Back in 1987, with the help of other captains and crews then fishing from Honokohau Harbor, we created the first Big Island Marlin Tournament. This development was in response to a few things, one of which was that the tournaments of that era paid almost all of the purse to the single largest marlin caught. If a team landed a monster the first day – which is not uncommon in Kona – then for the rest of the teams, the wind went out of their sails.
Capt. Bob Pipinich did in fact catch a monster the first day of a Lahaina tourney, and spent the rest of the event lounging around the hotel pool. Only one winner per tournament was not making lots of fishermen happy winners, so the BIMT was invented
Over the years, too many innovations to mention here have sprung forth out of this same development process. This is but one reason why the HMT Series has grown in 36 years to the current roster of eight tournaments, each with its own unique format.
The Kona Kick Off is a Four Flags event, the Firecracker Open is a big game event where ahi and marlin score points. From there, the next two tourneys focus on truly large marlin during the Kona Throw Down and the Skins Marlin Derby. Next up is the Lure Makers Challenge where we try to solve the musical question of who makes the most productive trolling lure for multiple species in a tournament. In August the flagship BIMT runs for three days, followed in September by the final HMT Series event, a de facto Championship aptly named It’s a Wrap.
Since the last episode of The Bright Side we have fished the Kona Kick Off, the Firecracker Open, the Kona Throw Down and the Skins Marlin Derby. In the past ten days, HMT Series anglers fished nine days; most of them fished the World Cup too. This stretch is quite a marathon, but it keeps the cogs of Kona fishing turning.
The big marlin were hiding during the Kona Kick Off and Team Last Chance won the marlin division with six fish, tagged and released. The minimum weight needed to bring a fish to the scale is 400 pounds. This results in a tag and release percentage throughout the season of about 95%. This is great for conservation of the species.
Marlin Magic took the ahi division with a fat 130.5-pounder, while Medusa won an ahi daily with a 100-pounder, right at the minimum weight. No mahi or ono were caught.
After a five-day break Series participants rolled into the nine-day marathon, starting with the Firecracker. A number of nice marlin cooperated with anglers at the ‘Cracker. As is fairly common with these “innovative” formats, the largest do not necessarily win First Place. The Firecracker is a most points tourney and APEX took first with a 409-pounder and three small blues tagged and released. The largest marlin was caught by the 2nd place team on Marlin Magic; it weighed 747 pounds. Sea Genie II took third with two marlin tagged.
Sea Genie II stayed focused in the Kona Throw Down and crushed the competition with eight blue marlin tagged and released. Last Chance was a not too distant 2nd, with six tagged marlin. Nobody caught a “qualifier” over 400 pounds. It often doesn’t make much sense, but that’s fishing!
The 35th Skins Marlin Derby closed out the marathon with three days of fishing over the most recent weekend. A bit of drama surrounded the first marlin that was brought in and tipped the scales at 399.5 pounds, only one half pound under the minimum weight. After a bit of back and forth, the 399.5-pound weight stayed and the fish simply did not count. A couple of tense days went by and nothing but small marlin showed up until finally in the early afternoon of the final day a big one struck.
Chip Wagner of Texas was fishing with Capt. Kai Hoover and a crew of local boys on board Sea Baby and stayed focused through hours of boredom and when their chance came, the were ready. Except for the first part where Chip had to unstick himself from a naugahyde bean bag chair, everything went smoothly and like a well oiled machine, they had the marlin subdued in only 39 minutes.
Back at the dock, this weigh in was crystal clear when the fish soundly grounded the scale at 588.5 pounds. This catch was good for 75% of the entire purse of the Skins Marlin Derby. Along with Chip Wagner and Capt. Kai Hoover were Braddah Boi Horsewill, Oa Hind and Manu Hind.
Everyone involved in the Hawaii Marlin Tournament Series is looking forward to the week ahead and catching their breath before the Lure Maker’s Challenge this coming weekend. If all of this sounds like fun, anyone can enter and although experience helps, it’s not necessary because the charter crews in the Kona fleet teach people to catch giant fish, most every day.
For more detailed reports on tournament that have run and entry forms for those to come, log on to konatournaments.com
