May 2000
Week of 5/22 - 5/28
| "And if you lead, so they shall
follow," goes the saying. Aku were the leaders in and around Hawaii this week, and
when that happens, the Marlin and Ahi are generally not far behind. Surprisingly, no Ahi
were reported in Kauai, but they were reported throughout the rest of the state in the
latter part of the week. Generally, this is a good sign that things will only get better. Oahu Magic is back. Yes, they were up and running last week, but they're back and not wasting any time this week. In addition to a few Spears and several Mahimahi, Captain Russell headed to Waianae for most of the week and drilled 3 nice Ahi at 160, 160 and 150 pounds. Two of them came in on Saturday. Sea Verse continued to find Mahimahi as only Captain Lee can, still picking up several each day. Lee also picked up 11 Aku on Friday in Waianae and 7 more on Sunday, suggesting the bait for the Billfish is coming in thick. Kamome managed a series of Mahimahi throughout the week as well and also picked up a bunch of Aku. They also broke leader on a 500+ pound Marlin after a 2 1/2 hour fight on Wednesday just this side of the HH buoy. Wild Bunch only ran the early part of the week, and they landed several Mahimahi and Aku, plus an Ono and even a couple of Uku (Gray Snapper) out at the Banks. The Coreene C, running out of Hickam, managed to land a reported 500 pound plus Blue Marlin on the 23rd. Finally, over the weekend, there was a tournament run out of Pearl Harbor (story accompanies), and Sportfish Hawaii congratulates Joe O'Neill of the private boat, Girlie T, for their 553 pound Blue Marlin caught just this side of BO buoy on Saturday. Kona Several large fish were reported in Kona throughout the week, ranging from 500-700 pounds. Word has it that at least one large fish is coming in every day, and many of them are coming in on private boats and skiffs. For the SFH fleet, there have been some near misses, and though the skippers always hate losing fish, the sheer activity is a good indication of the bite lately. Spellbound ran every day and picked up some Spearfish early in the week, then landed a 112 lb Ahi on Saturday. They then lost a huge fish about 12 miles off Hookena in a porpoise school on Sunday. Trust me...when Captain Mike Rand says the fish was huge, it was huge. Fish Wish had a week of near misses too. They missed 2 good Marlin strikes on live bait up at the grounds on Monday, but then filled in the week with some Aku, Spearfish released, and Mahimahi. Eclipse picked up 4 Spearfish, 3 Ono, and several smaller Shibi (yellowfin) 10-30 pounds under a nice net, meanwhile Medusa made the most of one trip by catching a 35 pound Mahimahi on a live Oioi (Spanish Mackerel) on Monday. Grand Slam is re-powering and Pamela is almost finished drydock. Maui Start Me Up drilled a 134 pound Ahi off McGregor Point while heading toward LA buoy on the 24th, and caught a few Mahimahi the rest of the week. Hinatea got 2 Mahimahi on the 25th, and lost a nice Stripe out between the Lighthouse and K buoy on Saturday. We didn't get a report from our newest boat, Marlin Mischief, and as we said last week, Captain Kim Miyake on the Ho'okela is in drydock over in Kona. Kauai Kai Bear and Grander had very consistent weeks for the trips they ran. Grander is the plusher of the two boats, so it tends to run less and on more private trips. Only running twice this week, they managed to pick up 5 Mahimahi and 3 Ono. Kai Bear ran 6 days, steadily picking up Mahimahi every day except Monday. They also got a couple Aku late in the week. Lahela reported several Aku all week, along with some smaller Mahimahi and an Ono. Meanwhile, Maka Hou made the most of their three trips for the week by picking up 8 Mahimahi and 2 Ono. |
Week of 5/15 - 5/21
| A high
pressure system has been parked a little North of the islands, leaving dry, sunny weather
for everyone living in or visiting paradise. Some boats were able to venture out a
little further than usual as a result of the weather, resulting in some nice catches
for the week. Most of the drydocking and maintenance is done, so reports for each
island should begin to get a little more complete for the fleet throughout the
summer. Ono (wahoo) has emerged as one of the more dominant fish, battling with
Mahimahi for top honors, meanwhile Blues continue to make their presence known and
the Ahi are definitely starting to show up. Oahu Sea Verse dominated the Hawaiian islands this week with only 5 trips. On Tuesday the 16th, Captain Lee rounded the corner to Makapuu and picked up a 425 pound Blue and 3 Mahimahi. A few more Mahi throughout the week were then capped off with an 18 greenback day, two of which were over 40 pounds. Wild Bunch had been in a bit of a slump with a week of hard luck, but a Sportfish Hawaii charter helped Captain Timmy Gray break out of it with a clean sweep on Saturday out at the Banks. In addition to two small sharks and an Uku (gray snapper), Wild Bunch released a 25 pound Spear and landed a 31 pound Shibi (yellowfin under 100 pounds), 6 Mahimahi up to 46 pounds, and a 25 pound Ono. Meanwhile, Magic went for a shakedown cruise on Saturday after all their work, and the boat is looking sharp. They picked up nice Spear, a Mahimahi, and a 440 pound Blue to properly re-Christen the boat. Kamome only ran twice this week, picking up a Mahimahi, but more importantly, discovering some Ahi piles out offshore. Captain Chris Hall said he was out in the "perfect" Ahi pile, complete with birds and porpoise and the fish were there, just no bites. Sometimes these beasts can be finicky, but with a private boat reporting an Ahi at 186 pounds out about 14 miles of Waianae, it looks like things will be picking up on these bad boys real soon. Maui Ho'okela had another fine week (2 in a row now since joining the SFH fleet) with a 506 pound Blue caught off Pelekunu Valley on the North Shore of Molokai on the 16th, and followed that day up with a 65 pound Ono (wow!!). Captain Kim took the boat to Kona for a drydock later in the week, so next week he'll have no report. Start Me Up and Hinatea both picked up a few "table" fish (Mahimahi and Ono) for the week. Start Me Up also reported raising and striking a few Marlin during the week but couldn't get anything to stick, while Hinatea reported a similar situation over the weekend. Kona A couple of 700 pound class fish were reported in Kona this week, one on a charter boat and another on a private skiff. With three SFH boats in drydock for much of the week, only some of our boats had a report. Fish Wish worked the 1000 fathom line from the harbor to the top corner of the grounds all week, picking up several Blue, Stripe and Spear bites and releasing a Spearfish and a white tip shark (est 150 pounds) on Monday. They then worked out off VV buoy on Sunday and released an estimated 200 pound blue. Medusa had just a few trips for the week, with their highlight a 125 pound Blue up at the grounds on Sunday. Spellbound picked up 3 Spearfish and an Ono for the week in five trips, and Eclipse came out of drydock late in the week to find a 40 pound Spear and a 20 pound Ono. Pamela and Grand Slam will be out for a couple more weeks. Kauai Lahela opened up a can of whoop-butt on the Ono this week and mixed in a tuna as well. Working all week from the harbor to the Koloa light on the 40 fathom line, Captain Scott had 36 strikes for 4 1/2 days, picking up 20 Ono from 20-46 pounds. On the 19th, a SFH charter with Lahela managed to land a 151 pound Ahi along with 2 Ono for the highlight of their trip. Maka Hou only had a couple of trips for the week, picking up some Ono as well. Meanwhile, Kai Bear and Grander picked up a steady supply of Mahimahi and Ono throughout the week. |
Week of 5/8 - 5/14
| Sorry for
the late update this week. Some of our boats were a little more of a challenge to
contact than usual. But it is still Wednesday here in Hawaii as we post this!
The weather is here, wish you were beautiful (yes this is a stolen quote, but it has been
pretty nice here in Paradise). Fishing is good most places, too. Maui Sportfish Hawaii welcomes Ho'okela into the fleet, and they got it going right away. On Monday the 8th, they picked up a 492 lb Blue Marlin outside of Olowalu (east coast of Lanai). This was followed by several Mahimahi and Ono throughout the week, and next week you'll read about another nice fish with captain Kim. Hinatea picked up a super Ahi on the 11th, coming in at 120 pounds. They, too, picked up some more Mahimahi and Ono throughout the week, meanwhile, Start Me Up remained steady with Mahimahi catches most of the week as well. Seeing the Mahimahi and Ono catches begin to equalize might mean the transition period is over, and with all the bait and sporadic Ahi around, it is looking like the a steadier stream of bigger fish will be following soon. Kona The Kona classic was held over the weekend of the 13th and 14th, and with only 22 boats, there were some pretty significant catches. No Sportfish Hawaii boats were in the tournament (Pamela and Eclipse are in drydock), but we did post a story on the tournament in the tournament section. Fish Wish released an estimated 175 pound Blue on the 14th to cap off a huge week that consisted mainly of Ono. Kent picked up fifteen of the silver bullets ranging from 20 to 31 pounds along the way. Grand Slam, who only fished 3 days this week and also headed out of service for some maintenance after losing an engine, picked up 7 Ono. Spellbound got into the Ono game as well, picking up some for the week. Kauai Maka Hou ran a few trips this week, with their highlight a 110 pound Ahi out off Black Mountain just past Kipukai. Some Mahimahi and Ono were also caught, and captain Julie reported the Mahimahi bite is slowing and the Ahi are clearly starting to show up. Unfortunately, there is so much bait that everyone is having some trouble getting them to bite. The Grander was down all week with some repairs and maintenance (yes, everyone is getting ready for summer), but the Kai Bear ran a few trips resulting mostly in a few Mahimahi each day. Lahela had a mixed bag week, offering some bottom trips as well as trolling trips, and managed a little bit of everything from Kaku to Ulua to Aku and Mahimahi. Oahu Kamome ran just 3 trips for the week, opting for some maintenance, but had steady production to show for it. They picked up several Mahimahi, a small Shibi and an Aku in the 3 days. Sea Verse found a net on the 12th and picked up 12 Mahimahi, but was skunked on their only other trip for the week. Wild Bunch managed to get some demons cleared out this week. Captain Timmy, who has been leading in most categories for the year, had a week to forget by landing no fish in three trips. We know reporting this is normally not good from a marketing standpoint, but it does show that even the better skippers sometimes get skunked. Magic and Kuu are almost back in action! Sportfish Hawaii would also like to congratulate Captain Don Monroe on the Kono who caught a 700 plus pound Marlin out in Waianae on Saturday. We couldn't get the details at the time of writing, but this is now clearly the fish to beat in the harbor for the year. We should have more on it soon. |
Week of 5/1 - 5/7
| Though the
billfish bite hasn't come back to par yet, a couple of monsters broke off and Hawaii
waters are still producing Mahimahi and Ono. We're also beginning to see some early
signs of the world famous summer Ahi, so if all holds, things might get good on those fish
soon. The weather has been quite nice most days, and with no El Nino or La Nina this
year, we're looking forward to a fun summer! Oahu Kamome continues to perform very well with the Mahimahi, landing 14 in only 5 trips, 2 of which were short days. Captain Chris Hall also reported a MONSTER on Sunday that hit the short rigger down at the tip of the Banks. The fish took line, and accelerated the entire time until the spool was empty. Despite spinning the boat and trying to chase it as fast as he could, there was no stopping the fish. Sea Verse found a net a few miles off the harbor on the 3rd, and pulled out 14 Mahimahi. They also landed 8 the day before, 7 on the 4th and also picked up some Aku and Ono. All told, Captain Lee caught 33 fish in 2 full days, a 3/4 day and a 1/2 day. Wild Bunch ran several short trips also this week, with their highlight day on the 4th with a 105 pound Striper and a 34 pound Spearfish. Another report in from a private boat saw huge piles of birds from out front on the South shore all the way toward Kaena point. The bird piles were holding small Aku that were feeding on Nehu, so they were a little tough to get to bite. We should have a report from Magic within 2 weeks, and Kuu should be up soon as well. Maui The floater we referred to last week has moved on, so we have more of an opportunity to talk about it. Turns out it was some type of torpedo, and the skippers in Maui report never seeing so many fish coming from such a small, insignificant floater. An estimated 400 pieces came off it while it was around. Originally found off Kaumalapau on the West coast of Lanai, it followed the current around toward Manele Bay. Start Me Up managed to find it each day, and added to their 30 Mahi day from April 30 by picking up 17 more on the 1st, 10 on the 2nd, and 4 on the 3rd. Hinatea picked up 4 on the 1st, and 9 on the second of the torpedo, and Captain Mark said live Opelu was working the best, though dead baits and lures worked as well. When the torpedo vacated, the fishing slowed a bit, with each boat picking up a few more Mahi for the week. Kauai Like Kamome on Oahu, Kai Bear dropped a LARGE Marlin on Sunday. The line didn't break, the fish just came unbuttoned after a bit of a fight. They still had a good week, though with several Mahimahi and Ono coming in. Maka Hou had a better day on Sunday, managing to land a 120 pound Ahi and a Kaku (Great Barracuda). Lahela produced some Mahimahi, and Captain Scott reported there are quite a few Ahi out on the ledge that have been a little finicky. Between Maka Hou's 120 pounder and Scott's report, it would appear the early phases of the Ahi runs are near. Kona Spellbound is enjoying their time back in the water with the new engines, and for the week they picked up a 105 lb Ahi on the 3rd, several Ono, and released a couple of Stripes and Spearfish. Medusa drilled a 110 lb Ahi on the 6th only 3 miles straight out of the harbor and also got 5 Ono off Pine trees on the 4th. Grand Slam has been hitting the Ono well, too, with 3 on one day and two more afterwards. It has been slow in Kona, but it's hard to fault a fishery when they still get big fish here and there. For example, just a few Marlin have come in all week for the fleet, but Junken Po picked up an 860 pounder on the 7th to restore everyone's faith. So, read between the lines........the 7th saw three significant fish on in Kauai, Oahu and Kona, the Ahi bite is starting to show all over the state, and there is a large presence of Aku along the West coast of Oahu. Think Hawaiian waters are going to be slow for long? I wouldn't bet on it. Go fishing! |