It would be hard to imagine offshore fishing being any better than it has been last two weeks. Blue marlin, ahi, spearfish, mahimahi and ono have all been biting.
The ahi bite has taken center stage, overshadowing an excellent marlin bite that has produced blues ranging from 100 to 900 pounds.
Incredibly, multiple boats have been catching up to two ahi, or more, a day while trolling lures in the blind, away from the porpoise school or buoys deployed by the state.
Delicious to eat ono and mahimahi have been caught both inshore and offshore and shortbill spearfish, while many are being caught, continue to frustrate anglers, hitting baits only to throw the hook.
The big striped marlin bite appears to have slowed down over the past two weeks but I’m sure they are still swimming around off the coast.
The bottom line is fishing continues to be spectacular off the west coast of Hawaii island and now is a great time to get out and fish.
Rock and Reel Hawaiian Open
The red-hot offshore fishing over the last two months appropriately set the stage for Kona’s first major tournament of the season. The leaderboard for the 16th annual Rock and Reel Hawaiian Open saw continuous changes as multiple boats hooked up during the two-day event.
Capt. Carlton Taniyama, on the Five Star, rode his way to victory with 812 points by tagging two blue marlin and catching a huge 204-pound ahi.
Capt. Mike Dakil, on the helm of Miss Mojo, finished second with 768.5 points. Capt. James Dean, on the Blue Hawaii, took third with 750 points. Fourth place went to Capt. Trevor Child on Maverick.
Pair O Dice gets biggest fish honors
Before he stepped on the new 48-foot Pair O Dice, Nicolas Scelzal had never held a rod and reel in his hands. As a guest of the owner, he got his first chance to catch a fish when he went out with longtime veteran Capt. Rob McGuckin and crewmember Brandon Wilder. The rookie angler got a big surprise when his first fish ever turned out to be a 900-plus pound blue marlin.
Wilder was up on the bridge by the captain watching the lures when he fleetingly said “on the left” and blasted down to the deck. McGuckin turned, thinking he might see a spearfish on the outrigger bait but quickly realized he had an enormous blue marlin following his short corner lure.
The monster marlin’s giant bill took a swipe at the Aloha Smash bait lure but missed it and the fish of a lifetime disappeared beneath the surface. It quickly reappeared and shadowed the splashing tube lure, looking like a long, dark, menacing shadow lurking underneath the ocean’s brilliant, cobalt blue surface.
In an instant, the hungry marlin demonstrated why its species is considered an apex predator, quickly devoured the lure. I’d love to know what was going through Scelzal’s mind when he saw a bite of that magnitude and the reel start singing.
The big blue took off but it didn’t run very far, and as it swam just past the center rigger bait, it erupted out of the water, showing half its body as it charged across the surface throwing whitewater in all directions and allowing all on board to see its brute strength and size.
In approximately an hour and fifteen minutes, Scelzal reeled the fish alongside the boat. At that time McGuckin saw two smaller blue marlin following the big female. Seeing the marlin was still feisty, in great condition and possibly full of eggs, the captain thought the best thing to do would be tag and release it as quickly as possible. Taking the high road, hoping the fish could breed, the gigantic blue marlin was tagged and released unharmed.
Pretty work and congratulations to all onboard. What an amazing catch for Scelzal. He rolled a seven on his first trip with Pair O Dice — a winner when playing the dice game craps. With that kind of luck, he should be signing up for the World Cup.
Over his 40-year fishing career, McGuckin has three grander blue marlin under his belt, a 1,251 as a captain, and a 1,143 and 1,016 while working as crew.
Tuna Time on Marlin Magic II and Ihu Nui II
Remember I said the ahi fishing was good, well, that is an understatement. It is off the charts and it’s probably some of the best ahi fishing Kona has seen in years.
Capt. Marlin Parker, on the Marlin Magic II, along with boat owner John Patterson and crewmembers Ryan Thurner and Carol Lynne, had an unreal day fishing on Friday, catching five ahi and two spearfish. At one point in the day the seasoned fishing team had three ahi on at once, a triple-header, and with a good team effort, they caught all three.
The following day Capt. Tony Clark, captain of the Ihu Nui, filled in for Capt. McGrew Rice on the Ihu Nui II. He and longtime veteran crewmember Carlton Arai made their charter clients happy when they had four ahi in the boat before 7:30 a.m. on Saturday morning. What a great way to start the day.
Congratulations to both boats, their anglers and crews.
Monster mahimahi, ahi, broadbill swordfish and omilu
Several notable catches over the past two weeks made changes to the Big Fish List.
Congratulations to angler Kai Auld for catching a huge 54.5-pound mahimahi, the biggest mahimahi of the year, while fishing with Capt. Trevor Child on the Maverick.
Congratulations to angler Bryan Balancio for catching a giant-sized 260-pound ahi, fishing with Capt. Bryan Balancio on the Benda. That’s going to be a tough one to beat but with this amazing ahi bite, you never know.
Congratulations to angler Dale Martin for catching a 237-pound broadbill swordfish with Capt. Charles Martin on the Lehua Nani. Martin caught another swordfish weighing 122 pounds on the same trip.
A shoreline fishing story before I go
Fishing from the shoreline, Joe Thrasher caught what I thought was the biggest omilu (bluefin trevally) of the year when he skillfully navigated the lava rocks that line our rugged coast and landed a 20-pound omilu.
Using good spinning rod and reel techniques, along with the right amount of drag, Thrasher kept the hard-hitting, aggressive fish from going into the reef and guided it through the lava rocks for a successful landing. He showed me his lure, and the hook was nearly straightened.
However, just before press time, Thrasher sent me a message and a picture of a leaderboard showing that his fish was beaten by a 20.6-pound omilu caught by Nathan Bloch.
Congrats to both of them on their nice catches. The Hawaiian state record omilu is a whopping 28.8 pounds.
Farewell and thanks
In closing, I’d like to say the catches you just read about are a prime reflection of Kona’s magnificent fishery. Many people don’t realize fishing is what put Kona on the map.
Hopefully, I served Kona’s longstanding fishing community well over the past year, trying to preserve its rich fishing history and tradition while promoting the charter boat captains and crews that fish out of Honokohau Harbor.
For those who followed my Kona Fish Report Facebook page, I introduced you to many of the excellent local captains and charter boats that fish out of Honokohau. The page will be taken down soon so please friend or like those pages so you can continue to see the magnificent catches that take place regularly off the west coast of Hawaii and know where to turn if looking to charter a boat.
I’d also like to thank West Hawaii Today for allowing me to write for them and a sincere thanks to those who liked to read my column.
As for me, I will fish most of Kona’s wonderful summer tournaments season and then head to Africa immediately after the Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament, where I will be training anti-poaching scouts advanced backcountry first aid in Zambia.
The work there requires me to write a hefty training manual along with other duties and responsibilities that will require my full attention when I’m not fishing this summer.
After I return from Africa, I will continue to work, promoting non-profit organizations trying to help save Africa’s iconic species and start working on a book I’ve always wanted to write.
Wishing everyone the very best, aloha.