The Weekly Fishing Line

Fishing remains fairly strong with good numbers of marlin coming in and even a few big ones.  The Ahi are still around at the buoys, but not in large numbers as they were earlier in the month.

Magic came in on Thursday with a nice 390lb Marlin landed near S buoy.  On the same day another boat landed a 644lb Marlin near HH as well as another 600 pounder on Sunday.

The Keehi Boat Club held their Jackpot Tournament over the weekend and 30 of the 88 boats weighed fish.  Since it was a largest fish tournament, some boats caught but didn't weigh-in, so more than 30 boats actually caught something.  The winning fish was caught by Rick Abille on Blue Diamond.  Rick brought in a 220.5lb Marlin from the 1,000 fathom curve off the Power Plant.  Seems this is the spot for some good Marlin lately.  Other notable fish caught in the tournament were a 77lb Sailfish, a 144lb Black Marlin, and several nice Ahi ranging from 100 - 160lbs.

Sportfish Hawaii is doing some field research (fishing, of course!) in Kauai this week, so we'll have a report including that action later this week.

Bigger but fewer is the word of the week.  Fishing has slowed some along the South shore, but those who are staying with it are hooking up to some big fish which are providing some outstanding thrills and chills, plus a few spills……and while there are still some big Marlin roaming around, the Ahi have been pretty scarce for most of the fleet.  Some boats reported a few Ahi here and there out in some bird piles past BO, but they have been a little finicky and tough to raise and strike. 

Kuu Huapala had a pretty good week and managed to find a Marlin on most of their trips.  Thursday was a bittersweet day for them because they managed a nice Blue and a Mahimahi on their first trip (a ¾ day run), but then lost a 500+ pounder out near BO on the second trip (a ½ day run).  Kamome had a bittersweet week as well, because they lost a nice fish out off the R FAD in Waianae, but then picked up a great spearfish and some big bull Mahimahi up to 40 pounds on Friday.

Wild Bunch dominated the early part of the week by scoring a 380 and a 149 lb Marlin on Monday and a nice Spearfish and two Mahimahi on Wednesday, but took off Thursday through the weekend to be an escort boat for the Wahine canoe race returning from Molokai.  Most of their fish were out beyond BO as well.

The highlight of the week, however, was the Holoholo fleet.  A 30-boat Wahine tournament from Keehi Lagoon procured a few nice fish, including the winner at 520 pounds and the second place at 445 pounds.  Several other Marlin, Mahimahi and Ono were also caught in the event, and remember, the rules in a Wahine tournament means the ladies are the ones who have to angle the fish. 

So with the fish out there still big but fewer and further between, plan your trips accordingly.   Use the current, sea surface temperature and weather info that can be found on our site.  It’s good information you can benefit from. 

Funny how things are sometimes.  On the one hand, this week I heard about 25 stories of great fish that have been getting off the hooks in some fashion of another, causing me to wonder if the run of big Marlin we’re getting is just the same fish tormenting every angler on Oahu, or if we’ve just got a big pile of extremely feisty fish in town.  On the other hand, the one boat in the fleet I have had some difficulty in getting reports from is mostly due to the owner being a very busy man in other endeavors.  So here I’m wondering how the boat is doing week after week, while at the same time I wonder if any big fish are going to hit the docks.  The same day I had heard the last of the stories, I think I got my answer…..Wild Bunch with skipper Timmy Gray and crewman Ron Johnson nails a harbor record for the year to date…..a 939 pound Blue Marlin caught by angler Pete Silva of Westchester, PA.    

Barbers Point, BO, Waianae off the Power Plant, and up to R and S buoys have continued to produce big fish.  Wild Bunch led the charge this week with a 460 pounder on the 13^th, a 150 the next day, 13 Aku and a 30 pound Spear Wednesday, and the 939 on Friday (plus they got a 38 pound Mahimahi on Friday also).

Kamome had a good week, too.  A nice Spearfish Monday, a nice 30 pound Mahi on a short trip Tuesday, four Marlin strikes that came off on Friday, two Blues (160, and 130) along with a 50 pound Mahimahi on Friday, and five Mahimahi on Sunday (largest at 37 lbs).

Of course, Magic continued their dominating ways as well, with a triple Marlin day on Monday, a double on Tuesday, a nice 125 pound Ahi and 3 Mahimahi on Thursday, and two more smokin’ Ahis on Sunday (130 and 150). 

The highlight of the week obviously goes to Wild Bunch, and we have posted a story on that.  To read about it, click here.

After getting through the tournament last week, many might ask if the fishing slowed down, which gives us the opportunity to emphatically state that tournament fishing in Hawaii has no short-term effect whatsoever on the fishing over the next few days.   Of course, we have no real way of analyzing the longer-term effect as it pertains to the breeding cycles etc., but the bottom line is this: when they’re here and biting, they’re here and biting.  And this week it continued. 

I didn’t get much info from the private fleet this week, as quite a few of our sources are out of town.  However, the charter fleet is still holding steady.  Although Sea Verse has been down since the tournament for some repairs and maintenance, the rest of the fleet continues to raise and hook big fish.  On the sixth, one boat reported losing a big Ahi and a big Marlin (remember, losing fish isn’t always the skipper’s fault), and they went down for some maintenance after that.  Magic continued honing their skills by landing some nice fish on the 7^th and 8^th including a 335 pound Marlin, then proved to everyone there are still some Ahi out there by drilling two around 130 pounds on the 11^th.

Once again the question will be asked of me, “where are they?” but this week I have no answer.  Just like the tournament where everyone spread out like an exploding grenade after the start, this week was the same.  The fish have tails that cause them to move around in search of food, however, the corner at Barber’s, BO, R, S, and HH buoys have all been pretty productive.  There are still a lot of Aku around, so we should still see some good action for a while.

Highlight of the week (actually this highlight was for last week, but I was too busy with the tournament to get it in):  On August 31, Kuu Huapala took out six shares and I went for the ride to photo document the trip.  We got into a nice 450 Blue at about 1:40 pm coming around the corner at Barbers Point about 8 miles out, causing everyone’s eyes to widen and jaws to drop.  The fish peeled out about 600 –700 yards of 100 pound line on a Shimano 80 wide reel in a minute or so, causing skipper Jeff Crews to run forward and begin maneuvers on the 35-ton vessel.   The fish finally stopped, the angler worked it up to the boat in about 35 – 40 minutes, and the fish went free shortly thereafter.  Close enough to call a release, the retired angler was so ecstatic he called the fight one of the top ten events in his life.  He fought the fish from the chair and was clearly exhausted when it was over (knocked on his proverbial butt, you might say).  He even decided to mount the fish so he could dwarf his buddy’s 10-pound bass mount back in Florida.  

And that’s why Sportfish Hawaii says “Why fish for Bass…….get knocked on your ass!”  FISH HAWAII

Fishing here on the South shore of Oahu remains excellent with no end in sight.   Charter boats and privates remain enthusiastic as all four major flagfish species continue to hit the docks on a daily basis.  A tournament held from the Ala Wai over the labor day weekend received 77 entries which recollection suggests is a record for the harbor and the tournament.  Close to 20 Marlin were caught, with numerous other strikes and major hookups reported during the event.    Five boats reported hookups with spools of 80 and 130 pound gear emptying or running very thin, suggesting some very large fish were coming to check on the commotion.  One boat even had a 500 plus on that sheared the hook, causing the crew some premature sickness.

Good areas remain all the FADS from P at the Banks to V up at Kaena/Yokohama, plus the corner near pine trees in Ewa.  The HH pinnacles saw some good hookups as well. 

Kauai, Maui and Kona also remain strong, with some good catches reported all week, highlighted by a nice 553 coming in on Start Me Up in Lahaina on Friday.

Let’s hope the action continues and the rods stay bent!  Thanks to all of you who entered the Ho'ole'a Fishing Tournament this weekend, and we hope to see you again next year.