Kona Fishing Headlines for August 11, 2008

[Fishing Hawaii]

This week's Kona Fishing Headlines. For the full stories, visit FishingHawaiiOffshore.com. Each story remains on the site for two weeks before it is removed.

89 AND STILL FIGHTING. When Louise Hawkins stepped carefully aboard Huntress last Friday, she was greeted with the respect due age and royalty. As the holder of five International Game Fish Association World Records, Louise has earned her chops.
And as an 89-year-old going on 90 in January, she drew amazement over the simple act of heading offshore to catch one more billfish.

MARLIN RUN MEANS MULTIPLE SHOTS. The hot fishing of mid-summer has cooled slightly but most boats are still getting multiple shots. Multiple-chances are important when you are lure fishing, because the typical ratio tends to run about one hook-up for every three to four strikes.
J. D Hudson crewed for Captain Mark Schubert on Camelot in the thick of the action on a day when they went four for eight.

FADS NO PASSING FAD. Hawaii’s system of FADs (Fish-aggregation devices) is now nearly three decades old. After successful experiments in the late 1970s, the state began deploying these anchored buoys throughout island waters in 1980 for the purpose of attracting and holding gamefish for the benefit of fishermen.

XX- AND ZZ- BUOYS ON THE WAY BACK. Kawaihae fishermen have had a lot to feel bummed about so far in 2008. The piers and docks are literally falling apart from damage now years old and ignored by all agencies responsible for repair. The Kawaihae boat launch ramp was shut down from January through May when winter storms filled the basin with sand. XX- and ZZ-buoys, the two FADs within reach of Kawaihae Harbor, broke loose early in the spring and have not been replaced even though other Big Island FADs have been.

NO NOISE IS GOOD NOISE. Ono trollers argue about whether ono strike their lures more often when pulled at, say, 12 knots rather than nine, or who has an engine that makes the better fish-calling sounds, or even which sort of wake has the best shape to urge ono into striking.

HIGH FLYER TOPS DIRTY DOZEN. Greg Akers boated two marlin to give team High Flyer the $1400 jackpot in the August Dirty Dozen Fishing Tournament. Greg fished with skipper Gus Sellers and caught blues weighing 156.5- and 209 pounds to take first in the 16-boat field with 365.5 total pounds. The event was held on August 2.

MARLIN DOMINATE KONA IKI TROLLERS LIGHT-TACKLE TOURNAMENT. Angler Mike Ide of Team Rod Bender boated twin marlin and an `ahi to top a 13-boat field competing for prizes in the Kona Iki Trollers Light-Tackle Tournament. Mike’s marlin weighed 162 and 163 pounds and added a 113-pound yellowfin tuna for a total weight of 438 pounds. Mike fished with team captain Kerwin Masunaga and earned two points per pound by catching all three fish on 50-pound class tackle.

KONA IKI KEIKI TOURNAMENT TO BE TELEVISED. The Kona Iki Trollers Keiki Tournament will be held on Saturday August 16 and will be filmed by Let’s Go Fishing for a future broadcast. Keiki must be 14 years and younger. The entry fee per youngster is $10 plus a $30 per boat fee for the banquet.

THE NUMBERS MAKE YOUR HEAD SWIM. As I scanned last week’s catch report, my head started spinning. Literally, I got dizzy scrolling down the very long list of blue marlin, shortbill spearfish and tuna from one of the best weeks of fishing on record.

BLACK CAT MAGIC MARLIN. Skipper Marlin Parker says it seems like he always finds a big marlin during the HIBT. Last year he hooked a potential grander on 80 and lost it when the leader broke. The year before, he battled the big one on 50 and broke line. This year, he hooked another giant billfish on 50 but successfully boated this one -- with the help of some black-cat magic.

THE 80-POUND DISADVANTAGE. In the Kona fleet’s daily pursuit of big marlin, the standard is 130-pound-class gear. Even when charter boats gear up with 80-class rods and reels, professional captains often spool them with 100-pound-test line – or even heavier.
Even such heavy gear is not always up to the task, and we regularly hear tales of fish too big to hold on heavy lines.
So imagine what it is like to accept an additional 80-pound handicap by dropping down from 130- to 50-pound line.

FEEDING THE KITTY. Skipper Bomboy Llanes knew his fishing team was drifting into troubled waters.

MEDUSA’S 695 FOR SAME LUCKY BOB. When Bob Dudley boated his 973-pound blue marlin after a ten-year drought in the HIBT, he undoubtedly figured he might have to wait another decade to catch another memorable HIBT fish. Indeed, he might even have hoped for such relief, given the high drama in his historic Tuesday catch.
In fact, he only had to wait another two days.

JOE YEE BACK IN ACTION. Joe Yee has been making tournament-winning lures since the early 1960s. With his 80th birthday coming up in September, however, Joe has long since given up trying to reel any of the many fish that find his lures to be irresistible.
This year, Rocky Franich, Joe’s long-time fishing buddy on the Pajaro Valley fishing team, decided it was time for a change.

SMALL-FISH STRATEGY PREVAILS. Whether or not skipper Neal Isaacs actually had a “small-fish strategy,” his small-fish strategy won the Henry Chee award for Neal’s crew on Anxious.