Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2001 i Hawaii Fishing News

◾ It was Sunday morning, and I was going on my normal Sunday fishing expedition with my friend and fishing buddy Bill Dierssen. I drove over to pick up Bill and his gear, and as we loaded his gear, he said he was just taking his spinner for dunking and his little ultralight whipping pole. He decided to leave his big-game gear at home. I had a couple of spinners for dunking and one big-game casting pole with a Penn Senator 114HL reel recently loaded with new Izlon 80-lb test line. We made sure we had some ika for dunking with the spinners, some chips for nourishment and, most important, enough ice to keep our beer cold. We were ready to head out! After about an hour’s drive over a…

The First Jump ■ “Watch it! I saw a lot of color back there. Back off the drag if she starts taking off onus,” I said as the boat slowed and David Wolfsen took the 130-class rod to the chair. As Kaulike Rice cleared the lines, the reel started to scream. “Back it off. I’m coming around,” I said as I turned the agile 37’ Merritt NORTHERN LIGHTS to chase the screaming fish. We ran the fish down for 400 yards or so, keeping a large belly of line in front of us. At that point, I wasn’t sure where the fish was. Our top shot of 300. yards. was put; so] spun the boat around and backed quickly out to sea. The fish changed directions and went down. Kaulike…

■ Our village just celebrated its first Ginger Festival. For the past year, I have been collecting quite a few recipes using ginger with the idea of the Village Association publishing its own little ginger cookbook in the near future. It has been fun testing recipes for the last several months. I have selected two of my favorites for this month’s column. In addition, I’ve included a non-ginger pupu recipe contributed by a member of my cooking club. ‘Ahi will continue to be plentiful in our waters for the next few months, and these recipes will celebrate the fact! ‘Ahi Steaks With Asian Flavors This recipe is very low fat for those of us who are calorie-conscious. 4 ‘ahi steaks, about 6 oz each1 tablespoon lime juice1 tablespoon dry sherry1…

Coast Guard Caught Off-Guard ■ January 31, 2001, started out like any other average, beautiful day in Hawai'i. was in my usual mode of poking around the waterfront and chatting with longliners. I pulled up alongside a boat in the vicinity of Pier 35 and saw workers aboard the vessel CLEAN ISLANDS busily washing down their boat and equipment. A milky white substance was flowing off the stern of the boat, and it immediately caught my eye. It was spreading across the water in a plume that was at some points 50 feet wide and 100 to 200 feet long. It suddenly hit me: “Wait a minute! That’s the CLEAN ISLANDS, the vessel that was used to clean up the recent Tesoro oil spill! If they are washing down their…

“Ke kukui ka pili ia o ka uhu.” In traditional times, fishers spread kukui oil on the surface of the water to calm the ripples so one could see clearly to the bottom. Critical Habitat: Fact & Fiction ■ The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USF&WS) is considering critical habitat designations for 255 threatened and endangered: Hawaiian plant species. Environmentalists are encouraged that these plants will finally receive the habitat protection they are entitled to under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA). However, the Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) is worried about funding and control issues, and the hunters are up in-arms. Proposed critical habitat desigriations for Ni‘ihau, Kaua‘i, Moloka‘i, Lana‘i, Maui and Kaho‘olawe so far have raised a slew of baseless fears regarding future land use in Hawai‘i.…

OFFSHORE TOURNAMENTS AHI FEVER IN WAIANAE June 16 & 17, 2001 Waianae Boat Fishing Club-Oahu (808) 696-3399. P.O. Box 821, Waianae, Hl 96792 NORTH SHORE HANAPAA JACKPOT TOURNAMENT June 20, 21 & 22, 2001 Oahu (808) 637-8246 5TH ANNUAL KONA CLASSIC TOURNAMENT June 22, 23 & 24, 2001 Tropidiila-Kuna (808) 327-1440 P.O. Box 2158, Kailua-Kona, HI 96745 FIRECRACKER OPEN June 29 through July 1,2001 Tropidilla-Kona (808) 327-1440 P.O. Box 2158, Kailua-Kona, Hi 96745 PEARL HARBOR FISHING TOURNAMENT June 30, 2001 Sponsored by the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard J.D. Okamwa-O'ahu (808) 473-1591 WORLD CUP BLUE MARLIN CHAMPIONSHIP July 4, 2001 Jim Hardie-Miami (305) 559-8485 P.O. Box 2476, Miami, FL 33159 SKINS MARLIN DERBY July 5, 6, 7 & 8, 2001 Tropidilla-Kona (808) 327-1440 P.O. Box 2158, Kailua-Kona, Hi 96745 WBC @…

Antique Tackle Enthusiasts Gather in Vegas ◾ The Second Annual Las Vegas Multi-Regional Meet of the National Fishing Lure Collectors Club (NFLCC) was held on April 20 and 21, 2001, at the Imperial Palace Hotel. Tackle collectors from across the country and as far away as Japan and England gathered among the glitz and excess with their old tackle boxes in hand to attend the show, which featured all types of fishing-related antiques. As the club name suggests, there was a heavy emphasis on lures; but in addition, one could find a wide variety of fishing implements,, ephemera and items of nostalgia being offered for sale or trade. Attendees with specific interests were able to find reels ranging from miniature bass and fly reels made in the 1800s to their…

■ Did you ever notice that before Aloha ‘Airlines began service to the mainland, all planes coming to Hawai'i were equipped with three and four engines? Same for long flights from places like Japan and Australia. But now, smaller planes are flying longer distances and carrying people to Hawai‘i from Oakland and Los-Angeles, and that trend has carried on toward other regions of the Pacific, as well, creating all kinds of new and exciting opportunities for anglers. So what happened? In a word, ETOPS. In easy terms, ETOPS is the guiding force that establishes the limit on how far an aircraft is permitted to fly from any given airport. Before about 1996, ETOPS said twin-engine planes couldn’t fly much past 1,500 miles. But all that is changing. In the coming…

NMFS Protects Hawai‘i. Humpbacks From Navy ■ The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) said the Navy’s surveillance Towed Array Sensor System Low Frequency Active Sonar System, or SURTASS, “has the potential to harass marine mammals incidental to its operation.” Although the Navy-denies sonar danger to marine life, and. specifically humpback whales, it is limiting its use in Hawai‘i. The NMFS suggested that a five-year “incidental take” permit be given to the Navy to operate SURTASS. In return, the Navy must not do testing in “offshore biologically important areas.” These are areas where marine mammals, like humpbacks, gather for breeding, feeding, migrating and calving. One protected area would be Penguin Bank, which is part. of the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale Sanctuary. Penguin Bank is a shallow shelf that extends from western…

Ask the U.S. Coast Guard ■ Q: What limit does the Coast Guard put on the cost of a search-and-rescue mission? A: District 14’s Fishing Vessel Safety Coordinator Ens. James Stellflug answered: There is no limit on the amount of money the U.S. Coast Guard places on a life. We spend millions on-search and rescue. When we search, we also place our own lives on the line. In fact, in a recent Askmen.com article on the top 10 most dangerous jobs, U.S. Coast Guard search and rescue ranked ninth. In other words, to the men and women of the U.S. Coast Guard, your life is priceless. Perhaps a more pointed question is to ask yourself how much is your life worth? I have heard boaters say that required and recommended…

The World’s Litter Fleets ■ State divers plan to remove an estimated 1,000 Ibs of fishing nets clinging to reefs a quarter-mile offshore at Lanikai. Experts estimate that thousands of pounds of net debris have piled up along coastal areas of the main Hawaiian islands. The removal will kick off a new program to assess the extent of lost or discarded fishing gear washing onto reefs and shores throughout the main Hawaiian islands. Funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) with a grant to the state’s Coastal Zone Management Program, and coordinated by the state’s Division of Aquatic Resources and Hawai‘i Sea Grant, the program is asking the community to report marine debris sightings on beaches, reefs and in near-shore waters. UH Geography Department graduate student Scott Godwin…

Ho‘omaluhia Month ■ April attendance at Ho‘omaluhia was a little lighter than usual-mostly because we had a couple of weekends that poured solid‘rain. Still, we wound up with over 600 family members. The main species caught were Nicaragua cichlids. The common tilapia were remarkable only by their absence. A few very hefty tilapia did come to hand, but the throng of fish that we had five years ago is gone. Anglers are having to learn how to cope with the choke weed problem. All in all, they are adjusting even if they are grumbling a bit. We take the flack, but we are, alas, limited in how we can assist in lessening the problem. Avast? Sonar? Do Avast and Sonar sound like maritime words? Actually these are brand names of…

Two-Speed Reels for Too-Big Fish! ■ This month we’ll answer a question from an Australian reader who said he is about to invest in some new gear and wants to know whether two-speed reels are worth the extra investment. Specifically, are they suitable for all line classes, when do you change gears during the fight, and what special tricks enhance their use? I have used two-speeds only on 30-, 50-, 80-and 130-Ib test line.] own two-speed 30s, 50s and 70s. I think they are great in those ranges. But I don’t have the experience with lighter tackle to make an informed judgement. The smallest two-speed offered by Penn Reels is the 165 and by Shimano, the TLD-20II. Fin-Nor makes a two-speed 12. On the one hand, it is hard to…

Boating Fees Proposal…A Scam or Illegal Boater’s Tax? ■ Boats/Hawaii recently compiled a list of 300 recreational marinas (mostly on the U.S. West Coast) that included their individual “cost per foot” rates. This is another good yardstick to use in analyzing the controversial state (Department of Boating and Ocean Recreation [DBOR]) Boating Fees Increases Proposal, which goes before the Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR) soon. I found that the median cost per foot of the 300 marinas listed was $6.50. Hawai‘i’s public rates are much lower than this; however, it must be noted that the quality of the facilities at these mainland marinas are much higher than those of our State boating facilities, and the amenities, in most cases, are more numerous. We must be aware that the…

What Will Become of Our Harbor? ■ It is time to set the record straight. Over the past several years, the media, using information fed to it by the Cayetano administration, has done little to accurately portray the facts concerning the management of the Ala Wai Yacht Harbor. I would like to dispel a few of the myths. The governor and the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR), instead of making reasonable efforts to correct their notorious mismanagement of the state’s harbors, have time and again proven themselves arrogant and hostile to recreational boaters. A phrase frequently bandied around the harbor nowadays is “bureaucracy gone bad”—with ample evidence to support this notion published in four Auditor’s Reports by Marion Higa dating back to the early 90s The DLNR works…

Ahupua‘a Lease On Standby ■ The Board of Land and Natural Resources held a public hearing in Hilo on April 12 for input on proposals for management of state land at. Pu‘u-wa‘awa‘a and Pu‘u-anahulu, both important hunting lands. The Wildlife Conservation Association of Hawaii, a subsistence hunting and conservation hui, and Ka ‘Ahahui‘o Pu‘u Wa‘awa‘a, a well-connected environmental group underwritten by The Nature Conservancy, both submitted lease proposals for the ahupua‘a, which extends from the 6,000-foot level down to Kiholo Bay. The Land Board deferred the lease negotiations for six months and wants the two opposing groups to work toward a conservation compromise. The Wildlife Conservation Association of Hawaii lease proposal is working in conjunction with the Pu‘u Wa‘a Wa‘a Cattle Company and a consortium of Hawai'i island hunting organizations.…

Aloha Chuck, We are writing from the Big Island of Hawaii to all our fishing buddies that fishing for ulua is as great as it gets here in Kona. My fishing roommate Todd and I wake up at 4:00 in the morning to go to our favorite spot. We actually have a couple good spots to go to and our method of choice for the giant trevally is whipping plugs. We use Kaku Lures’ X-Large Poppers and Large Poppers exclusively. We like the color combinations and weight on these lures. The action they produce is outstanding and we get all the action we can handle. Because we use 30-Ib test line, we do lose our share of big ulua-or, as we call it, “strike and release.” Todd and I think…

■ The weather outlook in Hawaiian waters for June is good except for gusty trade winds and higher-than-normal southerly waves and surf. It is unlikely that strong Kona winds, thunderstorms and heavy rain will occur. Although it is possible for a tropical storm to appear in Hawaii waters as the warmer months approach, the odds are against it. Gusty trades have made their presence felt since March and are expected to continue in June. With trades on almost all the days of the month, gusty trades are expected on 5 to 10 days. Their occurrence may be more frequent if this pattern for stronger trades persists. into June. Although refreshing for their air conditioning effect on land, surface water conditions, especially in the major channels between islands open to the…