Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2004 i Hawaii Fishing News

■ Back in September, I was running out of time, 2004 was only three months away, and I had yet to select a site for the Hawaiian Islands Freedive Council’s (HIFC) qualifying tournament. It seemed like we’d been everywhere from the North Shore to Waimanalo. Then, my co-worker and friend came up with the idea of having the tournament where none had been held before. He suggested Barber’s Point. According to Kawehi Takahashi, “The divers will be forced to scout and do their homework if they expect to reach the next level. I discussed this with some in the diving community, and the idea was met with mixed reactions. Some were concerned about the large tiger sharks that frequent the area. Others were concerned about water clarity. Complicating things even…

■ The famous fishing village of Kona, Hawaii, waited with excitement on Friday, March 16. Word had spread fast that another 1,000-lb plus marlin was on the way to the certified pier scales to be weighed and photographed. Capt. Bart Miller and crew Dominic Fagundes of the boat BLACK BART had taken some anglers out to the area known as “Pine Tree Run,” where at 2 p.m. the super giant marlin took a purple and blue Bart Miller lure called “Torpedo Taper.” After a 2½-hour struggle on 130-lb test line, the giant marlin was boated. A very large crowd of tourists, charter boat captains and village residents greeted the boat when it landed with the super-sized marlin at the Kona pier. The fish measured 16 feet 4 inches and had…

■ What a month it was! The mahimahi were everywhere, and they took lures when baits did not appeal to them. The ‘ahi were not around, but some veteran fishermen said they saw birds acting like the “big guys” were around, so maybe an early bite will happen soon. Meanwhile, some aku and even some small marlin from 200 to 300 lbs were caught. Chris Miyata and his brother landed two goodsized marlin on consecutive weekends. Their father Danny was proud of his two sons and how well they fish together. He said they have such a good time with each other because they like to laugh at each other. Go figure! Jimmy Carvalho took Pacific Ocean Producers’ employee Alan Hamson out on the LAURA LEE for a day of…

■ The billfish counts at The Charter Desk in Honokohau Marina were steady during the month. Of the 95 blue marlin hooked, 14 were released, and of the fish that were weighed, 12 of them were over 500 lbs. Spearfish were plentiful: 44 were boated and 14 were released. A few striped marlin still crept in: 18 were boated and five were released. In addition, 18 big ‘ahi were brought in to the harbor scales. Capt. Harley Sellers on the REEL CLASS set out with no crewman on a full-day charter. Ten minutes out of the harbor with only two lines in the water so far, the short ‘rigger took off. Angler Kathleen Dennehy fought the beast for nearly two hours. At the scales the fish weighed in at 957½…

■ The small papio thumped and struggled against the constant pressure that Nick Moore had on the 15-lb test line. Nick kept the medium-weight rod fully bent. Again he reached down and doublechecked the drag mechanism, making sure that it wasn’t too tight. The papio was shining blue in the shallow water as it slowly came in, tugging just below the surface. The second papio for the afternoon, it, too, had taken a strip of squid that Nick was casting and retrieving in the shallows of the South Point area known as Ka‘alualu. Eight-year-old Nicolas Moore fidgeted on his right and was excited as the fish moved in closer and closer. The small papio again changed direction and began pivoting to the right. Nick casually looked up, turned to his…

■ The line was slack-totally limp. Chris Waite ran to his brand-new red Island Rod Wrap Slider rod after hearing a loud clang. Without even knocking off the ratchet, he began cranking his Newell 646 reel feverishly as the pole stood in the rod holder. Suddenly, the line tightened. The powerful slidebait rod lurched over, and 80-lb Suffix line sizzled through the Hilo guides. The ulua went ballistic, burning a path straight out, peeling the monofilament effortlessly from the tight drag. The splice to the Power Pro backing was showing as the turning spool came to a halt. Chris looks back on the night he landed his 100-plus pounder and still can’t believe that he landed a “big boy”-104. 2 lbs to be exact. Is this for real or what?”…

Hello Chuck, Ever since I started fishing in Hawai‘i, my goal has been to have my picture on the cover of HAWAII FISHING NEWS with a big fish. Imagine my surprise when the cover of last month’s issue had my fish on the cover. Not only that, the fish was still on my line and filmed from underwater! My son Daniel and I took advantage of decent weather on January 9 to do some trolling. We left Hawai‘i-kai‘in our Sea Ray, GRAN CRU, and trolled out around Makapu‘u toT-buoy. As soon as we neared the buoy we hooked up with a small marlin. The thing had fight, though, and we thought it might have taken us into the buoy chain. We fought it for quite a while and finally decided…

■ Jeff: Capt. James Cook sighted and named Christmas Island on December 24, 1777. Anchored off the West Reef in Vaskess Bay, Capt. Cook dispatched Midshipman James Trevenen and crew to harvest turtles from the lagoon. Midshipman Trevenen’s log indicates that sharks and giant trevally (Caranx ignoblis) attacked the edges of the seaman’s splashing oars. “On ever [sic] side of us swam sharks innumerable and so voracious that they bit our oars and rudder. I actually struck my hanger [a small sword] two inches into the back of one whilst he had the rudder between his teeth. The boats fishing for Cavallies etc. in shallow water carried long spikes to keep the sharks from the baits. On board the boats, the sailors caught great numbers.” (Memoirs of James Trevenen.) In…

■ 2003 was a unique year for some rare and unusual finds of marine life around the Hawaiian islands. Being in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, Hawaii is located at the crossroads of major current patterns. The annual recruitment of juvenile marine life to our surrounding reefs relies heavily upon such currents. According to ichthyologist Jack Randall, “There are approximately 560+ species of inshore marine life in the Hawaiian waters. Only about five dozen of these species lay demersal eggs such as blennies, gobies, damselfishes and a few other that mouth brood their young.” But the majority of our reef species are brood cast spawners, releasing eggs freely in surrounding waters. Usually the larval stage of many of these species will have a pelagic phase. In the pelagic stage,…

Stripers Run Rampant ■ The New Year starred off with 93 billfish caught during January. Ten of those weighed were blue marlin, 35 were striped marlin, and 21 were Spearfish. Another three blue marlin, 21 striped marlin and three spearfish were tagged and released. February saw 58 billfish caught. During a nice blue marlin run. 20 were weighed and another four were released. The striped marlin count dropped dramatically. Only 15 were weighed and another five released. An additional 12 spearfish were weighed, and two were released. The second week of February saw the HO‘OKELA hoist the harbor’s largest marlin in over three months—a 473.6-lb blue angled by the tag-team of Ken Vannice, Nathan Roth, Dusty Smith and John Nowell. Capt. Scott Dunsworth and Capt. Tom Stables had the HO‘OKELA…

Haleiwa Trolling and Bottom Fishing ■ The fishing was pretty good as long as the weather was good. We’ve had a lot of high surf on the North Shore during the last couple of months. Driving down to Hale‘iwa, you could see the salt from the high waves hanging in the air over Hale‘iwa Town. Heavy rains and strong winds have also been hitting the North Shore a lot this winter. On the good days, there have been some really good trolling catches. ‘Ahi and mahimahi have been coming up. A lot of shibi were caught at the buoys. Shore fishing has not been too good with all of the dirty water covering the shoreline after the heavy rains. Waialua Elementary Keiki Fishing Club The keiki are getting excited, anticipating…

Kona Charter Desk Billfish Tag and Release Due to the limited space available and the large number of fish caught, catch reports are limited to tuna over 100 1bs and billfish of any size, any species: (S)=St riped Marlin, (B)=Black Marlin. Catch and Consume…

■ Weather-wise, this is a transitional month between our winter and summer. This means that the surface cold front of winter and the upper trough of summer can ‘‘meet” over the islands in April. The result is a few days of bad weather with heavy rain and gusty winds. Bad weather doesn’t occur every April over Hawaii waters, but it happens often enough, or the potential is there, to warrant being aware of its possibility. Trade wind days continue to increase-about 75 percent of the time well have trades. Expect eight to 15 days of gusty trades. High northwest swell and surf action is tapering down. Expect only about two days of surf 10 to 15 feet high at Sunset Beach, o‘ahu.…