Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2010 i Hawaii Fishing News

Da Fight Is On! I love fishing. I love everything about fishing. I’ve been fishing from the time that I was a little boy. I learned to fish with my dad and my grandpa, who was a great fisherman. I always dreamed of catching a “big man’s fish.” Then one day my dream came true. It was a breezy, sunny day, and I’d decided to bring my 2½-year-old son, Jayden, to the beach. I packed my two-piece ulua pole and my son’s fishing pole and headed out to Davidson where my dad was already fishing. I was trying to fish but was very excited because my friend Keo Fernandez had pulled up with a 52-lb ulua that he had caught the night before. I had an adrenaline rush and was…

ALII HOLO KAI Three-Prong Winners The 2010 Alii Holo Kai Three-Prong Contest was held on March 14 in Waimanalo. Eighteen divers competed for prizes and bragging rights for the day. The ages of the competitors ranged from 17 to 62 years old. The majority of steady divers who like to use a three-prong once in a while know how mellow this contest is. The competition is as moderate as can be. Don’t even think about winning a free trip to Vegas: just enjoy the good food and the fellowship that comes with the $15 entry fee. In this contest you cannot spear more than 15 fish. Any more, and you will be disqualified. The rules allow for 10 small fish maximum, with a minimum size of 5½ inches; and five…

Howzit Chuck, Thank you for the opportunity to share my story with the HFN community. I was born and raised on O‘ahu and have been fishing its waters since I was about 6 years old. Up until December 26, 2009, I had caught ulua in Australia, Belize and Kaua‘i, all on short trips, but never on O‘ahu where I spend 95 percent of my time fishing. Interesting how that works out. On the morning of the 26th, my wife, Kyllie, and I loaded the truck and headed out to our favorite fishing spot in Mokule‘ia. We were to meet up with my co-worker Joe and his family, and friend Ken and his family, who had rented a cabin nearby. Kyllie and I were intent on fishing and opted out of…

Historically in Hawai‘i’s fishery, the kahala, or amberjack, was regularly caught and consumed by local fishermen. According to historical commercial landing records, there was once a viable commercial fishery for kahala. But in the mid ’80s, due to concerns of ciguatera toxicity associated with kahala and possible health risk, many markets including the United Fishing Agency (Hawai‘i’s largest fish whole-saler) stopped purchasing kahala and ulua. This brought an immediate stop to the commercial harvest of kahala and ulua in Hawai‘i. To this day some fishermen will still catch and consume these once-prized fish. If tested for ciguatera, these fish can still be consumed. They have excellent mild white meat and can be eaten raw or cooked. There are four different species of kahala, or Seriola, that have been identified to…

Kaipalaoa Landing Gets ‘Splashed’ During a recent visit to the Big Island, Gov. Linda Lingle visited downtown Hilo to inspect Kaipalaoa Landing, the prospective home of a new community beach park and valuable shoreline fishing resource. Gov. Lingle met with Malama Kaipalaoa, a citizen group that has adopted the small peninsula and for the last year has performed clean-ups and planning sessions. HFN’s “Splash!” has been at the Kaipalaoa meetings from the beginning to let the voice of fishermen be heard. Currently, the Governor has on her desk a request from Mayor Billy Kenoi to turn Kaipalaoa Landing, an unencumbered parcel controlled by the DLNR, over to the Hawai‘i County Department of Parks and Recreation. Kaipalaoa Landing, according to Landscape Architect Leonard Bisel, is about half an acre and is…

Anglers dream about getting an E-mail like the one I received a month ago. The E-mail came from Allen “Pole Pole” Sansano. Allen is a great guy I met a few years back while fishing in a Plenty Pupule Kayaks winter ’Yak Attack. Over the years we stayed in touch through online forums, and I am very glad we did. Pole Pole’s E-mail read, “Boogie, we got one heck of a trip on the books, and we are one man down. Would you be free to fish La Paz, Mexico, this April?” My heart started pumping. This could be a fun trip filled with exciting lifetime memories. It did not take long for me to respond, “Count me in. I am there, Allen.” We were to meet up with two…

During much of the year, ballyhoo gather in the shallows of many Hawai‘i bays and harbors. They are undoubtedly feeding, but what do they feed on? I can’t really tell you-they could be vegetarians for all I know-but I do know what feeds on them. Everything. Using live ballyhoo as bait while casting from shore, I have caught ‘omilu, kaku, ulua, uku, needlefish, big moana-ukali and even strange creatures like trumpet fish and waha-nui. How do you catch ballyhoo, keep them alive and then fish them for shoreline game fish? To find out, I invite you to look over my shoulder and read one of my weekly letters to my grandchildren. All five grandkids live in far-flung places across the mainland and have fished the shoreline with me on their…

A Million-to-One Odds! Tag Recovery of a Lifetime There have been a number of interesting tagged fish recoveries since the start of the Ulua Tagging Project in June of 2000. It is always exciting to hear about the papio and ulua that travel-especially those that have traveled between islands. It is also interesting to learn how many days they remained at liberty and how much they grew. One of the most unbelievable tag recovery stories was called in by Bryan Yatsushiro. On the morning of September 22, 2009, I received a phone message from Bryan about a tagged ulua recovery. The message said, “Clay, please call Bryan Yatsushiro. I have a very interesting tag ulua recovery story for you. The tag number is U10520.” Before returning Bryan’s call, I looked…

During longline fishing operations, false killer whales become hooked or entangled in fishing gear, often while the whales are attempting to remove catch or bait from the hook (known as “depredation”). As a result, the animals may become seriously injured or killed, and are considered “takes” under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Currently, these takes are occurring at levels that are unsustainable for the false killer whales. In January 2010, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) established a Take Reduction Team (TRT) to address the incidental mortality and serious injury of false killer whales in the Hawai‘i-based deep-set and shallow-set longline fisheries. The TRT includes representatives from the commercial fishing industry, academic and scientific organizations, environmental groups, the state of Hawai‘i, the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, the Marine…

Like most locals, I love seafood-fish, crab, limu, tako, ‘opihi, shrimp, all “da kine” stuff. And when it comes to shrimp, give me shrimp tempura, shrimp cocktail, shrimp curry-you get the picture. Even though most who’ve seen “Forrest Gump” think they know how shrimp are caught, I’d like to share one of my personal experiences. In midsummer, my fishing buddy and I headed over to the Atlantic side to go tarpon fishing. Tarpon are big, beefy fish that put up a good fight and give you a great workout, but no fillets. The state has them on the endangered list so you get a good fight, pat them on the head, and bid them a hui hou! We were meeting our friends at the Devil’s Elbow Fish Camp in Crescent…

July 4 World Cup The 26th Annual World Cup Blue Marlin Championship (World Cup) is fast approaching, and teams are registering to fish for eight hours in their time zones. From Vanuatu in the South Pacific to Portugal, Canary, Cape Verde and Madeira Islands in the Eastern Atlantic, boats are preparing for the one-day competition on July 4. Anglers from as far away as Russia and Kazakhstan will be fishing this prestigious tournament. This unique event pits teams around the world fishing in the waters of their choice to see who can catch the biggest blue marlin in an eight-hour time span. One winner takes all with a minimum-sized fish of 500 lbs. Michael Corbino, of Sarasota, Florida, and Hawai‘i, winner of $450,000 in the 2009 event, will be fishing…

Nu‘uanu Update The catfish are well and doing whatever catfish do when nobody is bugging them. The dam at Nu‘uanu Reservoir has undergone a facelift, and it now almost looks as it did 10 years ago before the heavy infestation of vegetation took place. Some of the progress is quite visible from the Pali Highway. That sort of intrigued us, so one day, when the gate was open, we decided to investigate a little further. The sides of the dam have been fully cleaned all the way to the floor. Almost all of the encumbering foliage and trees have been cut down or removed. Indeed, it is quite a sight to see! The dam might even pass Federal inspection this time. We also noted a crew from the OCCC that…

The Recreational Saltwater Fishing Summit was held in Alexandria, Virginia, on April 16 and 17, 2010. A delegation headed by the Western Pacific Region’s Recreational Fisheries Working Group (RFWG) to the nation’s Marine Fisheries Advisory Commission (MAFAC) members Edwin Watamura, president of the Waialua Boat Club, and Craig Severance of the Hilo Trollers and University of Hawaii-Hilo, attended the summit, which was convened by Eric Schwaab, NOAA Fisheries assistant administrator. Also from our region attending the summit were Richard Seman of Saipan, Jeff Shively of American Samoa, and Roy Morioka of Honolulu. Kitty Simonds, executive director of WPRFMC, Alvin Katekaru, assistant Pacific Islands regional administrator-Sustainable Fisheries, and Dr. Hongguang Ma, statistician with the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, represented the region’s administrators. The purpose of the summit was to initiate…

Hilo Trollers Tournament The Hilo Trollers completed their first safe and successful fishing tournament of the season on Sunday, April 11. Ono had been biting at the point, so almost all of the boaters took advantage of the good weather and went south around Cape Kumukahi. Eight teams entered, and six caught flag fish. Eleven ono and two qualifying mahimahi were weighed in. No ‘ahi or marlin were landed, but that is expected at the beginning of the trolling season. At the annual spring meeting, club members voted unanimously to change the rules to level the playing field a bit between the anglers and to support a conservation approach. Under the new tournament rules, only two fish in each flag fish category can landed by each boat and counted toward…

ADD YOUR TOURNAMENT! Send your tournament dates and contact information to <fishnews@hawaii.rr.com> OFFSHORE TOURNAMENTS HAWAII-QUEEN K TESORO CUP July 2009 to June 27, 2010 HAWAII-QUEEN K TESORO DIRTY DOZEN June 5, 2010 August 7, 2010 Sept. 4, 2010 October 2, 2010 Capt. Al Gustavson (808) 283-1281 E-Mail <CaptAl@GoosesEdge.com> Website <www.GoosesEdge.com> HAWAII-8TH ANNUAL ROCK’N REEL HAWAIIAN OPEN June 18 & 19, 2010 Hawaii Big Game Fishing Club (808) 326-7902 PO Box, 3106 Kailua-Kona, HI 96745 E-mail <tourney@hbgfc.org> Website <www.hbgfc.org> OAHU-AHI FEVER June 19 & 20, 2010 Norman Swift (808) 696-3399 E-mail <nswift9005@msn.com> Website <WWW.Wbfc.net> HAWAII-14th ANNUAL KONA CLASSIC June 26 & 27, 2010 Tropidilla Productions (808) 557-0908 PO Box 2158, Kailua Kona HI 96745 Website <www.konatournaments.com> E-mail <info@konatournaments.com> HAWAII-22ND FIRECRACKER OPEN July 3 & 4, 2010 Tropidilla Productions (808) 557-0908 PO…

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 Hawai‘i 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. Surface water conditions, expecially in the major channels between islands open to the trade wind direction, become rough and can be hazardous for…