Skins Marlin Derby Results: 

Record Prizes in Skins Tournament

Proving once again that records were made to be broken, The 12^th Annual Skins Marlin Derby followed the record catch of the Firecracker Open with a record turnout and a record purse at the Skins. The Maui Jim Hawaii Marlin Tournament Series is attracting more worldwide attention. Miguel Koenig’s set a world record with his1,258.5 lb. blue marlin, caught the previous week during the Firecracker Open. Koenig’s fish is the largest marlin ever caught in a tournament anywhere in the world.

The Skins Marlin Derby is similar to the Skins game in golf in that the purse is split up and made available each day of the tournament to the largest marlin over 500 pounds. Similarly, a golf “Skin” is the prize money set aside for the winner of each hole of the golf course.

Day One saw lots of action but Mathew Sugameli’s 472.5 lb marlin was the only marlin to be weighed.  15 Marlin were tagged and released from the 20 boat field – an impressive 75% catch rate!  Matthews marlin was not enough to qualify as a Skin but it was big enough to take the “dailies” and over $9,400.  Mathew fished with Chris Armstrong aboard the Happy Times.  The $16,000 “Skin” money for Day One therefore rolled to Day Two.  Of the marlin that were tagged and released, Medusa, Ihu Nui, and Start Me Up Again each had 2 tags, or 500 points apiece.

The second day of fishing produced four more tag and released fish, as well as three weighed fish.  The story of the day was angler “Smitty” Smith, fishing with Marlin Parker on the Marlin Magic.   Smithy’s 516.5 lb. marlin was big enough to qualify and win two Skins - $32,000.00 – as the first day “Skin” had rolled forward and was added to that of Day Two.

Team Marlin Magic picked up a total of $58,000.00 between the “Skins” and optional daily purse. However, another $58,000.00 was still up for grabs on the third and final day of fishing.

On Day Three, nine more marlin were tagged and released bringing the tournament total to 27 successfully tagged and released fish.  Three marlin were released with pop up satellite archival tags.

The big fish of Day Three was not large enough to win the final “Skin” but it did earn nice prize money, Substitute angling duties went to long time deckhand Keith “OB” Morton  when California angler Ken Corday had to step out of the tournament. Morton and Corday were fishing on the Humdinger with Capt. Jeff Fay.  Their 421 lb. marlin assured them the Day Three daily optional purse and $18,000.00.

In the mean time, Capt. Peter Hoogs was steadily stacking up points. According to “Skins” rules, all prize money not by a marlin over 500 pounds will be awarded to the team amassing the most total points. The Pamela put up 4 tags and weighed two marlin for a combined total of 1,748.5 points. When it was all said and done, this impressive catch allowed them to walk away the final “Skin” and $16,000 in prize money!   Marlin Magic swept the big fish categories in the tournament and padded their Day Two winnings for a Grand Total of $74,480.

The Skins Marlin Derby is the third stop on the Maui Jim Hawaii Marlin Tournament Series.  With three tournaments over the last three weeks, anglers and captains have been awarded over $330,000 in cash and prizes.  The first three tournaments so far have generated the most entries and prize money since the inception of the Maui Jim Hawaii Marlin Tournament Series over three years ago.

The Maui Jim Hawaii Marlin Tournament Series is just as concerned with fishery conservation and public education as it is with the purse and prizes. Anglers in the Maui Jim Series have been involved in the successful release of 14 archival pop-up satellite tags in the last three weeks.  University of Hawaii Scientist Mike Musyl, along with Kona scientist Andrew West, rode along with tournament press boats and selected marlin to be released with satellite pop-up tags in tow.  These tags are designed to record movement, depth, and water temperature for a predetermined amount of time.   Satellite tags also record sunrise, sunset, and high noon data for geographic location purposes.  At the end of the predetermined time period, the tag disengages itself from its host and floats back to the surface where it begins to transmit its collected data back to NMFS scientists.  Data collected will be used to prove that marlin survive catch and release.  It will also be used to establish behavior patterns under water and document dive/depth preferences as well as water temperature preferences and limits. 

In addition to the pop up tags, 70 marlin have been successfully tagged and released in the first three events of the Maui Jim Series with the “standard” fish tags. A marlin tagged with “standard” tags must be recaptured in order to find out only where it was tagged and where it was recaptured.

Television coverage of the Maui Jim Series is provided by “Outside Hawaii” airing across Hawaii on OC 16, and by “Pacific Expeditions, Adventure Television”, which airs on the Outdoor Life Network on the mainland.  Based in Kona and going into production on its second season, “Pacific Expeditions” is the only show currently being produced in Hawaii to air on a weekly basis for a national cable carrier. “Pacific Expeditions” can be seen The Outdoor Life Network.