea when the big fish took one of the offerings trolled behind his gamefishing boat, the TALIO, and soon Brett feared that he and his angler had more to contend with than just a big fish. Apparently, the voracious sharks that collected taxes off many a worthy catch in Papua New Guinea were making short work of this fish, too. In the end, all that was left of the great fish was a carcass of bone…

If I had to choose one lure to use to hook and land a papio, it would be a black jig. Previously, a lure by the name of “Boone Tout” was out on the market and easy to get at local tackle shops. Best of all, it caught papio like you wouldn’t believe. The jet-black soft plastic body combined with 5/8-oz leadhead looked like a grub. It looked downright ugly, and most anglers walked past it at tackle shops and never gave it a second glance. But put that same lure in the hands of a guy who could work a rod tip with some finesse, and you had yourself a deadly lure. The streamlined look of the tout was its greatest attribute. Once you worked the rod tip, the…

Nu‘uanu Reservoir #4 Project Checks with the University of Hawaii (U.H.) and U.S. Weather Service show that the current weather situation will worsen considerably with heavy downpours possible. The reservoir level is currently at 30 feet. Because only the middle gate is open, that suggests that the reservoir may be collecting water in excess of the evacuation capability. We double-checked with the Board of Water Supply (BWS), and they maintain that the gate is open to the maximum. Just to verify this, we walked down to the drain tube. We think there are not enough outflows visible to correlate with the drain through the 3-foot diameter gate. The latest news is that they have let the contract go with the Phase II inspection, and the only hang-up is the release…

Dear Chuck, The way this bottom fish closed area thing is going, you could end up with your boat confiscated, or worse, in jail and fined and no more boat. What went down in the area I fish is a complete joke. DLNR has put their closed area right on the middle of a half-mile pinnacle. What were they thinking? Didn’t they look at a map? You might be wondering what my problem is since they left half the pinnacle for us, but it is the biggest setup for trouble I can think of. If I’m on the northeast side, I’m OK. If I’m on the southwest side, I’m going to court. But I wish it were that simple. First off, I could be on the east side and someone…

The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council (WESPAC) at its 98th meeting, held at the Hawaii Prince Hotel on December 1 to 3, 1998, issued a strongly worded statement about the need for immediate action to stop the dumping of marine debris in the North Pacific Ocean. Council Chairman Jim Cook stated that marine debris is probably the root cause of many of the problems associated with threats to protected wildlife in the Hawaiian islands. He noted that the council closed an area 50 nautical miles around the Northwest Hawaiian Islands to the Hawai‘i-based longline fishery on one documented interaction between a longline and a monk seal. However, the threat to these rare animals from marine debris such as discarded fishing nets from the North Pacific trawl fisheries is far…

The Hilo Casting Club held its annual awards luncheon on November 22, 1998, at the Papa‘ikou P&R baseball field. The event was chaired by outgoing vice president Ronald Mandaloniz. A total of 40 members and their guests attended the luncheon. One highlight of the event was a casting contest among the club members. The casting contest was divided into two categories: distance and accuracy. There were two divisions: Penn reels and Newell reels. Contest rules allowed the participants to use only 80-lb test monofilament in the competition. The club’s top distance casting honors went to James Hirayama, who won both the Penn and Newell divisions. His best cast in the Newell Division was a 138-yard bomb that left his fellow club members in awe. Second-place honors went to Cy Yoshioka…

Aloha and a Happy New Year to all! I hope the holidays have been good to you and for you! Several months ago, I wrote an article on the cost(s) of a search-and-rescue (SAR) operation in Hawai‘i. This month’s subject relates to that article and the cost of hoax calls taken by the U.S. Coast Guard from time to time. As a warning, remember before making any prank calls to the U.S. Coast Guard to think again-and save the call for a real emergency! Hoax callers may enjoy leading rescuers on frustrating wild goose chases, but their actions can prevent the U.S. Coast Guard from helping those truly in trouble. And while the jokers probably laugh about the situation, there’s nothing funny about the jail time and heavy fines they…

The month saw 12 blue marlin weighing more than 500 lbs each. The beast of them all was boated aboard Capt. Bill Crawford’s CHIRIPA on the 11th. Tim Ford of Northbrook, Illinois, fished a full day with “B.C.” and crew Scott Pruner without getting a nibble. At 3 o’clock while they were trolling home about 500 fathoms off Red Hill, the beast sneaked up and engulfed the short’ rigger lure. The investment advisor fought his first blue marlin for an hour and a half. When Scott saw the size of this fish, he knew it was bigger than the one he had boated the day before (but that’s a different story). They arrived at the dock and were greeted by many spectators who’d heard through the grapevine that a big…

On Labor Day weekend, from September 5 to September 7, 1998, 50 long-distance casters from around the world, representing six countries, met in Baytown, Texas, to decide who was the best. Teams from Japan (Osaka and Tokyo), Belgium, the Netherlands, South Africa, Great Britain and the United States, including Hawai‘i, competed for the title. In times of high-priced athletes, these men compete only for the title and fellowship, no monetary gain (there isn’t any). Each and every one showed their love of the sport by financing their own trip. Stren, Allstar Rods and Breakaway Tackle made this tournament possible by committing to be sponsors. Penn Tackle, Mustad, GTE Mobile Net, Triangle Transit, Cut Rate Tackle, Hawaiian Host, La Quinta Inns and Spectra Physics all added to the list that made…

Perched atop a dry ‘a ‘a lava rock, I meticulously tied my hook onto my leader and slid on a red glittered Yamamoto grub tail. I quickly fired my HMG graphite rod in the direction of deep submerged coral heads and patiently waited for the ½-oz lead to hit bottom. My mainline was only 4-lb test, and I was using a 4-lb test leader. This was pretty much “suicide” in this area, but I was up for the challenge and I was anxious to fight anything that would tear into my soft plastic lure. Once the lead hit bottom, I quickly engaged the BG 13 reel and started my erratic retrieve by jerking the rod with every other full crank. After about 10 jerks, I quickly opened the bail on…

Boaring, Boaring The Hawaiian islands are a little-known hunters’ paradise. The island of Lana‘i has axis deer hunting with 50-animal herds and 200-lb bucks. On the Big Island, bird hunting on the slopes of the snow-covered 13,800-foot dormant volcano, Mauna Kea, is world-class, matched only by Africa, with bird hunts for chukar, francolin, ErkeI’s francolin, pheasant, kalij and turkeys. World-record sheep and goat trophy hunts are, renown. The Hawai‘i hunt most revered is the wild boar hunt. The Hawaiian boar has the ferocity of the brown bear, the stealth of the buck and the elk’s mystique. Boar hunting in Hawai‘i has a deep tradition but is under the gun from environmental politics, which want to mount the hunter as the trophy. Polynesian voyagers in open sailing canoes around 750 A.D.…

The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council (WESPAC) backed down on bottomfish management. It seems that new genetic studies are showing that bottom fish around all the Hawaiian islands are related all the way up to the northwest. This means that the spawning stocks of many species are not endangered, just overfished in localized areas. New deep-water research dives and 3-D sonar mapping have shown that some of the proposed closed fishing areas are mostly flat barren sand. “Ha! You guys no tell truth-shame.” Due to a slight change in ocean currents, large quantities of plastic trash including ice bags, lightsticks, monofilament line, poly nets and line of all sizes including cargo nets and towline is washing up on windward shores of all islands. Needless to say, we are getting…

“Smoking” best describes the end of the year weather. The winds were kicking, and we even had a little rain. The winter swells have had a northerly component to them, and the entrance to the harbor has been relatively unaffected so far this season. However, this is not the time to let your guard down. Fishing has been slow, even by wintertime standards. Striped marlin were around in enough numbers to make things interesting. A few blues surprised some fishermen by ripping some lines off some reels. Capt. Shannon Frazier, the new owner/operator of the Wai‘anae charter fishing boat LIVE BAIT, had a consistent season in spite of the weather. In the beginning of November, he and his deck hand “Pocho” ran around the corner up to J-buoy and snatched…

BARKING SANDS KAUA’I Hazardous Military Operations are occasionaly conducted in the areas shown on this chart. Notice concerning these operations is mailed to boaters on our mailing list. For further information, or to be placed on our mailing list, call 471-6301 from O‘ahu or 335-4301 from Kaua‘i. If you are planning on entering these areas, please call for the status of scheduled operations, or contact the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Coast Guard Channel 16, Channel 6 or CB22.…