Similar to the previous week, last week’s fishing could be defined as spotty, but still very good. Some boats caught fish while others didn’t, which is standard for most offshore big game fisheries.
The boats that did catch fish had impressive catches, and the sea provided lucky anglers a variety of species such as blue marlin, striped marlin, spearfish, sailfish, ahi, mahimahi, ono, small yellowfins and kawakawa (bonita).
This week’s catch report looks a little slim and it is worth noting that the list only represents the fish that were reported to the Honokohau Charter Desk. While a good portion of the charter fleet and private fleet report their catches, not all boats do.
For example, another huge blue marlin was tagged and released last week, that was not officially reported, and there were at least four big ahi that went unreported as well.
It also appears that not as many anglers are weighing their mahimahi and ono catches now that the Big-Fish List includes a mahimahi weighing 53.5 pounds and an ono weighing 58 pounds. Therefore, just because you don’t see these species in the catch report doesn’t mean they aren’t being caught.
To those who may think fishing is slow, the thing to always remember in Kona is that things can change in a second, and on any given day. It is also important to note that, historically, 18 grander blue marlin were caught in March, and 12 granders in April.
The moon is in a waxing Gibbous phase, the phase when the moon is more than 50 percent illuminated, and it will be turning into a full moon on Saturday. Many captains believe this is a great time to fish.
Melee gets the biggest fish of the week honors
Experienced angler Parke B. showed his big game fishing skills when he caught a 700-plus-pound blue marlin in 15 minutes last week. Fishing on the Melee with Capt. Bryan Toney and deckhand Richard Creed, Parke efficiently worked in conjunction with the captain and crew and caught the huge marlin in tournament-like fashion.
The hefty marlin attacked a Big Island Maximus lure fished on the short corner, the lure closest to the boat. After being hooked, the fish went berserk on the surface, violently throwing whitewater everywhere as it erupted from the sea, jumping several times.
Amazingly, Creed almost had the leader in his hand in short order but when the big blue saw the boat, it decided to dive deep. When the fish dove to 40 fathoms (240 feet) the veteran captain knew the dive could be trouble and decided to put the brakes on the fish by telling Parke to push up the reel’s drag.
Parke hammered the drag on the 130-pound reel to 55 pounds and Toney pushed the boat forward. With legs straight and sitting back hard into the fighting harness, Parke kept heavy pressure on the behemoth as Toney planed the fish back up to the surface. Once the fish was near the surface, the competent team made quick work of tagging and releasing it unharmed.
After being in drydock for the past four and a half months transforming the former Marlin Magic into the Melee, Toney was happy to be back in action doing what good Kona captains do best.
Ihu Nui overnight trip to South Point
Running an overnight fishing charter down to South Point, Capt. McGrew Rice, on board the Ihu Nui with longtime crewmember Carlton Arai, showed their clients a great time, catching 20 ono and a mahimahi.
“The guys had a blast fishing, playing cribbage and cooking up a storm,” said the veteran skipper.
It sounds like a lot of fun and the trip down to South Point was well worth it.
Ahi starting to bite
Capt. Kevin Nakamaru, on the Northern Lights, caught two nice ahi fishing around the porpoise school on March 24, and Capt. Bobby Cherry, on the Cherry Pit II, caught two nice ahi last week as well. It is still early in the season but ahi fishing is definitely starting to happen, and it is only going to get better.
Biggest ono of the year
Congratulations to angler Bob Mintken for catching a 58-pound ono while fishing with Capt. Howard Whitcomb and his deckhand “Fish” on Go Get Em. The massive ono ate a Marlin Magic AP lure while Whitcomb was fishing down by Captain Cook. The fish was weighed at Umekes where it later provided many delicious meals to many hungry customers.
More tagged spearfish information
It turns out the tagged shortbill spearfished caught on the Kila Kila last week was actually the fifth spearfish recaptured in the state of Hawaii. The first occurred in 2012, followed by one in 2014, two in 2016, and now this recapture by the Kila Kila.
The Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC) has release information for three of the five tags, and the three tag cards revealed all were tagged and recaptured within the Hawaiian Islands. The tag card for the spearfish caught last week has yet to be found.
Since 1993, the SWFSC has received 1,581 tag cards in Hawaii for shortbill spearfish. In reality, many more tags have been deployed but many anglers forget to turn them in. Nice work to those that do.
Sailfish Kings still going strong
A week ago, it was Capt. Jah Nogues on the High Noon with doubleheader sailfish, this week it’s Capt. Shawn Rotella on Runner catching a doubleheader.
Rotella had a tripleheader on last week and caught two out of the three. Not to be outdone. Nogues caught a single sailfish later in the week. These two captains continue to hold court as the Sailfish Kings and allow me to call Kona the sailfish capital of Hawaii. Good going and congrats to both of these excellent captains.
See for yourself what the local boats are catching by visiting or following Kona Fish Report on Facebook. Also, if you have an interesting offshore, bottom or shore fishing story, please email markjohnstoncatchingup@gmail.com or jdegroote@westhawaiitoday.com
