Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2008 i Hawaii Fishing News

Dear Chuck, November 29 and 30, 2007, were very strange days. The first began as a typical day at my parents’ house. They were up early, working around the house, and breakfast was waiting on the table. I watched them enjoying their retirement and taking good care of themselves. Personally, I just wanted to eat breakfast, jump on my moped and look for bait at the supermarket. I’ve been in Hawai‘i-kai all my life: working, surfing and fishing. The wave situation in 2007 wasn’t happening, so I went fishing instead. You really need to know the area to find fish when shore casting. It is not easy. I had been getting ‘o‘io and papio in the 5- to 10-lb range. I got more than my share of good strikes during…

Kona’s Premier Free-Dive Event ▪ This was a big spearfishing event in Kona. The Blue Water Spearfishing Tournament is held every year by the Blue Water Hunter, but this time the competition was different from the last nine. It took a lot of time to figure out what kind of strategy to use. This was a reef and bluewater total-weight competition. Spearing bluewater fish is one thing, and spearing reef fish is another issue. You’re in totally different zones. They are miles apart. My partner this year was Hanalei Adric. I called him a month in advance and asked him if he would be interested in diving in this 10th annual competition. We talked about getting him out of retirement and picking up where he’d left off in his spearfishing…

First Catfish Session at Nu‘uanu Reservoir 2008 ▪ Howling winds and whitecaps were the order of the day during the first open session of 2008. Nu‘uanu Reservoir had been bombarded with rain for two weeks, and finally the outflow on the tower functioned after eight months of stagnation. Everybody caught fish. The only reason the catch rate was not listed as one fish per angler was simple: many fish were caught and released. Under the current method of statistics gathering, released catches are not recorded. The weather was totally despicable-the worst we have ever seen it. The water was turbid, and the little mosquito fish, which are the mainstays of the bigger catfish, were close to the surface and not concentrated in the grass lining the pond. Oddly enough, the…

▪ On a sunny summer afternoon, Grandma and I went to Honaunau Beach Park to enjoy the surf and ocean breeze there. When we first parked the car and sat at one of the picnic tables, we noticed a little Hawaiian girl, about 4 years old, running around the rocks of a tide pool at the water’s edge. She wore tiny pink slippers and was very agile for her age, much like a little goat, as she ran in and out of the tide pool and then back and forth around the jagged rocks next to the pool. We noticed that there were no adults within 50 yards of that little girl and worried that she might slip and fall. But our fears were unfounded as that little girl splashed…

French Frigate Ulua Herd ▪ French Frigate Shoals, in the NWHI’s Papahanaumokuakea National Marine Monument, was the scene of tagging research that showed that ulua in great herds gather on fullmoon nights. Researchers, surgically implanting ultrasonic transmitters into ulua, tracked them on moored ocean-floor listening monitors. The monitoring showed that ulua have habits, such as coming into shallows during the day and leaving at night. Where they go at night is still a mystery. They swim somewhere beyond the range of the listening devices. The research did show that ulua in the NWHI don’t seem to swim from one island to another. Interestingly, at French Frigate Shoals, from April to September during full-moon nights, ulua herd in giant schools. The gatherings happen in a place that scientists call “Rapture Reef”…

▪ With airfares to the neighbor islands reasonable, my family couldn’t resist a short vacation to the island of Maui. Before we left our home island of O‘ahu, I wondered if I would have time to explore the waters of the Valley Isle with a light-tackle spinning outfit. I hadn’t been to Maui in ages and I was tempted, but I resisted because our whirlwind touring would not allow me the chance to try to hook a fish or two. What I did manage to explore besides the older parts of the towns of Lahaina and Pa‘ia was an absolutely fantastic “tourist” attraction. If you are an ocean lover, angler, scuba or free-diver, you must make a stop at the Maui Ocean Center. OK, I know I sound like a…

Caution: Do not be afraid. This column is about fishing with flies but not about fly-fishing. For those of you who run in fear at the thought of fly-casting and fighting fish with fly rods, relax and read on. This story is for you, too. Aboard the Kona charterboat ALIBI, skipper Tony Clark looked at the lure his crew, Scott Kadooka, was tying to a light trolling rig. With misgivings, he asked, “Are you sure you want to put that out? You know it’ll get hit and we’ll be tied up for a while.” That option was perfectly fine with Scott. He was happy to have a lure he could fish with confidence, and this unusual little bright orange creation got hit with regularity. Scott ran the little lure back…

Aloha Chuck and everyone at HFN. Here are two “quick kine” stories I would like to share with your magazine. They occurred while fishing on my boat, the COLLEEN. First, back on May 26, the guys and I went out to get some sashimi for daughter Brittany’s graduation party. We left the Wai‘anae Boat Harbor in search of some fish. We had heard that other fishermen were getting the bite from all the ‘ahi that had evaded the Wai‘anae Coast. In weeks past we had seen ‘ahi and even watched other fishermen get hookups right next to us, but we never got a yellow guy in our boat. We found a dolphin pile first thing, but nothing would bite. We continued toward Ka‘ena Point and found the rest of the…

O‘ahu’s Offshore Fishermen Celebrate a Great Season ▪ The 2007 Aiea Boat Club annual banquet was held at the Rainbow Marina. Everyone had a good time sharing their supposed-to-be-true, what-are-you-talking-about, no-way, how-can you-lie fishing stories. Lots of cash and prizes were given out. Every family member and guest won some kind of prize. Mikie “D” of Island Mobile Productions and Bobby Alipio put together an awesome live tuna and marlin action video presentation featuring 20- to 200-lb tuna and a well over 600-lb marlin captured on raw footage from club members’ boats. For more information on the video, please contact Mikie “D” on his cell at (808) 4 79- 7193 or check out his website at <http://islandmobileproductions.com> The newly elected officers for 2008 are as follow: President Calvin Haitsuka; Vice…

Monument Protected Waters ▪ Researchers who recently returned from Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument reported the discovery of new deepwater coral and sponge beds found thousands of feet below the surface. The PISCES V submersible, operated by the Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory (HURL), was used to survey two study sites in the monument: a volcanic ridge located near Twin Banks; and a seamount located near French Frigate Shoals. “The monument is potentially protecting so many new species and new records of species for Hawai‘i that many will not be revealed for decades to come,” said University of Hawai‘I researcher Dr. Christopher Kelley, the principal investigator of the project. The previously unexplored research sites ranged in depth from 3,000 to 6,000 feet. Two examples revealed from this project include a lemon-yellow bamboo…

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 Kana 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 1 O feet on about 12 days. Trade winds are expected on over half of the days in the month with gusty trades on about four…

▪ On a Wednesday in October, 60 participants including firemen, sponsors and guests entered the 2007 Pawa‘a Squid Tournament. Bary Ewaliko, event coordinator from the Pawa‘a Fire Station in Honolulu, said that he was surprised at the turnout because participants were given last-minute notice about the event. Why is this known as a “squid” tournament even though the target species has suckers? “Because,” Bary explained, “the haoles from the mainland not going know what the word ‘tako’ is.” This boat tournament started with a short meeting at the Kane‘ohe sandbar. Some of the rules were stressed: you had to use a threeprong spear only; the tako had to be a minimum of 2 lbs; and only two fish and two tako per person could be weighed in. Also, state fishing…

▪ I find it incredible that there is an entirely different culture, with different systems and ways of life, so close to my home. I discovered this over winter break after a short flight from San Francisco, California, to Guadalajara, Mexico. There I saw hundreds of vendors along the streets selling brightly colored tourist knickknacks. Hanging everywhere were more animal carcasses and dead fish than this vegetarian could have imagined. Litter covered every surface and crammed every would-be beautiful creek and stream. Untreated sewage streamed over the beach and into the ocean. Most beaches and lakes were too polluted for people to swim in. Yet this was the same water that all of the restaurants and vendors got their fish from. But no one seemed to mind. Sayulita Despite the…

▪ Two of my sons are commercial fishermen in California, and they take advantage of the season closure in November to visit family members in Hawai‘i. This trip, the boys decided to introduce the youngest of the grandchildren to pig hunting. Resident son Matt planned a relatively easy hunt in the Volcano area to accommodate brothers Chris and Tim, and Chris’ daughters, Jessie and Kayla, ages 6 and 8. Grandpa was invited to accompany them. I readily accepted, relieved that it wouldn’t be another race around the mountain with Matt, knowing he would have to slow down for the girls. We got off to a leisurely start, arriving at the trailhead at 8:30. The weather was perfect-slightly overcast, but no rain. We pulled on our packs and headed down the…

New Study Shows Devastating Impacts of Industrial Fish Farming on Wild Fish Populations ▪ A recent study in Science magazine entitled “Declining Wild Salmon Populations in Relation to Parasites From Farm Salmon” conclusively demonstrates that industrial salmon farming in British Columbia, Canada, has seriously undermined the health of surrounding wild fish populations. The study showed that parasitic lice infections from salmon farms were devastating wild fish populations and pushing the wild pink salmon close to extinction. As compelling, the study found these industrial farms were causing more harm than the commercial fishing industry that used to exist in the area. This is precisely the same sort of unforeseen consequence that needs to be studied and addressed before our nation plows forward to allow industrial fish farming in federal waters, as…

Send to: P.O. Box 25488, Honolulu, Hawai‘i 96825 or e-mail: <fishnews@hawaii.rr.com> Aloha Chuck, Here are some pictures of an ‘ahi we caught on September 26, out of Hale‘iwa Harbor, aboard the KARLYN. We went over to the west side and fished in the porpoise with 10 other boats. Nobody was hooking up for the first couple hours then all of a sudden everyone started getting strikes. Our ‘ahi hit a 5-inch lure with a 200-lb test leader and took over an hour to land. We brought the fish to the surface three times before we were able to gaff it. In the end, the fish was weighed in at 200 lbs-my biggest of the year. The fish was fought by Pat Fanning, a friend from Florida, my mother Monica Parker,…