2000 Independence Day Fishing Tournament Report

Story and Photos by Mike House

Fifteen boats plied the waters in search of the first Blue Marlin in a Hawaii/Waikiki Yacht Club event for 2000.  Strange as it may seem, not a single Blue has been caught or released by a participant in one of the club events despite many being lost and many being caught the day before or the day after the tournament. 

As far as tournaments go, the Cockeyed Mayor’s is one of the fun ones.  Most of the boats like to go to Molokai in order to have a chance at winning the perpetual trophy, but also as a reason to get away from it all for the weekend. 

Saturday came and went without any boats weighing in, so it appeared the stories would be good come Sunday.  First to weigh was Richard Ally on the Stinger.  He had caught a Mahimahi the day before, and weighed it in at 11.5 pounds on Sunday.  Ally finally got on the leader board for season’s points, and this fish was good for second place in the tournament in the sail division.  He is also definitely in the hunt for the season title.  Carl Geringer on the Makoa, a 42-foot Passport sailboat, came in next.  Carl and his crew managed to snare a 23.5 pound Ono to claim the sail division and the Cockeyed Mayor’s perpetual trophy, having met the necessary criteria of making physical contact with Molokai. 

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Sail Division Winner 1st Place Makoa
Then came the power boats.  Bruce Matson’s Cormorant was down with a bad transmission, as was Lou Nagy’s Manawale’a.  Sea Verse had a rare weekend of skunking, and though Alele II entered the tournament, Al Bento didn’t fish because of prior commitments.  Thus, Bob Goodman on Akele was free to exercise additional command over his lead for the season.

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Power Division 1st Place Kahuna Kai

 First in was Dudley on the Kahuna Kai.  A 49-pound Ono and a 10-pound Mahimahi made for some great times on his charter group, and was also good for first place this time around.  Next in was Rick Abille on the Blue Diamond who fished solo and managed to pick up a 40.5 pound Spearfish that was good for second.  Next home was Steve Shoda on Chieme, who brought in a few nice fish, the largest a 19 pound Ono which was good for third.

All this left the door open for Goodman who reported hooking into an estimate 450-600 pound Blue Marlin on the far side of the Penguin Banks as he began the trek back from Kaunakakai.  The leaders Goodman run are about 18 feet, and when he brought in the evidence, it shredded out at about a foot below the swivel.   Akele’s crew reported the fish going airborne and acrobatic before breaking the leader like a twig.  Heartbroken as the fish would have given them an enormous lead and the first Blue in a tournament for the year, Akele settled for the consolation prize of landing a qualifying fish after making contact with Molokai, thus giving them the Cockeyed Mayor’s trophy for the third straight year. 


Here’s the final breakdown for the 2000 Cockeyed Mayor’s tournament
Power Division

1st  Kahuna Kai - 49 pound Ono
2nd Blue Diamond – 40.5 pound Spearfish
3rd  Chieme – 19 pound Ono

Cockeyed Mayor’s perpetual trophy winner – Akele with a 15.5 pound Mahimahi.  Winner must make contact with Molokai and be an HYC member.   None of the three boats ahead of Akele went to Molokai. 

Sail Division

1st   Makoa – 23.5 pound Ono, also good for the Cockeyed Mayor’s trophy in the sail division
2nd  Stinger – 11.5 pound Mahimahi.
3rd   N/A

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Cockeyed Mayor's Trophy Winners Akele
With three tournaments to go, the season is up for grabs in both divisions.  The sail fleet just needs one large fish to take the lead, and the power division has much the same scenario.   Points are accumulated at the rate of one per pound caught, plus 100 points for a released of a Marlin.  The top boat in the sail division has less than 100 points to date, and the power division leader Akele has 618 points with Sea Verse right behind at 554.5 points. 

Entry Information

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