Fish beware — the Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament is back in town and some anxious anglers are looking for some big bites.
The 57th edition of the event gets going today at Kailua Pier with the Opening Ceremonies from 5-6 p.m.
Fishing begins Monday and runs through Friday. The teams will head out at 8 a.m. and return to the harbor for weigh-ins at 4 p.m. (Wednesday the action is pushed up one hour). The public is invited to watch the weigh-ins and daily roundups will be available at the pier at 10 a.m., noon and 3 p.m.
The tournament uses a point system to calculate the winner, with Billfish points being awarded for legally caught catches weighing over 300 pounds of the following species: Pacific blue marlin, black marlin, striped marlin and broadbill swordfish. There are also points available for ahi catches over 100 pounds, as well as tag and released fish. Points vary depending on what pound-test line it was caught on.
The tournament is unique in that anglers are not fishing for prize money. Instead, the fishermen and women are hoping to sink their hooks into one of the HIBT’s prestigious trophies.
The Governor’s Trophy is the most storied of all the hardware and goes to the team with the highest number of billfish points in the tourney.
Last year, United States squad Team Likeke captured the top honors with 2,296 points. Australia’s Sunshine Coast Game Fishing Club took second and Kona Game Fishing Club — out of Japan — rounded out the top three.
Team Likeke will not be back to defend its title, but there’s a host of other teams looking to get their hands on some hardware at the “Grandfather of All Big Game Fishing Tournaments.”
As usual, the field boasts quite a bit of international flair. Six teams are from Japan, five from Australia, three each from New Zealand and Papua New Guinea and one each from China and South Africa. The other nine teams are made up from various spots across the United States.
While the anglers get a lot of the glory, the fleet of boats — along with their crews and captains — have made the tournament what it is today. Tim Hicks, who captains the boat Illusions and has been involved with the tournament since 1993, took home the Henry Chee Award last year, which is given to the captain and crewmembers of the charter boat upon which anglers in the tournament have scored the highest number of billfish points.
“It was a great win,” Hicks said of receiving the award. “I know a lot of captains that have won it and it’s special to them.”
With more than 20 years of fishing in the HIBT, Hicks has more than a few memories from the event. A standout came recently in 2014, when a lady angler from Japan reeled in a 622.6-pound blue marlin on 50-pound test line.
“That would have to be the standout for me,” Hicks said. “It was a four hour fight and, to date, the largest blue marlin caught by a woman (on 50-pound test) in the history of the tournament.”
As for his favorite part of the tournament?
“Sunday night, meeting the teams. Great time and good food,” the Illusions skipper said. “But the best part about it is all the friends that I have made across the world.”
Miss Billfish
Awaiting the anglers on the pier for weigh-ins to pose for photos with their catches will be this year’s Miss Billfish, Tina Fear.
Fear, born and raised in Kailua-Kona, enjoys fishing, surfing and swimming, and was on a surfboard before she could even swim, according to her bio.
The 2016 Miss Billfish graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Travel Industry Management from the University of Hawaii.
