14th Annual Firecracker Open Marlin Tournament

Kailua-Kona, HI – Tag and release of marlin and fishing tournaments with cash purses have often been seen as similar as oil and water. Many skeptics, especially in Hawaii, have spoken up in support of one or the other - and often both – but not in support of trying to mix tag and release and cash rewards. Nay sayers pontificate that the temptation of riches would over rule any tendency toward honesty. In other words, they say fishermen would lie to win money.

Well, fishermen have been known to stretch the truth a little about the size of the one that got away, or maybe direct their competitor to the wrong part of the island so as not to share a secret pocket of fish with another…….but hey, that is not much different than any league bowler or weekend golfer.

So how do you keep fishermen honest about their tag and releases while still producing large purses that have become the norm in big game fishing today? Throw away cameras have been employed successfully in Kona now for about 10 years, and close to $1 million in prize money has been awarded for fish that were sometimes let go and sometimes weighed in.

This past weekend, anglers of the Big Island took it one step further, they let 38 out of 39 marlin caught in the 14th Annual Firecracker Open go free – paid out more than $91,000.00 in  prize money – and will show the world on national TV. A field of 41 teams did all this for the cameras of “Athletes in Motion” aired on ESPN 2,  “Ocean Watch Adventure TV” aired on Fox’s Outdoor Life Network and “Fisherman’s Heaven” a regional show from the Pacific Northwest and on national cable.

The Firecracker Open is the second stop on the Maui Jim Hawaii Marlin Tournament Series held on three islands over a span of 6 months.

The big story was the resounding First Place finish by anglers Mike House and Ross Smilie who tagged and released a total of 6 marlin to walk away with a hands down win. Two of the marlin were caught as a “double header”, or fought by both guys at the same time. “Pamela’s” Capt. Peter Hoogs put the team on 4 marlin on the second and final day of fishing to take a commanding lead over the Japanese team led by Shigeharu Nakagawa, fishing with McGrew Rice on “Ihu Nui”. Team “Pamela” earned $16,400.00 for their First Place title.

Nakagawa and Mike Waterfield split angling duties on four marlin that were each tagged and released. Team “Ihu Nui” had its chances to pull it out on the first afternoon when, while high speed trolling home from Milolii,  they encountered so many marlin at once that they couldn’t get all four baits in the water and set up before a marlin bit – over and over again for about an hour. Unfortunately, none of them were hooked well enough to bring along side and tag. “Ihu Nui” ended in Second Place over all. Their winnings totaled $9,840.00.

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With two tags on the first day, Team Maui Jim was feeling pretty good about their score when Tom Guthrie of Maui hooked into what would eventually be the only marlin that was thought to be better than the 300 pounds needed to take a fish to the scales. When Guthire’s marlin tipped the balance at 317 pounds, it gave the eventual Third Place winners an edge in the optional entry categories that pay only fish that make it to the scale. In this case, Capt. Tom Casey, mate Seth Kiezel and CEO of Maui Jim Sunglass Company Walter Hester – along with the marlin tagged by Jeff Gage and Pete Rolfing – pocketed a cool $57,680.00.

If one was to check their local listings on July 15 for ESPN 2, and locate the time slot for “Athletes in Motion”, one could sit for the next 30 minutes and view some of the hottest big game fishing action ever captured on television, and see how far the sport has evolved over the past 40 years.

From the recent days of nay sayers and prophets of doom, to being a leader in deployment of high tech pop up tags that talk to satellites and international television coverage of high stakes big game fishing - Hawaii’s place in the world of tag and release has come a long, long way.

The Maui Jim Hawaii Marlin Tournament Series can be found on the world wide web at konatournaments.com, and is made possible by the Hawaii Tourist Authority and the Maui Jim Sunglass Company.

Report courtesy of Tropidilla Productions, LLC

Feature Story: Pamela's Pistol Pete and Rookie Ross by Mike House

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