Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2000 i Hawaii Fishing News

Open Division-Largest Ulua Smallest Ulua Division ■ With an incoming hurricane, the Sixth Annual Hanapa‘a ‘Ohana Shoreline Fishing Tournament was on the brink of a possible cancellation. Luckily for all, the hurricane never arrived. In fact, the weather that weekend was outstanding. At the final planning meeting of the tournament’s committee, a prayer was said, as always, to protect the participants in the tournament and for the success of the family event. This year, as in the past, the tournament turned out to be a good time for all. With 404 participants every preferred fishing ground on O‘ahu was covered. This year’s event included a new category, the makule division for senior citizens. As usual, there was the open division, where the hardcore big-game shoreline anglers were challenged to catch…

■ When thinking of a family vacation destination, one might think about Walt Disney World. Or Disneyland. But Midway? Yes, Midway. When we decided to take our family vacation on Midway, the kids said, “Midway? What’s in Midway?” “Do they have a pool?” my little one asked with a look of curiosity. I said, “No, but they have a beautiful beach.” So he said, “OK, let’s go.” So, it was off to Midway for the Nishidas. Midway lies about 1,200 miles northwest of Honolulu. It takes about three hours by plane to get there. As the Aloha Airlines plane broke through the clouds, we could see Midway, a shining jewel in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Brilliant white-sand beaches were visible, and miles of fingerlike coral stretched out to…

The Biology of Bait ■ This is the fourth installment of a series on Hawai‘i’s aku fishery. This article will include information about the various species of bait fish that aku fishermen used in their pole-and-line fishing and their methods of harvesting the bait. A brief biological summary of the different species of bait fish (Section A) may provide a clearer view into the fishermen’s baiting practice (Section B), so this article is divided into two parts. Section A Instead of scientific names to describe the various species of bait fish, common names that fishermen are familiar with will be used. Although nehu, or anchovies, account for most of the bait fish taken by aku fishermen, a thorough study of this resource as well as all the other bait fish…

Mele Lawai‘a ‘Ano‘ai me ke aloha. Huka welainala apau loa. ‘A‘ole manao au i ka wela mai ka lani mai. Hoka no ho‘i ina, ‘a‘ole loa‘a i ka mikini ho‘olu ea. Eia kekahi, ke kakau nei au i keia mo‘olelo e pili ana i na mele Lawai‘a. ■ Greetings. Boy, is it hot nowadays! I can’t remember when the weather was so bad. Too bad, if you don’t have an air conditioner. Anyway, my story this month is about Hawaiian fishing songs. Traditional and contemporary Hawaiian songs have long intrigued me because of their innovative lyrics and simplicity. I’ve enjoyed listening to them over the years and have found them invaluable to my study and perpetuation of the Hawaiian culture. Hawaiian music has also proved to be a constant reminder…

■ Immediately after Judge David Ezra rendered his decision requiring the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to provide 100-percent observer coverage aboard Hawai‘i longline fishing vessels, the public was told by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council (WESPAC), the Hawaii Longline Association and others that his ruling would have a devastating, impact on the local economy and local jobs. We decided to take a look at some of the jobs affected by the ruling and found some interesting information. Who’s Fishing As reported in the July 2000 issue of HAWAII FISHING NEWS, we heard from anonymous sources that some of the Hawai‘i-based longline boat owners were importing, crews from the Philippines to avoid paying American crews a percentage of the total catch. Supposedly, the workers are flown in and…

■ It started out as a day to just fly cast and relax on Lake Wilson. But I guess it’s ingrained in me and Stan Wright to constantly think about ways to improve our gear, so we focused on the streamer flies that we would be using that day. Previously, I’d tied up about 10 #12 streamer flies, which would be used on a 6—or 7-weight fly system with a weight-forward full floating line. Stan had described to me the type of streamer flies that had been productive for him in the last half a year. Stan told me that Lake Wilson was now fully catch and release, and for that reason the bass and tucunare fishing was outstanding when the tucs were on the prowl along the weedline, which…

■ “How can jigging save you money when the best jigs cost $13 each and you lose a half-dozen every trip?” That question came in a phone call from an HFN subscriber who read our vertical jigging story in the July issue. We were puzzled, because our article didn’t mention either prices or losses. From further discussion, we learned that the “Let’s Go Fishing Show” reran an episode about deep jigging for ulua off the north coast of kaua‘i at about the same time our article appeared. Our caller’s concerns about costs and losses were actually prompted by the telecast. We got a tape of the telecast and did, indeed, hear the narrator say the jigs cost $13 each. He also said that all but one hooked ulua was eaten…

■ The second annual World Billfish Challenge (WBC) took place in Kona from July 9 to 19, 2000, with anglers from 10 U.S. states and Japan. The WBC is actually three tournaments: the Light Tackle event for 20-, 30—and 50-lb test line categories; the Heavy Tackle event for maximum 130-lb test tackle; and a total release event for The Billfish Foundation. Liaht Tackle • Purse: $78,000. • Product Prize Awards: Penn 130STW. Anticipation and enthusiasm ran high as the call for “start fishing” rang out on Monday morning. We held high hopes for the summer in Kona after winning the World Cup, but the numbers of big fish created problems for the Light Tackle event. Even though anglers had their chances, the big marlin devoured the light line, leaving $78,000…

■ Q: With which hand should you crank the fly reel? A: There is really no right or wrong hand with which to crank in line on a fly reel. It basically boils down to which school of thought you subscribe to and your personal preference. Traditionally, fly reels were right-hand retrieve, just as bait-casting and trolling reels were. Fly reels were shipped from the manufacturer set for riqht-hand crankina. Anglers who wanted to retrieve line with the left hand had to convert their reels to left-hand crank by reading the owner’s manual and changing the orientation of the internal components. This could be a simple procedure, or it could get a little complicated. Now some reels can be ordered from the manufacturer specifically set up for right—or left-hand retrieve.…

Gaffing Longlining Part 2 In ‘Longlining Part 1,’ we looked at the Hawai‘i longline controversy. Last December, federal Judge David Ezra, ruling on an Earthjustice turtle lawsuit, issued an injunction limiting longlining. On June 23, he expanded his ruling to cover an area bigger than the North Atlantic and effectively shut down Hawai‘i’s longline fleet of 115 boats. Informal polls of sport fishermen found little support for Hawai‘i’s 25 million-lb, $55 million commercial fishery. In fact, most near-shore fishermen supported gaffing, clubbing and ice-boxing longlining. With 60 percent of longline fish eaten locally/restaurants, fish suppliers and politicians voiced support for the fishermen, further boiling the hot controversy. On August 3, Judge Ezra, presumably smelling politically blackened sashimi, compromised and amended his decision to allow longline tuna fishing. What’s needed for…

State Gives The Nature Conservancy $3.26 Million ■ Recently, the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) created natural area partnership agreements with The Nature Conservancy (TNC) to manage the Waikamoi Preserve on Maui and the Kaimakou Preserve on Moloka‘i. Under this new partnership, the DLNR will pay TNC $3.26 million over a period of six years, TNC will match state funding on both preserves. These two natural area agreements are among seven partnerships that the state has financed on Maui to protect native plants and birds. A key effort for-TNC‘s conservation plan involves the removal of alien species. Pig eradication is expected because it is a popular conservation practice by both TNC and the state. The Waikamoi Preserve is owned by Haleakala Ranch. It covers 5,230 acres on the…

■ In the end, federal Judge David Ezra did what reason dictated he must do and carefully altered his earlier legal mandate that moved to protect the declining sea turtle populations in the Pacific. The judge‘s recent “compromise” ruling recognized that the bulk of the turtle/longline interactions took place on longlines-set shallow for swordfish rather than those set deeper fortuna. Consequently, Judge Ezra has focused the bulk of the revised restrictions at the Hawai‘i-based swordfish longline fleet. The judge did what he could to balance the scales in favor of the turtles, but it appears that he also carefully considered the realities of the fishing industry involved. For a while, it looked like the $42 million-per-year tuna longline industry in Hawai‘i was being held hostage by the fact that the…

■ The Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) has leapt into cyber-trade and become the first state agency to sell a government “E-service” online through Gov. CayetanO‘s Access Hawaii Program. The E-service went “live” on June 28 and is now available. Several state government services such as information searches, legislative bill tracking and the downloading of forms are already available online through various state agencies; however, the DLNR is the first department to provide a service that involves a monetary transaction. According to DLNR Chairperson Tim Johns, “We’ve been working very hard to make it as easy as possible for the public to access our department. We want the public to be able to get the permits, licenses and other information they need to enjoy the outdoors without having…

■ The summer ‘ahi action continued. Even though it wasn’t a banner year, fishermen were grateful that the big yellowfin continued to hang around. It was interesting to note that there was a significant amount of smaller ‘ahi right around the 100-lb range that were caught late in the season. That is the size fish that are usually expected in March, April and May. Micky Cottrell continued to have a year that most fishermen only dream about. His 29-foot Kamicraft, the CARLA C, regularly returned to the harbor with at least one ‘ahi aboard. On one particularly successful day, he returned with six weighing between 100 and 170 lbs each. Steve Hagi is a regular at ‘the Wai‘anae Boat Harbor. He has his boat, the LADY J, moored there. He…

■ September has a variety of fish to choose from, from ‘ahi (yellowfin tuna), ‘ahi pahala (albacore tuna), a‘u (Pacific blue marlin) and mahimahi (dolphin fish) offshore to hapu‘upu‘u (sea bass) and uku (gray snapper) in the depths. There is also an assortment of inshore water and coastal water fish that I am not familiar with and have never cooked, such as trevally, akule and mackerel scad. I will concentrate on the ones I am familiar with, but welcome recipes from readers who might be more familiar with the other varieties. You will be given credit for your recipe if it is published. Grilled Mahimahi With Orange Vinaigrette and Cilantro Pesto I tried this on a trip to the Bahamas many years ago and then found the recipe in a…

■ The HIBT Pro-Am is the annual “warm-up” event for the older and larger Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament (HIBT). It often serves as a bellwether for the fishing week to come. For most of the tournament, it looked like “tag and release” was’ going to be the standard for this year’s Pro-Am, but Bo Godfrey of Monroe, Louisiana, rewrote that script. By the end of the fishing day on the second of three days of fishing, five Pacific blue marlin and two spearfish had been tagged and released and three ‘ahi had been weighed. The Husker’s Fishing Team aboard the FOXY LADY was in the lead with 400 points, followed by the Kona Game Fishing Club and the Pajaro Valley Gamefish Club. As often happens, the final day of fishing…

Dear Chuck, Just want to share a sea story with you and do a little bragging, too. First off, I’d like to give a big mahalo to you and your staff for giving us a place to tell our stories and show off our trophies. Now down to business. The evening of 15 July .2000, my son Shawn and daughter Sayoko, neighbors Jay, Flo, John and I decided to head to Ka‘ena Point to do some ulua fishing or fishing for anything else that decided to bite. After packing all our gear for the overnight trip, we headed from Kunia toward the North Shore at around 5:30 p.m. This was where it got interesting! As we caravaned our way across no man’s land, the vehicle that carried my son, John…

■ This is a continuation of last month‘s article in which I mentioned that after the longliners are destroyed, the next victims will be the rest, of you. As you are aware, only the broadbill swordfish fishery of the longline fishing was banned, so the. outcome of the court ruling did not completely ban longline fishing. The lawsuit the out-of-state environmental groups filed in federal court should be a good warning and lesson to Hawai‘i‘s fishermen as to what can happen to us because of environmental laws and the National Marine Fisheries Service‘s (NMFS) hidden agenda to ban fishing in Hawai‘i. One of society‘s biggest problems is ignorance. When it comes to fishing, there is so much misinformation being spread, by clever rhetoric that it may be difficult for the…

Rationalization of Fishing Effort Could Reduce Derelict Gear, Fishermen Say ■ Fishing industry representatives from Hawai‘i, Alaska, Washington, California and the South Pacific met August 7 to 11 in Honolulu to develop recommended actions to reduce the amount of derelict fishing gear in the ocean environment. The industry was one of several interest groups participating in the International Marine Debris Conference on Derelict Fishing Gear and the Ocean Environment. While derelict fishing gear accounts for only 5 percent of marine debris, its potential impacts on protected species and coral reefs has been of increasing concern. The majority of the industry participants agreed that effort rationalization should be explored as a mitigation tool and that government should take steps to allow its use. Individual quotas (IQs) and individual transferable quotas (ITQs),…

■ Funny how fishing can be sometimes. As I wandered the docks at Kewalo to pick up some stories, I heard many of the skippers and crews lamenting over how slow the month of July had been. But as we dug into their logbooks and looked at the photos, it became clear that perhaps the expectations were too high. Some great fish were caught in late June and July by the charter fleet, including the harbor’s first 200-lb ‘ahi and a near 600-lb marlin. Stick around. This year should turn out to be just fine. HYC/WYC Independence Day Tournament For the second straight time, I forgot to let the fish know that tournament boats would be out there looking for them. As a result, the catch was a little disappointing.…

For letters, with photos, received durina the month of September we’ll send you HFN’s New‘Embroidered Logo’ Fishing Cap, a Holoholo Style Koolzie and an Official HFN Sticker our wav of saying thanks for sharing your catch! …Hana paa, Chuck Send to: P.O. Box 25040. Honolulu, HI 96825 Dear Chuck, It’s funny, but after all those years joking that I would write a “Dear Chuck” letter, I finally did! Here’s a picture of my sons Kory (with ulua) and Kekumu. It’s Kory’s first big ulua! That fish swallowed Kory’s plug and took us on a joy ride. One and a half hours later and a couple of miles out in the channel, we finally got to gaff this stubborn fish. We were so far out that the Matson barge passed right…