Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2000 i Hawaii Fishing News

Kaulana Kai ■Hau‘oli Makahiki Hou! Mana‘olana au ia ‘oukou e loa‘a ai na makana a nui. Na‘u e loa‘a mai ku‘u ipo i kekahi mau meet o ka lawai‘a. Mahalo a nui nui! Eia no ho‘i, ke pomaika‘i ia ‘oukou i ka makahiki maika‘i a me lawai‘a pono. ‘O ka‘u mo‘olelo e pili ana i kaulana kai o Havuai‘i nei. Happy New Year! I hope you folks got plenty, plenty gifts. For myself, my sweetheart got certain fishing items that I had wanted for a long time. Big mahalo for that! Anyway, I wish you an awesome year and good fishing in the forthcoming months. My story this month is about the famous channels of Hawai'i. Most islanders and outsiders are familiar with the Kaiwi (the bone) Channel that plays…

In a society as fast-paced as our own, where patience is rarely practiced and everyone wants to purchase greatness, it’s nice to know that time, experience, persistence, practice and a pinch of luck can still bring someone a bit closer to what we all are really searching for: happiness. The day started out like many-wiping the piapia from my eyes, walking past the bathroom mirror, inhaling slightly, sticking my chest out and telling myself, “Yeah, I can miss another day at the gym.” During our drive to South Kona, Bruce Ayau and I talked about the usual things guys talk about: how much beer we could drink in college, the supermodels we’d passed up and who was going to win the next football game. After parking the truck, we suited…

Adventures With the Devil Fish One weekend I hooked into a 500-plus-lb fish with the anchor of my boat. The fish ended up taking my anchor, 15 feet of chain and 150 feet of rope. It all started early Saturday morning when I took our 16-foot Alii Kai south from Honokohau Harbor along “ono alley.” 1 ran the 50-fathom line all the way down to Cook Monument without seeing a single fish. No birds, no bait, no strikes, no fish-’not such a great day for ono. I decided to take a break and get in some diving a little south of Kealakekua Bay. I knew of a spot about 60 feet deep where there is a lot of coral and huge peacock bass roam. Just as 1 was deciding where…

Dear Chuck, Kitty Simonds, executive director of WESPAC, has spent considerable effort to discredit Judge Erza’s recent decision to close the habitat of the sea turtles from longline fishing. Kitty is quick to toss out the aggregate data that celebrate the economic value of the longline fishery: 25 million tons of tuna and swordfish are caught at a landed value of $50 million. This data is for the entire fishery, and not the kapu area. Yet, as we do not consume nearly that amount, the considerable exported fish go from longliner to dealers and brokers and then on to Tokyo and New York. As a result, the state of Hawai'i reaps only ½ percent wholesale tax on the value of the fish. Sure, the longline fishery injects $50 million into…

The tagging program went offshore again, completing a week-long trip that covered 1,000 nautical miles and fished the Cross Seambunt, Weather Buoy 2 and Weather Buoy 3 and revisited the seamount before returning to Honolulu. Fish were tagged at all three locations, with most of the 46 yellowfin and 477 bigeye tagged and released around Buoy 2 (approximately 250 miles south of Honolulu). Eighty tuna (27 yellowfin and 53 bigeye) ranging from 10 to 50 lbs were tagged around near-shore FADs off the island of Hawai'i. Large numbers of very small yellowfin were not located around near-shore FADs this winter, but fishermen in several areas around the state reported good numbers of larger fish in the 20-to 40-lb range. Nineteen short-term recaptures were reported from the offshore releases made during…

Penn’s new 525 MAG casting reel, originally engineered for world-record casting competitions, allows any angler to reach distant hot spots with unsurpassed ease and accuracy. An exciting addition to Penn’s popular GS graphite reel series for 2000, the 525 MAG is ideal for surf fishing or any situation requiring superior casting performance. Whether you want to launch a bait way beyond the breakers or throw a light iron or “pinhead” anchovy to a far-off kelp paddy, the new 525 MAG is perfectly designed for the job. While this reel is the same size and holds the same amount of line (275 yards of 15-lb test) as Penn’s 525GS model, the 525 MAG features a unique, sophisticated magnetic casting control system. Incorporating four rare earth magnets and a sliding adjustment on…

At midnight on January 1, 2000, the waters off Waikiki Beach from the ‘Ewa wall of the Natatorium east to the Diamond Head Lighthouse reopened to fishing for one year. These waters make up the Waikiki-Diamond Head Shoreline Fisheries Management Area (FMA), where fishing is allowed during even-numbered calendar years only. However, the adjacent waters to the immediate west of the FMA-from the ‘Ewa wall of the Natatorium to the Kapahulu groin-are not open to fishing at any time. These waters make up the Waikiki Marine Life Conservation District (MLCD) where fishing, possession of fishing gear and removal of any type of marine life are illegal. A straight line going seaward along the ‘Ewa wall of the Natatorium separates the area where fishing will be allowed this year from the…

On January 15, 2000, lands previously closed due to fire hazards were reopened for public access. The reopened areas include portions of the Waimea Canyon and Koke’e state parks, the Pu‘u Ka Pele Forest Reserve and the Kekaha Game Management Area. Hunting for feral pigs in Units A and J will reopen on February 5, 2000, to permitted hunters. Game bird hunting season will remain closed. Beginning on February 12, 2000, the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) will conduct a special one-month opening of rainbow trout fishing in the Koke’e Public Fishing Area (PFA). Fishing will continue daily through March 12. All anglers must have a valid freshwater fishing license to fish. Anglers may fish between 6:45 a.m. and 5:45 p.m. during this opening. The daily bag limit…

Aloha from the Hamakua Coast on the Hilo side of the Big Island. I have loved to cook from the age of about 14 years, and through the years I’ve participated in many cooking classes and demonstrations, both as a student and as a teacher. Since 1980 I have owned and operated cooking schools or kitchen/gourmet shops, both in South Carolina and in Florida. Our present cooking school and bed-and-breakfast combination, The Cooking School at Akaka Falls Inn, evolved from our involvement with locally grown produce and products. My cooking style has been called “hapa” by Bob McGarvey, a writer for Islands Magazine out of Santa Barbara, California, who attended and participated in one of our four-day cooking programs. A chance business trip to the Orient in 1979 resulted in…

It’s still winter but February’s weather is normally less severe than January’s. Good weather will prevail during the majority of the days in the month, but bad weather periods can cause problems: gusty trade winds, upper trough and Kona low with thunderstorms and heavy rain. The fast and sometimes unexpected appearance of these strong winds in local waters should be considered by those planning activities in the water. Wintertime high northwest swell and surf action is gradually winding down. At Sunset Beach, O'ahu, expect about four days of surf higher than 10 feet but less than 20 feet and surf heights between 6 and 10 feet on about 12 days. Trade winds are expected on over half of the days in the month with gusty trades on about four to…

Dear Chuck, It was September and the 'oama were still around, but the papio action had slowed quite a bit. My girlfriend Trudy and I had been dunking these prime baits for the past few weekends with some success and some frustration. We'd also watched a golden trevally (striper) swim around and tease us for couple of weekends. It just so happened that HFN printed a very informative article about this particular species. So, we managed to round up some crabs. Hopefully this "striper" was hungry for them. Fishing with live 'oama is much more exciting than using cut or dead baits. The rod tip and bell will indicate that something is nearby when a fresh 'oama is used for bait. But using crabs and staring at the still rod…

The aquarium collecting industry in West Hawai'i has had a long, contentious history. As early as July 1973, public concern over collecting activities prompted the Division of Fish and Game to suspend the issuance of aquarium fish permits. The division had received legislative authority to regulate the use of fine mesh aquarium nets and issue permits 20 years earlier. The suspension was lifted one week later. The stated reason for doing so was, “to enable the Division of Fish and Game to investigate an alleged decline in the population of colorful shallow water marine fish species without disrupting the activities of the tropical fish aquarists,” It was at this time that aquarium permittees were first required to submit monthly fish catch reports. Shortly after the suspension was lifted, the 10-member…

Marlin Mag Editor Gaffs Hawai‘i Fishermen David Ritchie is editor of Marlin magazine, the glossy marlin magazine published in Florida. Recently, David brought up marlin issues affecting HAWAII FISHING NEWS and every Hawai'i blue-water fisherman. David e-mailed the following: “Let me be quite frank by saying that an article you wrote recently for the HAWAII FISHING NEWS (about a 999-pound blue caught aboard a small boat) doesn’t do much to enhance your image-or Hawai'i’s, for that matter. Is it any wonder that many people still feel Hawai'i is behind the times when articles like yours brag about: a) having no regard for IGFA rules, b) using a pistol to subdue a marlin, and c) using marlin to make fish cake?” The article that David disparagingly refers to is “‘GRANDER’ by…

The Hilo Casting Club (HCC) held its 1998-1999 annual awards dinner in conjunction with its Christmas party on the evening of December 21, 1999, at the Wailoa State Park Pavilion. Outgoing Vice President Cy Yoshioka was the event coordinator. The members were treated to a dinner, which included steak, kalbi short ribs, teriyaki chicken, Korean chicken, assorted sushi and, of course, lots of rice. The club also provided the soft drinks for the evening. Dessert was donated by several members. After a hearty dinner, the members’ children were treated to a visit from Santa Claus, who provided each of them with a special gift. After Santa’s departure, incoming Vice President Don Yanagisawa raffled off some lucky-number prizes. The next order of business was to acknowledge HCC’s top anglers of the…

NRA in Hawai'i Battle The National Rifle Association (NRA) has donated $5,000 to the Sportsmens’ Conservation Alliance to further the palila legal battle between eco-legal teams and Hawai'i outdoorsmen. The money will be spent on the legal bills for the transcripts needed in filing an appeal in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The appeal was filed and registered on November 30, 1999. The NRA donation marks the endangered species palila case as a pivotal environmental issue with a U.S. Supreme Court fight not only possible but also probable. The palila has been the bird of issue in three court cases. Palila 3 was recently decided by Honolulu Justice Samuel King against the interests of outdoorsmen and the state of Hawai'i. Judge King denied that palila wildlife…

Donnell “Andy” Tate has been appointed as the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) representative for West Maui. He is filling the position previously held by A. J. Huddleston, who is the new Maui County at-large IGFA representative. Donnell is also the Maui County representative for the Hawaii Fisherman's Foundation; Maui chairman for the Billfish Tag and Release Program, sponsored by the Lahaina Yacht Club (LYC); LYC harbor advisor/liaison; Lahaina Harbor/Mala Wharf advisory board member; and local responder in oil pollution control and cleanup for the Clean Islands Council. Donnell has worked as a sportfishing photojournalist on Maui for the past 18 years with columns in the Lahaina News and HAWAII FISHING NEWS. Since 1983, he has served on the Lahaina Jackpot and Spring Wahine Fishing Tournament committees. He is the…

Dear Chuck, On July 9, I took a friend, Scott Yamauchi, out for a fishing trip that he will never forget. There was anticipation in the air as word of ‘ahi coming up spread through the CB radio conversations. At around 6:30 a.m., we were about 15 miles outside of Makua. The seas were rough, so we decided to turn the boat in toward calmer water. Within 15 minutes, we got our first strike. Our portside outrigger came crashing down, and the Penn 80 was screaming line out at an alarming rate. I told Scott to jump on the reel and keep the line tight while I cleared lines. It took us around 25 minutes to land the ‘ahi, which later weighed 142 lbs. Scott was extremely exhausted and was…

Warning! Kaho'olawe and its surrounding waters contain quantities of unexploded ordnance which are hazardous to public health and safety. Unauthorized entry into the waters within 2 nautical miles of Kaho'olawe is prohibited. (Hawai'i Administrative Rules 513-260.) The island of Kaho'olawe and the submerged lands and waters within 2 nautical miles of the island are designated the Kaho'olawe Island Reserve (KIR). The reserve is under the jurisdiction of the Kaho'olawe Island Reserve Commission (KIRC). The KIR is divided into two zones: Zone A-The island of Kaho'olawe and all waters and submerged lands between the shore of Kaho'olawe and the 20-fathom isobath, which surrounds Kaho'olawe; and Zone B-All waters and submerged lands between the 20-fathom isobath, which surrounds Kaho'olawe, and 2 nautical miles from the shore of Kaho'olawe. Unauthorized entry into Zone…

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 tum more and more to the oceans of the world for healthy eating Available at ... • Pacific Rim Fishing Supply • McCully Bicycle • Waldenbooks •…

In the final quarter of the 1900s, technology took over offshore fishing. One of the best Kona catches of 1999 illustrates a few of the high-tech and low-tech ways this happened. Last September, the charterboat HO'OKELE, with captains Guy Terwilliger and Chip Van Mois, hooked and boated a 933-lb blue marlin (the fifth largest Kona blue of the year) for Minneapolis fishermen Lanny Adler and Bob Friedman. Guy spotted the big blue on an electronic fishfinder after picking up some live bait at VV-buoy. They sent one of their baits down 30 fathoms on an electric downrigger, keeping the other at the surface to entice any fish feeding on top. From past experience, Guy was fairly certain the mark was a marlin but probably too deep to see the downrigger…

This is the second installment in a series on Hawaii’s aku fishery. This part will include information on the various methods used in catching aku and some history of Hawai'i’s pole-and-line aku fishery. Broadly, there are two basic methods of catching aku: the hook method; and the net method. Although the net method is not currently practiced in Hawai'i, some attempts at gill net fishing were made in the past. In addition, a resource survey was conducted to determine the possibility of establishing a purse seine operation in Hawai'i. Around the late ’40s, the federal government engaged the aku boat BROADBILL to conduct gill net fishing trials. Although some 2,000 lbs of otaru were caught on one of the trials, study results suggested that the gill net method of harvesting…

Celebrating their first year as a fishing club, the Extreme Shorecasters gathered at the Natsunoya Teahouse in the. heights of Kalihi, overlooking Honolulu. On the program for the evening were good fun, lots of food, trophies, tons of prize giveaways and, of course, the dreaded “banana dance”! As a club guest, I was fortunate to meet this fun bunch of people, including the club’s only female member, Jennifer Gushikawa. Jennifer is an avid angler whose forte is fishing with spinning gear. She and her boyfriend and fellow club member Al Alvaro make good fishing partners and share the fun of fishing. I think there should be more clubs with female members! This year, Club President Wally Rivera was named “Mr. Extreme,” a title that goes to the person who does…

Mike Vidal, from Kailua-Kona, Hawai'i, traveled the farthest to Sailfish Marina and Resort in Palm Beach Shores, Florida, to compete for the coveted WBS World Champion of Billfishing title, and it proved worth his while. Mike, a retiree and fishing charter operator in Kona, caught and released a sailfish on each day of the two-day WBS Grand Championship Tournament for the win. Both fish were caught on dead baits (making them worth 150 points each), and his total angling time was an impressive four minutes. Mike was fishing on the 57-foot Viking, LOST TEXAN, along with his teammate, WBS angler Bob Brack, from Kirkland, Washington. “My year has just been fabulous. It started in July at a tournament in Hawai'i where 1 caught a 974-lb blue marlin. The WBS event…

Winter’s winding down, but strong winds and high surf should continue to be a concern to all boaters and fishermen. We have had a few northwest swells so far, but there have been longer periods of time that the water has been malia, or flat. The trade winds have been blowing consistently in the 20- to 30-mph range, with a major exception around New Year’s Eve. I thought for sure that the folks in Nawiliwili could see the fireworks display that the Wai'anae Coast put on! They sure lit up the night sky and made a lot of smoke, I don’t recall being bothered by mosquitoes, though. Fishing was, well, fishing! Sometimes it’s great and sometimes it’s good but, it’s never bad. It sure beats going to work or cleaning…

At the end of 1999, the fishing picked up quite nicely on O'ahu’s South Shore, and the last couple of weeks of the year saw some great weather, too. Lots of aku were reported. I predicted that a monster marlin was going to come home before the end of the year, but it just didn’t happen. Two boats definitely had a shot at it, though. On Christmas Eve, the WILD BUNCH broke off an estimated 700-pounder at leader about 10 miles straight out from Pearl Harbor. Then on the 29th, the SEA VERSE got spooled in less than two minutes on a morning half-day trip. This month, I have the Kewalo year in review for HFN readers. Over the course of writing the “Honolulu Seawatch,” I’ve tried to collect the…

The Y2K hype wasn’t the only thing leading up to the end of the year that was a bust. The billfish totals for the Lahaina fleet for the last month of 1999 were drastically down from the previous December’s totals. The billfish bite during December ’98 went off big-time, making it the best month of that year. There were 50 blue marlin, 30 striped marlin and 16 spearfish weighed, and another eight blue marlin, 15 striped marlin and two spearfish released for a monthly total of 121 billfish. That bite continued into January 1999. December ’99 saw only eight blue marlin, 11 striped marlin and one spearfish weighed and one blue marlin, four striped marlin and one spearfish released for a monthly total of 26 billfish. That was 95 (or…

For letters, with photos, received during the month of February we’ll send you an HFN Holoholo Style Koolzie, HFN Cap and two Official 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, HI 96825 Howzit Chuck, Check out this 20-inch long by 8-inch wide slipper lobster. I caught it off the south side of Maui on September 27, 1999. I was helping my partner Preston find one palani in one hole when I looked to my left and saw this dinosaur looking at me. Nice grab, eh? Mahalo, Ray Delapinia Kihei, Maui Dear Chuck, Here is picture of Michelle with her giant bull mahimahi, which weighed an amazing 54.5 lbs and measured 70 inches long. We…

OFFSHORE TOURNAMENTS IGFA TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS - KONA March 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 & 12, 2000 Florida-(954) 927-2628 300 Gulf Stream Way, Dania Beach, FL 33004 SENORITA’S TOURNAMENT April 8 & 9, 2000 Hawaii Yacht Club-Oahu (808) 949-4622 1739-C Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu, HI 96815 4TH ANNUAL KONA CLASSIC TOURNAMENT May 12, 13 & 14, 2000 Tropidilla-Kona (808) 325-7300 P.O. Box 2158, Kailua-Kona, HI 96745 PEARL HARBOR FISHING TOURNAMENT May 27, 2000 Rainbow Bay Marina-Oahu (808) 473-0279 AHI FEVER IN WAIANAE June 10 & 11, 2000 Waianae Boat Fishing Club-Oahu (808) 696-3399 P.O. Box 821, Waianae, HI 96792 http://www.stkhi.com/AHI_FEVER BIG ISLAND INVITATIONAL MARLIN TOURNAMENT June 14, 15, 16, 17 & 18, 2000 Tropidilla-Kona (808) 325-7300 P.O. Box 2158, Kailua-Kona, HI 96745 NORTH SHORE HANAPA'A JACKPOT TOURNAMENT…