Innholdsfortegnelse for July 2009 i Hawaii Fishing News

Mariko Rizzuto dropped a jig down into an ulua hole and hauled up a mystery. Her catch displayed an enigma with important consequences. With a little help from her dad, Tony, Mari eventually pulled a 30-inch ulua into view next to the Rizzuto Maru. While the jack was still struggling at the surface, we spotted a pink spaghetti tag in its right side. Our plan was to record the tag number to report to the DAR’s ulua-tagging program, and then release the fish with the tag in place. On closer inspection, however, we saw a 6-inch long scar in the strip of flesh immediately in front of the tag. This needed further study and some clear pictures. The injury was recent. The skin showed signs of healing, but it was…

Hi Chuck, Just letting you know that my son Daniel caught a 1, 140-lb Pacific blue marlin. He was fishing alone on his 18’ Nautico powered by a 7 5-hp Evinrude Etec motor. He was off of Kamalapau Harbor at 1 p.m. and had just put his lines out with a brand-new lure that he got the previous Saturday from Steven Lichter here on Lana’i. Steve creates his own designs and gave Daniel one to try out. Daniel spent Sunday rigging his new lure and had it in the water for only five minutes. Daniel said he saw some unusual splashes where the lure was and thought that he had either tangled his other lines or snagged some rubbish. To his amazement, he then saw the marlin chasing his new…

■ The man was a hall of famer while still playing the game. From 1954 to 1963, he was Kona’s headliner. In 1955, hisbatting average was 350 as he caught 63 of the Kona fleet’s 178 marlin. His sampan, the MALIA, scored 80 bill fish in multiple seasons. Last fall, the International Game Fish Association hammered his nail inthe walland hung the Henry Chee Fishing Hall of Fame plaque. “Henry Chee showed the world that marlin fishing is a science that needs to be pursued systematically,” said Capt. Phil Parker. “He was a great student of marlin fishing. Chee kept notes on every fish he encountered. He compared moon and tide information, noted currents and weather patterns and carefully analyzed the smallest details of allof his catches. Thanks to his…

HFN Part 7 in a series about inshore fish of Hawaii. The 12-part series is a project ofthe Hawaii Fisheries Local Action Strategy. Ifyou have any questions orwould like more information, please contact <fisherieslas@gmail.com>. THERE IT WAS ON HIGH-SPEED FILM: Each time the forceps butterfly fish retracted its rear fin a sound was emitted. “That same fish, when it raises its head, it can produce a single pulse sound,” says Kelly Boyle, a PhD candidate at the University of Hawaii who has spent countless hours reviewing fish film. Why? The fish is using sound to communicate. While our ears might not be tuned to hear the low frequency underwater sounds fish emit, fish are using sound to do such things as establish a territory, to attract a mate or to…

www.themecrosswords.com © Hawaii Fishing News 2009 All Rights Reserved ACROSS 1. Yellowstripe goatfish 4. Yellowfin goatfish 12. Letter postscript 14. Dishes out dinner (2 words) 16. One of the peak spawning months for goat fish 17. Sound system, briefly 18. Micro-processing unit, abbr. 20. Night scope technology, for short 22. ___ fish, popular Hawaiian recreational fish 25. Number of goatfish species in Hawaii 27. Succeeded 29. Having wings 31. Internet provider 32. Sea ___, goatfish are these type of feeders 33. Juvenile goatfish 34. Milliliter, for short 35. Meaning two 36. “Ready, set, ___!” 37. Similar siblings? 40. Small islands 43. Goatfish food 46. Ancient time period 47. Place where fisherman have been reporting a drop in the number of goatfish 49. Chick’s mom 50. Comparison quantity 52. ___ lua…

From: Clay Tam Date: June 10, 2009 Subject: ALERT-Closure of MHI Bottomfish Fishery: July 6, 2009 To all Bottom Fishers: FYI: Federal Register notice announcing closure of MHIBF season was published today. Effective July 6, 2009. Clay Tam 27253 Federal Register/Vol. 74, No. 109/Tuesday, June 9, 2009/ Rules and Regulations DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 50 CFR Part 665 RIN 0648-XN78 Fisheries in the Western Pacific; Bottomfish and Seamount Groundfish Fisheries; Fishery Closure AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce. ACTION: Temporary rule; closure. SUMMARY: NMFS is closing the commercial and non-commercial fisheries in the Main Hawaiian Islands fishery for seven deep water bottomfish species (" Deep 7" bottomfish) as a result of reaching the total allowable catch (TAC) for the…

Moon Phase Madness Strikes the Kona Coast ■ Full moon, new moon, no moon: which produces better bites? I often hear fishermen talking about the moon, tide and temperature; and it’s hard to fathom (for me anyway) that the phase of the moon, along with many other solar influences, has such a huge impact on everything, including fishing. It’s just not something you think about every day (at least I don't). I got curious, so I crunched numbers and compared the fish report to the full moon and new moon to see if there really was something to all this. May’s full moon rose midday on the 9th, the new moon was on the 25th, and the quarter moons were at the 17th and 31st. There were 15 blues reported,…

■ This column is dedicated to the ulua taggers of this project. We have had numerous inquiries from our anglers about how many ulua actually have been tagged during this project. The information has been long overdue. We hope that you will find the data interesting. Keep in mind that this data represents only those ulua tagged that were approximately 10 lbs and over. Weights were based on length-to-weight conversion tables per species (see Table 1). The number of tagged ulua so far has been very impressive. Charts and graphs show the number of ulua tagged and released, those rereleased, the number tagged per island and travel between islands. The numbers show how important the ulua resources are to concerned fishermen of Hawai’i. More importantly, the data shows the change…

■ Our captain was Mike Christie and his boat is the TUIA, a Bertram 31. Mike has been open-water fishing for over 40 years and has owned the TUIA for nearly as long. He has spent a large part of his life at sea both as a fisherman and as acaptain. Also aboard was Mike’s longtime friend Al Bento. Al has been open-water fishing for over 50 years and has a mariner’s background similar to Mike's. Al is also a skilled lure maker, and he caught a grander in 1994. No need to say much more. These men know the ocean, they know boats, and they know how to fish. On the other hand, there I was, an amateur at best. I have been open-water fishing approximately 12times, I have…

■ For the past 20-plus years, the Keehi Boat Club has held its annual Jackpot and Wahine tournaments on a single week end in October or November, with the Jackpot on Saturday followed by the Wahine on Sunday. This year, however, the KBC decided to shake up its 22nd Annual Jackpot and Wahine Tournament schedules. As a result, the 2009 Jackpot was a two-day tournament, held on Saturday and Sunday, May 30 and 31, to kick-off the summer, and the Wahine Jackpot will be a one-day tournament in mid-October. Although the number of entries in the new Jackpot was less than expected, it was understandable. Many captains did not expect the Jackpot to be earlier and did not plan to enter. Also, with the poor economy, many fishermen had to…

■ Finally, we saw some signs of life in the ocean. It had been so long since fish had been seen on this side ofthe island, Ithought El Nino had come back to the Pacific. One stray ‘ahi was caught off Kualoa Valley, but everyone said it was a freak catch. We had a terrible spring with almost no mahimahi to speak of, and the bottom fishing was not any good. We just had one small marlin caught during the past three months. Sowhere did the fish go? Greg Desmet moved to the Hawai’i-kai area, but he comes to Kane'ohe to catch fish, especially when he has a pretty girlaboard tokeep him company. Greg and his friend Saori were on their way to Kane'ohe Bayon a day trip to view…

■ Persistent trade winds will be the dominant weather feature. July is fair weather month-on land. Over the waters expect gusty trades on six to 14 days of this month. Surf-wise, northwest wave activity is at a minimum with low surf heights of Oto 5 feet at northern shores. Surf action along southern shores will peak in July and extend into September. Mariners are advised of the possible occurrence of two kinds of potentially hazardous weather: thunder-storms with heavy rain from an upper trough, and tropical cyclone invasions into Hawai’i waters. FISHING FORECAST OFFSHORE WAfERS AHI-BIGEYE TUNA AHi PAHALA-ALBACORE TUNA AU-PACIFIC BLUEMARLIN AU-SHORTBILL SPEARFISH ONO-WAHOO KAWAKAWA-MACKEREL TUNA BOTTOM FISH UKU-GRAY SNAPPER INSHORE WATERS ULU/OMILU-TREVALLY OAMA-YOUNG GOATFISH COASfAL WAfERS AKULE-BIGEYE SCAD CLOSED SEASON MOI-THREADFIN HAWAII HK-HILO G-PEPEEKEO KAUAI AA-PORT ALLEN BB-MOLOAA…

■ On Saturday morning, May16, 2009, I set out on a fishing trip with my husband and our fishing partner Barry Versola. The course was not set; we only knew that we were going to Hana on the North Shore of Maui. We launched at 3:30 a.m. out of Kahului Harbor. We got about 15 miles offshore and decided to set out the lines. The lures were in the water no more than 15 minutes when our right side outrigger went down. Barry started yelling, “Hana pa'a! Hana pa'a! Big marlin! Throttle, throttle, throttle!” The fight was on! The marlin started to spool line out of the International 130 reel loaded with 130-lb test line. The fight continued for about 30 minutes then Barry said, “We're almost spooled with only…

Coral Disease Coral disease is becoming increasingly frequent in Hawai’i. Researchers have identified 18diseases on Hawaiian reefs. Porites Trematodiasis, or “coral zits" (left) and coral grown anomalies (right) are two common diseases seen in Hawai’i. Although disease is a natural part of the the reef ecosystem, human stressors such as global climate change, land based pollution and sedimentation may weaken reef ecosystems and cause corals to become more susceptible to disease. Coral Bleaching Reef corals contain symbiotic, single celled algae, or zooxanthellae, that provide over 90% of a coral’s food and energy. Coral bleaching, which is the loss of zooxanthellae from the coral polyp, may lead to reduced growth, reproduction or even death. Bleaching may occur in response to stressors such as changes in salinity, light or temperature. This photo…

HO’omaluhia Keiki Fishing Derby ■ The HO’omaluhia Botanical Garden again hosted the Keiki Fishing Derby. This has become a truly outstanding annual event for the younger set. We witnessed more people than ever before in a mixed freshwater event. Many families trooped in with not only their own children but also some neighbors and a few cousins. There were many subcategories for different age groups and varieties of fish brought to hand. Allysha Tabisola claimed the overall championship and won a prize in several categories after catching 28 fish total, the longest tilapia measuring 12 inches, a white “red devil" and the most unusual fish, a Chinese catfish. In the 4-to-7-year age group, young Dallas Graham brought in36 mixed red devils and tilapia. Andrew Butler caught a 12-inch soft-shell turtle.…

■ Merle Haggard sang about the Okie from Muskogee, Oklahoma. Although Merle never came from Muskogee, Brian and Sandy Culver did. They showed up to go fishing with Capt. Dave Borgman on the charter vessel FOXY LADY. Along with Brian and Sandy were Ray and Janet Mitchell from Coweta, Oklahoma, where Janet teaches first grade and Raymond is a mechanic for American Airlines. They have a son stationed here as a chief in the Navy. Kathy Mitchell also came along for the trip. Kathy is from Washington, D.C., where sheis a lobbyist for the insurance industry. They had all arrived the day before, and this was the first fishing outing for everyone in the group. After the first ono came on board, everyone could see they were in for a…

■ The blue marlin numbers for May were down 50 percent from April, with only eight being weighed and one tagged and released. Three of the top six blue marlin so far this year were weighed during the month. A couple of striped marlin and four spearfish brought the monthly billfish total to 15. The ACTION brought ina nice-sized ‘ahi weighing 191.8 lbs, captured by the tag team of David Miller and Ron Fite. They were fishing with Capt. Steve Lambert and crewman Jukka Hyytia. This was the 15th largest ‘ahi for a Lahaina charter boat since 1980, and the 20th largest for Lahaina Harbor since 1977. Capt. Lambert has landed the seven largest ‘ahi for Lahaina Harbor since 2005. The HINATEA joined the ‘09 top marlin producers witha400-lb blue…

For letters, with photos, received during July we’ll send you HFN’s New Ulua Hook® Embroidered cap logo design… our way of saying thanks for sharing your catch! …Hana pa'a, Chuck Send to: P.O. Box 25488, Honolulu, Hawai’i 96 or e-mail: <fishnews@hawaii.rr.com> Hey Chuck, I would like to share a catch that I will never hear the end of because my girlfriend Mandy did it again. I've caught my share of ulua ranging from 20 to 30 lbs and I thought I was the man, but my girlfriend showed me. She’s already caught one ulua that got posted with you, but this one just tops them all. She took a hit on her ulua pole at about 11 :30 p. m. on March 20th at our favorite spot with perfect conditions.…