The third running of the Kona Classic
Fishing Tournament produced some nice catches in the marlin, mahi mahi and ono categories.
Unfortunately, a lack of qualifying ahi caused a portion of what would have been a record
purse to go unclaimed.
The top fish of the tournament was a beautiful 505 pound blue marlin caught by Rick
Chapnot from Capt. B.C. Crawford's "Chiripa". Capt. Crawford was awarded a
full service kit from Pacific Machinery and Caterpillar for being the top ranking boat in
the tournament powered by Caterpillar Engines. Chapnot and company took home $1,266.66 for
the largest marlin of the tournament and another $2,700.00 for the largest marlin entered
into the optional $500.00 entry category. "Chiripa" total winnings were
$3,966.00.
The largest ono of the tournament was caught by wahine angler Bernadette Llanes on board
Capt. Kenny Llanes's "At Last". The 41 pound wahoo was worth $1,266.66 as winner
of the base entry fee ono division.
Ken Yasuda angled the largest mahi mahi, a 35 pounder from "Holiday" crewed by
owner Marc Josepho and Capt. Dougie Pattengil. Masuda's mahi earned the crew $1,266.66 and
and additional $450.00 from the $50.00 daily, for a total of $1,716.00.
Since there was no winner in the ahi division, that division purse was awarded to the
largest second place fish of the tournament. This fish turned out to be a 131 pound marlin
caught by Mike Harvey on Bob West's "Pair O Dice", along with Ed Van Cleve. West
and Company were also awarded $810.00 for the largest marlin in the $50.00 daily entry
level, $225.00 for the largest marlin in the $50.00 daily entrance level and $450.00 for
the largest ono in the $50.00 daily entry level. Total
winnings for the "Pair O Dice" were $2,751.66.
The third and final marlin of the event also took home some winnings as Fred Richburg saw
his 100 pound striped marlin return $1,980.00 from the $100.00 daily and $900.00 from the
$100.00 largest marlin of the tournament categories. Richburg caught his fish from his
charter boat "Reel Class" skippered by Gus Sellers and his dad, Harley. Team
"Reel Class" was also the recipient of a $100.00 gift certificate from
Capterpillar and Pacific Machinery .
Calvin Shiroma captured a 24 pound ono from Steve Obrey's "Kaiao" to walk off
with $540.00 from the largest ono, $100.00 daily department. $900.00 went to Steve Zehring
and Randy Llanes for a 30 pound mahi entered into the $100.00 daily category. The mahi was
caught from Zehring's boat "On Line" crewed by more Llanes family - John and
John Jr.
Nineteen teams competed for a total of $25,631.64 but the final payout was $15,605.00
because the daily ahi divisions went unfilled, as did some of the daily marlin divisions.
The Kona Classic was the first of five tournaments in the Kona Marlin Tournament Series.
Next stop on the tournament trail will be the Big Island Invitational Marlin Tournaament
scheduled for June 16 - 19, 1999. The BIIMT is the richest marlin tournament in
Hawaii, and last year's purse totalled $118,180.00. The BIIMT is open to all interested
anglers, provided they fish with an invited skipper.
In addition, Caterpillar and Pacific Machinery are
guaranteeing a pair of brand new Cat diesel engines to the team catching the largest
marlin of the Series, 898 pounds or better. The Series record marlin was 897 caught by
Todd Crosland about 10 years ago. Tropidilla and Caterpillar think that 10 years is long
enough for any record to stand, and look forward to awarding the new diesel engines to
some lucky team by the last tournament of the Series, scheduled for September.
For more information contact: Tropidilla Productions P.O. Box 2158 Kailua-Kona,
HI 96745 808-325-7300 fax 325-5039 or by calling the
HCA office at 331-1191 located at Honokohau Harbor.
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