The Weekly Fishing Line

A 608 lb Blue topped the list this week as the Marlin were around in pretty good abundance. Mahimahi were all over the place still, making the baiters and light tackle guys excited every day they got out there. Once again, double digit hookups and landings were reported for the Mahimahi by several skippers, and Marlin were coming in around the FADS, the ledges, the deep water, and the Banks.

Highlight of the week was a tournament in Keehi Lagoon where 62 boats roared out and spent the day fighting a ton of Mahimahi and a few Marlin, and the Keehi boat Club fish queen was right there to have her photo taken with all the slimy creatures.

The open school Mahimahi were still running, but even more interesting was the presence of abnormally large Aku. These normally little watermelon fish that are the favorite Marlin food were coming in like goldfish in a bowl, and skippers were reporting these Aku up to 30 pounds. The other notable thing about the run was they were all over the place. HH, BO, open water, the Banks, everywhere. Would have thought more Marlin would be skulking around as a result of the big baits, but for some reason, Aku were biting the big hooks instead of the Marlin. Sure made for some fun fishing this week, though. Bet the Marlin aren’t too far behind.

Slow times for boats that stayed in the harbor, but those who went fishing this week had a great one. The opens schools of Mahimahi showed up and boats were plucking them like feathers off a chicken. Baits, plugs, spoons, T-shirts, didn’t matter; if it was in the water it was attracting a Mahi. The tournament held at the yacht club produced 80 fish for 27 boats, with only three boats getting skunked (rumor had it those boats were working too hard in area Whiskey - call me if you don’t know what this means...it’s part of the tournament reporting grid). The charter boats hauled in Mahis one after another and everyone who fished this week seemed to get a piece of the action.

Marlin were noticeably absent, with only a few smaller ones reported. But nobody seemed to care with the Mahi-fest that was ongoing.

Highlight of the week was a 36lb Mahi that came in for the tournament, moving the angler and boat to fifth place, and then watching as a 36.5 lb Mahi hit the scales only a few moments later. Quite the crowd roar on that one.

Weather dropped down again for a week, and the fleet got out to the channel, the Banks and the South tip at the P Buoy. The Mahimahis came in droves, and boats reporting double digit hookups were commonplace. Marlin were roaming around the area too but we didn’t hear of any real big ones coming in. A few were spotted looking at the lures, but nobody seemed to be able to stick one.

Barber’s point was also pretty productive, with a ton of Spearfish, Mahimahi, and Aku. A 800-900 Blue was lost off this area, and a bunch more raised fish and strikes were reported. Eight miles straight out from Kewalo was the location for the hookup of another rare Blackie catch (by the same boat, Kuu Huapala), and the HH FAD produced some nice Stripes, Spears and Mahimahi.

The almost highlight for the week was the lost 800-900 pounder. We know the boat that it happened to, but we just can’t bear to publicize it. That was a tough fish to lose for them.