Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2003 i Hawaii Fishing News

Reel of the Ages ■ I’ve never been to China, but I hope to see that country one day being that it is the origin of part of my ancestral heritage. It amazes me that one of the earliest civilizations on the planet developed there and the history of the land is so rich. I’m also amazed that the Chinese are credited with the invention of so many different and interesting things. As a young child, 1 remember my mother reading a story about Chinese fishermen that used birds in lieu of hook and line or nets. Cormorants, longnecked birds proficient at capturing their finny prey underwater, were trained to retrieve fish for their handler in this ancient form of fishing. Usually on a lake or river, the birds were…

Dear Chuck, Aloha. Some months ago I asked you for informations about the slide-baiting and how to catch GT. You answered very interestingly. Thank you again for that. So I bought a Penn 4/0 and trained to cast with what you call a conventional reel (I am used to spinning reel), made slide buckles, prepared huge circle hooks and went fishing in Madagascar. The truth is slide-baiting is not an easy technique. My cast with conventional reel is not good at all and the conditions of fishing were really rough. Although I caught an 80-lb shark and some trevally about 20 to 30 lbs, it is clear that my technique was not good enough to hook a big one. Never mind, I’ll go back to school. However, whipping a surface…

Howzit Chuck, Here’s a fish story that I’d like to share with all the fishermen. It started out on a beautiful morning on the South Shore of Kaua‘i at a spot called Shipwrecks. I had to work that morning, so I had an hour to check out the grounds in front of the Hyatt Regency where sometimes akule and aholehole come close to shore. I had my throw net and whipping pole just in case as I walked along the cliff and looked down into the cove. I could see a big school of aholehole pretty close to shore, and I thought, “Oh, yeah. Come closer. One throw, and I’ll score!” But as I looked at the school I saw four or five good-sized ‘omilu snacking on the fish. It…

Greetings! Great is the interest in redfish with big eyes. Thus, please come and listen about a certain story of a fish called ‘aweoweo (bigeye redfish) and ‘alalauwa (young of the bigeye redfish). They currently cruise in the bays of Honolulu and the islands. At this time, great is the importance of the ‘aweoweo to Hawaiian culture and fishermen. About five years ago, I wrote an article about the unusual phenomenon that has recently hit the islands in relation to the ‘aweoweo. An excerpt is included at the beginning of this story for those who were not fortunate to acquire that HFN issue in 1998. Thus, a recap and some new information I have found since that writing and my own experience with this amazing ‘alalauwa event in Hawai‘i follow.…

■ The Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) announced that rules for Pupukea Marine Life Conservation District on the North Shore of O‘ahu have been amended to allow for net fishing of ‘opelu and akule within Waimea Bay with certain restrictions. ‘Opelu may now be taken with legal nets during the months of August and September, and akule can be taken with legal nets during November and December. The Pupukea Marine Life Conservation District was expanded in March 2002 to include the waters of Waimea Bay. As a result, fishing within the bay was limited to pole-and-line fishing from the shoreline. All other types of fishing were prohibited. At the time, the Board of Land and Natural Resources approved the MLCD’s expansion, it instructed the DLNR’s Division of Aquatic…

For letters, with photos, received during the month of November we’ll send you HFN’s Embroidered, Bright Yellow with “Holoholo Style” Fishing Cap…our way of saying thanks for sharing your catch!…Hana pa‘a, Chuck Send to: P.O. Box 25488, Honolulu, Hawai‘i 96825 Aloha Chuck, Just wanted to share a couple pics of a nice fishing trip I shared with some very special friends. Allthe fish were caught along thenorth-west shore of Maui between Ka‘anapali, and Kahakuloa either trolling or bottom fishing. My good buddies in pic 1 are from left to right Nigel Gray (exceptional moana ukalis by the way), Aaron Shimokawa, Harrison Higa, and yours truly Ji Fay. Special note is after years of hooking up fish our buddy Harrison Higa got hooked himself by his lovely fiance Faith and were…

The Fishermen and Their work ■ The men in this photo are chasing a school of aku. The sendo, or captain, who is steering the boat with a block and tackle tied to the tiller, is Capt. Teramae, not Yosuku Masagatani as I reported in a previous article. Alan Masagatani, Yosuku’s son, called me with the correction. Alan went on to say that Capt. Teramae left to run the DARLING DOT once it was built. Alan said that his father came from Wakayama-ken, Japan, as a young man, as did many of Hawaii’s original aku fishermen. When he retired from fishing, Yosuku left Hawai‘i and went back to Japan to live. He passed on six years ago in 1997. Alan said that when he went to Japan to see his…

Hey Chuck! Every year between June and August, the American shad migrate up the Columbia River and finally end up at the Bonneville Dam. A number of shad are caught in the dam’s turbines and are minced up, creating a chum slick that lasts for months. During the peak season, early July, you can hook into 12 sturgeon in one day. These pictures are from a trip that we took at the end of the season, mid- to late-August. We only caught 12 fish during the entire four-day trip. For bait we used American shad pieces, or a whole one if small enough. My buddy that lives in that area catches as many of the shad as possible so that we will not need to buy them when we come…

Rods for HawaiTs Casters ■ My quest for a good fishing rod started in about 1980 when I bought a Lamiglass surf rod built by Honi-B. At that time, the rod was of good quality and workmanship. A year later, McCully Bicycle introduced the Fenwick 16810. I purchased one of the first 16810 blanks that arrived in Hawai‘i. While sitting on my living room floor with the blank and John Holden’s two books (“Long Distance Casting” and “The Beach Fisher’s Tackle Guide”), I built my first fishing rod. More than 20 years later in 2002, I finally took a rod-building class, under the instruction of Joe Kimura. Joe taught many techniques appropriate to the building of modern-day rods. A big mahalo to Joe, Lance and Asa for enduring a guy…

■ Full-contact fishing is what I like to call it when you get into the elements to catch fish. This could be fishing during a rainy day, going into the surf, or just wading in the water and casting. Being in contact with nature while fishing makes the experience more enjoyable. I wake up at 5 a.m. every day to fish. Most of the time, I fish in waist-deep water. I cast into holes or onto the flats. In either case, I am in contact with the grass and sand and whatever is living in that area. I watch the sun rise and the island come alive along the shore. There are a few things to learn when’ fishing fullcontact style. First, you need to make sure you can carry…

DLNR Under hire! ■ A meeting facilitated by the Hawaii Hunting Advisory Council (HHAC) was held in Waimea on September 26. The meeting provided an opportunity for members of Hawaii’s hunting community to air their concerns before representatives of the state’s Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR). HHAC Chairman Jon Sabati presided over the discussion. The DLNR was represented by its chairman, Peter Young, and the following members of the Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW): Paul Conry, wildlife program manager; Ed Johnson, DOFAW hunting coordinator; Roger Imoto, Hawaii island branch manager; and Big Island wildlife biologists Miles Nakahara, Ron Bachman and Joey Mello. The meeting was well-attended, with about 200 persons present. Invited guests included representatives from the National Park Service, Pohakuloa Training Area and Kamehameha Schools. Clearly,…

■ I just couldn’t seem to catch an ulua this year. There were many reasons that made it difficult, and my fishing club’s fiscal year was about to end in a few days. Without an ulua catch, I was in contention for what strikes fear came in great schools to the wateinto the hearts of every club member-the infamous Banana Dance. The threat of prancing around the banquet hall in fluorescent Speedos with hopes of not becoming the Banana King was something not to be taken very lightly. On Thursday, August 28, I got a break. After work, I got the blessings of my better half. I loaded up my Jeep Cherokee, stopped by Hanapa‘a Fishing Supply to pick up two “blinking” tako, and made my way to a secret…

■ While trying to release a tandem-hook rig from a 180-lb blue marlin two years ago, Capt. Marlin Parker stuck an 11/0 hook nearly all the way through his hand. “The hook was stuck in my hand three-quarters of the way down from the side of my palm and all the way into the palm of my hand,” Capt. Parker recalled vividly. “The point and barb didn’t come completely through, so the hook was just embedded in there. Meanwhile, the other hook was firmly attached to the marlin, which was jumping around the back of the boat. I was stuck, and it was serious.” Capt. Parker says he didn’t have a choice. “The only way I could get free and not go swimming was to rip the hook out,” Capt.…

Hawaiian reef fish as a group are the number-one prey item for a huge number of predators. They are under attack from all angles with danger lurking in the air (piscivorous birds) on the land (man, among others) and in the water (marine mammals and larger fish). How do they deal with these constant threats, and how can their behavior be used to help us catch predatory fish? Krause and Godin carried out research into the influence that prey behavior had on the predators’ choice of victim. They found that a predator was more likely to attack fish that were unaware of its presence than those that had become wary upon spotting it. The fish’s heightened awareness made them more difficult to catch. By making a plug look ill or…

Howzit Chuck, Well, I didn’t imagine catching these ulua in my lifetime, but it all happened in mid-August thanks to my buddy Randy Miyashiro from Hawai’. It all started on a Sunday. We hiked about 250 feet down a cliff to a fishing area. Our first strike came at 8:30 p.m. on a pole that I use (and got from Randy). Well, I tried to horse this one in. Boy, it was a fight! The fish took me almost 20 minutes to get close, and we went from side to side on this place that was rocky and slippery with waves crashing onto the rocks. When the fish was 20 to 30 feet from the cliff, I didn’t have that extra pull so I passed the pole to Randy. By…

Aloha Chuck! I was wondering if I could share an experience with the readers about a tiger shark I encountered on September 10, 2003. Hopefully my experience will give fishermen and divers a heads-up the next time they decide to go diving or fishing. I’m glad to be alive today! On Wednesday, September 10, 2003, my friend Ronden and I went to “Leftovers” on the North Shore for an afternoon dive. The water was pretty murky, but we could still see the fish and reef about 30 feet below us. As we were heading in from a two-hour dive, I was putting an aholehole I shot on my floater. I thought my dive partner was right in front of me because “it” was floating 2 feet away from my floater.…

■ The strong musky odor of mangroves hung in the early morning air as I slowly made my way through the kiawe thicket. The path was filled with overhanging thorny branches. I crouched low to navigate areas that only a contortionist could easily pass through. As I neared the trail opening, I suddenly heard the unmistakable sound of multiple mullet jumping in open water. “‘Ama‘ama all over the place!” I whispered to myself. With no wind to blow the water’s surface, I could easily see the protruding head ridges of numerous mullet that were playing unprovoked in the early morning sun. It was already mid-June, and I was totally surprised that the ‘ama‘ama schools were still so active. Normally, during the closed seasons of December through March ‘ama‘ama schools can…

Send inquiries to: Izuo Brothers, Ltd., P.O. Box 1197, Honolulu, HI 96807 TRIBAL PAK THE BEST OF TUX BEST BY UK Powerful, durable and practical. Light Cannon 100 From Underwater Kinetics ■ An effective light source dramatically changes the world of a diver. The remarkable difference occurs during dives in the day as much as at night. Sunlight loses its color as it penetrates the depths until eventually a diver is surrounded by a world of gray broken only by occasional muted yellows or greens. A diving light brings back the reds and oranges, recovers the whites and enhances the details. You see fish underwater in the same brilliant colors and details they display when you lift them from the sea into sunlight. The Underwater Kinetics (UK) Light Cannon 100…

Dear Chuck, It all started a year ago when I was invited to go on a fishing trip by Drs. Tom and Michael Doi from San Jose, California. This father and son and Dr. Tom Doi’s grandson Brian are really expert fishermen. It was 7:15 a.m. when my reel started screaming. In a matter of seconds, sardines were flying overhead. Reels went off all over as the live bait hit the water. I noticed at least 12 people with fish on. I felt as if I were dreaming or watching an old aku boat fishing film. Fish were all over the place. Only I was actually there amid albacore and bluefin ranging between 30 and 50 lbs. Wow! At about 8:30 a.m., the captain called out to Team Two and…

NWHI Coral Death ■ Summer explorations have shown that table corals at French Frigate Shoals in the Northwest Hawaiian Islands (NWH!) are being killed by a disease similar to the outbreak of “white” syndrome in Australia. The coral disease causes the light brownish-yellow color of living coral to be replaced by the white of unprotected coral skeletons. After the discoloration, algae start colonizing the coral. According to coral researchers, like Greta Aeby of the state Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR), this outbreak on Acropora cytherea is a wake-up call to Hawaii. Little is known about coral diseases, and scientists don’t know how the disease attacks table coral. In the Florida Keys, increased human activity is linked with the aggressive expansion of these diseases. It is unclear if humans introduce new…

■ Winter-type severe weather in Hawai i waters begins this month. Some of the worst weather in the islands has occurred in November. It is likely that there will be some bad weather days during the month. Mariners are cautioned that the change from good weather to bad weather can be fast. The following are the possible bad weather conditions that can occur: high northwest swell and surf, gusty trade winds, heavy rains, strong southwest Kona winds, squalls, thunderstorms and waterspouts. Southerly surf is down while high swell and surf activity from the northwest direction greatly increase. More than half of the days of the month will have higher than 5-foot surf at Sunset Beach, O‘ahu. There’s a chance of a very high surf, greater than 20 feet high. The…