The Weekly Fishing Line

A break in the weather allowed the fleet to work the banks and the Molokai Channel this week, resulting in some good catch production for Marlin. Though not giants, some nice Marlin did come up for fun, and a few boats were more successful in raising fish than others. BO Buoy also saw some good action with the Mahimahi and the Aku showing up in good numbers.

There was also some good production off BO and Barber’s this week, with Stripes and Blues, and even Spears coming in almost daily. Some more big Ahi (all over 125 lbs) were caught at the power plant in Waianae, and some credit goes to the porpoise for finding them. Big Stripers ranging from 60 to 80 lbs were to be found too in Waianae, and a rare Blackie even ventured into the reef runway to join Kuu Huapala. I guess this week’s report really means a bunch of fish were caught all over, so enough said. It was a great week for fishing! There, that makes it easier.

With the weather still pretty tough and the boats still working mostly the Waianae areas, a few boats saw some success in the larger Ahis. A school of Ahi all over 100 lbs ran in Waianae, and some real big Spears and even some big Onos were reported all out in Waianae, mostly because of the weather. One of the boats had a long range run to Kauai and got a few Shibis along the way, while one boat ventured toward the HH area and managed to boat nine Mahis

Highlight of the week was Magic’s 16 Ahi day with all the fish weighing between 104 and 179 pounds. They also got a nice spear that same day, and returned to the dock at 9:30 at night.

Tough weather this week made fishing pretty difficult. Most of the boats, if they went at all, worked out in Waianae. The routine was to make a single pass by BO buoy and head on down to Waianae where some relief could be found. While out in Waianae, some of the boats found a net or two which produced some great Mahimahi days, with many boats reporting catches in the double digits. A couple of boats were able to land some Marlin in the 250-300 lb range, but the weather made for the production to be a little low.

BO buoy and Barber’s/Campbell Industrial down towards Waianae along the 500-1000 fathom line was the hot area this week, with some nice sized Marlin coming in with good production as well. Big Spears also were running in good supply, as were the Aku and smaller Shibis. One boat reported five Marlin strikes for the day, one of which was a 450 lb Blue that shook off at the back of the boat.

Highlights for the week included a rare sighting of two Orcas by Kamome. Strange, but true, as skipper Gary Oliver was able to clearly identify a male and a female cruising around. Magic also landed a 475 Blue 8 miles out off Maile Point.

As expected, the Mahimahi came back in force this week, with a few boats reporting double digit takes. Doesn’t seem to be any particular location where they are hanging around, but they are definitely congregating around the nets and other trash. What wasn’t expected was the high level of Marlin production at the same time, but charter and private boats alike have brought in some good sized Blue Marlin in the 300-700 pound range and Stripers in the 60-80 range. There is some good Spearfish activity going on this week as well, ranging up to 50 pounds. Pretty much a full blanket of action going on, and anywhere out off the South shore seems to be working.

Highlights of the week were Magic’s 65 Mahimahi day caught with a Japanese charter about 17 miles South of Kewalo near the HH FAD, Kuu Huapala’s 460lb Blue and a released estimated 200 pounder, Kamome’s 300 pound Blue caught out at the Banks, and another vessel that reported in a 700 pound Blue.