1999 Offshore Hunter's Tournament Report

What can we say about fishing? It’s a good thing they don’t call it catching, that’s all. Sometimes all the indications are there for a rip-snorting tournament, but the fish just don’t cooperate. The Hawaii and Waikiki Yacht Clubs held yet another fishing tournament over the weekend of the 8th and 9th of May, known as the Offshore Hunter’s Fishing Tournament. Once again, we had a pretty good urn out for a club event, with 18 boats joining us for the fun. We had 4 sailboats and 16 power representing both clubs, and we even showed a couple non-members how good a value these $20.00 events are!

The weather was brilliant all week, and HYC member Craig Mitchell managed to get out a day of fishing with his dad just before he went to New Zealand, thus missing the event. Too bad, because he had caught a nice 383lb Blue Marlin before leaving, along with 2 nice Mahis and a Spearfish.

hunter3.jpg (914659 bytes)
20/20 Crew with their Mahi Mahi - The only sailboat catch

With the weather still just below small craft advisory for the weekend, we turned the fleet loose at midnight (most wait for daylight, but the additional time allows for some extra ground coverage). Most went to the Banks, but some went to Kaneohe, and still others ended up out towards BO Buoy and the Waianae side.

Since the 9th was Mother’s Day, we shortened the event to a single day, and we found out this was a real hit with the ladies. By three PM Saturday, when we had the scale set up and ready to go, our first boat sauntered by the docks indicating he had nothing to show for his day. Then another boat came in with nothing to report but a headache. And another, then another, so we began to wonder if anyone ended up with any activity at all.

hunter4.jpg (908347 bytes)
The Crew of Dabba Doo

Kuu Huapala was first to weigh in a fish, as Pax and his charter group managed to hoist a nice 24lb Mahimahi on the scale. Next, Patty Naiyoke’s Dabba Doo came home and managed to land safely in their slip after losing their port engine. I guess if you’re going to lose an engine after a day of fishing, the harbor’s the best place to do it. Nonetheless, after securing, they weighed a 21 lb. Mahimahi angled by Patty Deacon, and getting the team on the board for the first time this season (they haven’t fished all the tournaments yet, as Patty is still getting the nice Bertram 28 set up and dialed in for fishing...looks like they’re on the right track).

With two power boats now weighed thus assuring some prizes would be handed out, we watched as the sailboats slipped into the harbor. First back was Stinger and Richard Ally. Now everyone knows Richard catches a ton of fish, but for some reason he is having a tough time of it this season. Despite catching fish many times when he goes out, he hasn’t been able to catch anything during the tournaments. The general consensus, however, is that will soon change.

Tiare then arrived home with arms waving, but we knew there wasn’t anything to write home about when we saw the fish bag on the deck folded neatly and pressed onto the cabin top with no indication of anything inside (not even ice). The bag looked like the crew had been sleeping on it all day, and was actually looked quite comfortable. 20/20 then returned home with a head of steam, and scaled a 19.5 lb. Mahimahi angled by the great Bob Simpson. Of course, his crew was a little heckling of him and calling him not so great, as he reportedly was involved in the losing of another Mahimahi earlier in the day. Word also had it that their reef in the sail was tough to accomplish because during the transformation from race boat to fish boat, they wrapped a halyard onto the uprigger making things on the water a bit of a hassle.

The sail fleet then submissed quietly and the winner of the event for that division was the up-rigger wrapped 20/20, even without skipper Tony Miller. Word has it that Ellen Miller is considerably more skillful (or lucky) than Tony.

As the sailboat fleet finished up, the story was brewing on the powerboat side. Two boats in, and it was getting late. Na Moelepo showed up at the docks just before the 17:00 bell, and weighed in five fish, four of which counted for a total of qualifying pounds good for 74 points. Their largest fish was a 27 lb. Mahimahi angled by Paul Whitmire, and this placed them in the lead for what seemed to be the end of the event. However, controversy is almost impossible to evade, and we had a couple boats arrive after the gun.

hunter2.jpg (774804 bytes)
Na Moelepo with their 27 lb. Mahi Mahi

As the weigh crew began to pack up the equipment believing the tournament was over, another boat showed up looking for the weigh scale. Mamo Bird, skippered by Joe Cabrera, reported he had been inside the harbor since 17:00 but since he hadn’t fished with us before, he wasn’t sure where to weigh in. After he got himself sorted out (he was seen in the harbor by Ty Pryne, the R/C for Power at WYC), Joe weighed in a few fish at the club, the largest of which being a 28 lb. Mahimahi which just edged out the 27 brought in by Na Moelepo. We didn’t get any photos of the fish, but we reviewed the story of Joe and how he couldn’t find the weigh in. After review by the tournament directors, the fish were allowed and Joe took over the lead........momentarily.

The weigh crew had heard about Al Bento on Alele II towing a boat to Pokai Bay, but there wasn’t any word relayed about him having fish aboard. As the weigh scale was broken down and stowed for the second time, a bewildered Bento suddenly appeared at the scale asking where all the gear was. After figuring out what was going on, we quickly re-erected the scale and weighed in Al’s 30.5 lb. Spearfish which vaulted him into first place on this low production day. Al also landed, among other Mahis and Onos, a Kahala (amberjack) which is pretty rare on trolling lures (in fact we’ve found no records in the office that suggest one has been caught in an HYC tournament), but since it was over 10lbs, it counted towards his season’s points total, giving him 73 points for the event.

hunter1.jpg (892593 bytes)
Alele II with their winning Spearfish

Rick Abille held a good pupu party for the fleet at WYC afterwards where prizes were flowing to all the anglers, and everyone was once again happy with the tournament. Yes we could have used a few more fish, but that’s just the way it goes some days. However, with the food and prizes alone, every boat got more than they paid for with their measly $20.00 entry fee, plus they got a day on the water in Hawaii.