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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 04-29-2013 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report – April wrap up. April was certainly a mixed bag of bites. We would have a good blue marlin bite for a few days, then the marlin would almost disappear and the ono would be the big bite. Then the mahi mahi would show up and the ono would disappear. Spearfish, even though it’s still peak season for them, disappeared for weeks and then showed up again. So what’s up with that? The majority of the people who vacation in Hawaii and also elect to go fishing usually have some kind of fishing experience under their belt. They are familiar with their local lakes, streams, rivers and near shore fish runs. Lakes are perhaps the easiest to determine where the fish went. They can’t go anywhere very far now can they (the Great Lakes being the exception)? Rivers may be a little trickier but you know the fish have either gone up or down river. Salmon are a pretty predictable fish because they have definite migratory patterns so you know that during certain months, they WILL be where they’re suppose to be. Now picture in your mind a lake or river thousands of miles wide and thousands of miles long. You can only fish one very small portion of it because it’s too big to cover the other places that are just too far away. Kind of like being stranded on an island in the middle isn’t it? The Hawaiian island chain stretches over 1500 miles. It’s the longest island chain on the planet. Even taking a boat from one island to another takes the better part of a day, one way. On top of that, the pelagic fish we have here in the middle of the Pacific don’t really care much about land anyway. They spend most of their lives far away from it. In fact, when it comes to blue marlin, they don’t like it at all. The ocean is so pure and clean out here that marlin can see 1000+ feet down and when they see the bottom, it freaks them out and they rarely come in closer to shore than 1000’ deep. Lucky for us in Kona that 1000’ depth is only 1 to 3 miles from shore. Being stranded on an island in the middle of all that water also has some unique advantages. The near shore fish. Hawaii is in such a remote location on the planet that one third of the fish here are found nowhere else in the world. It provides a consistent food source for the pelagic fish to come munch on and even better, structure for the bottom fish to congregate on. We now know from bottom fish tagging programs that many of the bottom fish migrate between islands even though it’s thousands of feet deep between most of the islands. They don’t follow the bottom, they swim in the thermocline so yes, even the bottom fish can disappear and reappear here but certain underwater structures will always have fish hanging around them. Ono are typically caught near shore as they cruse these structures but there’s only a few of us charter guys that drop lines down on to these structures. Here in Kona, I’m the go-to-guy for that because I do it more often than anyone. It’s a lot more work than just trolling around all day so why do I do it? Simple. I’m a living oxymoron because I’m an “impatient fisherman”. Trolling lures is OK if you’re getting some action but if not, after a while, fishing becomes too boring and it’s time to mix it up and do some “catching”. It doesn’t always pan out that way but more times than not, the best action is fishing the underwater structures. See ‘ya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 03-30-2013 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report – March wrap-up. Hawaii is the Blue marlin capital of the world for several reasons and we can add a couple more reasons this month. March has always been known as a month that the BIG blue marlin show up. In fact, there’s only one month that beats out March for “granders” (marlin over 1000 lbs.) caught in Hawaii and that’s the month of June. The first marlin this month that looked like it would make the 1000 lb. mark was caught on the “Rod Bender” and though it came in just a little shy at 958 lbs., it will soon be (not verified by the IGFA yet) the new woman’s world record marlin cath. A woman has yet to bring in a grander marlin and though we’ve had a few close calls here in Kona, that goal is still proving to be just a little out of reach. Less than a week after that big marlin was caught, a grander was brought in on the “Fire Hatt” and weighed in at 1058 lbs. That’s grander #2 in Kona this year! There’s a web site called “Grander Watch” and they list any grander marlin caught anywhere in the world. There’s only 3 listed so far for 2013 and Kona has 2 of them. If you go to the Grander Watch web site you will soon notice that Cairns Australia caught several so called “granders” in 2012 but one difference are that those are black marlin, not blues and another difference is that the weights given on the site are estimates of the weight because they were released. In Kona, you can claim that you released a grander and people may believe you or maybe not. They only “grander” that counts here is the one that the weigh scale says it is. Case in point, the 958 mentioned above. Right after I did last month’s fishing report we had another nice striped marlin bite but it didn’t last for long. The season for them is pretty much over now. We’re in the middle of spearfish season but there were very few caught this month. The mahi mahi bite is picking up as it should this time of year. There’s been some ono around also even though it’s not season for them yet. Some ahi tuna have been caught also, the big ones out of the porpoise schools and small ones on the South FAD buoys. For the Kona charter fleet, there are 4 main FAD buoys that we fish on because they’re within easy reach of the harbor. Last month one of them, F buoy broke loose and drifted off and this month another one, OT buoy did the same. We will have to wait several months for the state to replace them. F is scheduled for replacement sometime this summer and no date set for OT except it will probably be some time after the buoy programs fiscal year ends in October. The bottom bite has been picking up but the bait fish have been hard to catch lately. Speed jigging is the best alternative if you can’t catch fresh / live bait because unless the fish are really aggressive or hungry, frozen bait usually doesn’t work very well. Most people have no idea what speed jigging is and when they see me do the technique for the first time, most are certainly amazed by it. This is not a technique for the weak and out-of-shape. Jerk-wind, jerk-wind, jerk-wind, jerk-wind as fast as you possibly can, 20 to 30 reps and then let the 10 oz. to 14 oz. jig back down (300 to 600 feet) again and start the process over. The average person who hasn’t trained to do this technique will only last about 20 to 30 minutes doing it, fish caught or not. I haven’t been jigging much in the past several months because I injured both of my triceps doing uh…. jigging. I do love the action though. Just got some new jigs in the mail yesterday, a couple of different styles that I’ve never used or even seen before so I’m pretty excited about testing them out on Monday. I just need to be careful that I don’t re-injure myself doing it. See ‘ya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 02-27-2013 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report – Feb. wrap-up . I’m going to start this month’s report with a quote from the fishing season calendar page on my web site because it’s so appropriate. Quote; “A good blue marlin run can happen for a short period of time in any month of the year.” And we’re luckily experiencing that right now. February certainly isn’t known as a good blue marlin month but this month the blue marlin bite has been better than both the striped marlin bite and about equal to the spearfish bite. It’s currently the peak season for stripes and spears. The size of your average blue marlin is of course much bigger than that of the stripes or spears and the blue marlin we’re seeing right now are averaging 200 or more pounds. It’s also not mahi mahi season but again I will quote from my fishing season calendar page. Quote; “one thing you should know is that fish don't know how to read calendars. Like party guests, they don't always show up when they should and sometimes they still hang around when they're supposed to leave.” In case you’re wondering, yes, I came up with that one on my own. It’s original content so don’t steal it :) Adding to the (somewhat) unusual bite for February is the big yellowfin tuna. We’re use to the smaller yellows we call “shibi” hanging around the buoys and ledges in the winter but the big yellowfin are more of a summer bite. I’ve been claiming for a couple of years now that the yellowfin tuna population is on the rise and the local catch stats show it so we’re now kind of getting use to the bigger yellows biting year-round. The only fish not joining us in the off-season fun is the ono. There’s always a few around here and there but there’s certainly not a “good” bite on them right now. Bottom fishing has been taking a back seat as part of my normal fishing routine for a couple of reasons; one is because of the good out of season top water bite we’ve been experiencing. I often state that the bottom bite is more of a guarantee of catching something than just trolling the top water all day and that’s usually true but for the past few months I’ve been stating in my fishing reports that the bottom bite hasn’t been all that good. February turned out to be more of the same. I’m still doing some bottom drops here and there when the trolling isn’t panning out but with limited success. Just to let you know, winter is supposed to be our best season for bottom fishing. The currents on the Kona coast have been unusual in both direction and speed for a while now. I’m sure the bottom fish are more affected by that than the top water fish. In December I wrote about the new Coast Guard regulations that were just passed and signed into law. I think the new regs are taking a path kind of like when ObamaCare got passed and then the waivers and other tweaking of the new law started. I had a commercial fisherman from Alaska out with me this month and he told me that Alaska got an exemption to the NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) permit requirement. The Coast Guard has also backed off of the 2 year dockside exam requirement that they implemented last October. In the new legislation that the Coast Guard got Congress to pass, the Coast Guard wanted a requirement for a dockside examination every 2 years but Congress edited the legislation and extended the requirement to every 5 years so the Coast Guard had to do some backtracking. The new 5 year dockside exam won’t be implemented until October 2015. Another exemption that I head about but haven’t verified yet is part of the life raft requirement. I was told that there was an exemption if you have 3 or less persons on your vessel and don’t fish more than 12 miles out. The life raft requirement isn’t even due for a few more years and is actually still under review by the Coast Guard to see what other tweaks should (need to) be made so like ObamaCare, we need to ride it out and see what actually becomes the final law. While I’m on the subject of ObamaCare, just to let you know, the “penalty” (read “tax” here) you will need to pay if you DON’T have any medical insurance, will be based on your 2012 tax return. Just thought you might want to know. See ‘ya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 01-29-2013 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report – Jan. wrap-up The New Year really started off with several bangs so this report will be a little longer than most. Just like in the beginning of 2012, Kona is the first place in the world to weigh in a “Grander” (over 1000 lbs.) marlin. It happened on January 15th when the boat “Holo Holo” brought in a 2008 lb. Pacific blue marlin. Last year in Kona we weighed in a grander in January and another in February. The anticipation was high for a third grander in March because that’s the best grander month here but March passed, as did several other months before another grander was caught in Kona. Last year there were 4 granders caught in Kona and 3 on Oahu. Just to let you know, most of the really big ones win the fight. With most tackle used here either being 80 or 130 lb. test, that’s an average of about a 10 to 1 ratio. There’s been some striped marlin showing up as is typical for the winter here and like I said last month, the spearfish are in and lately they’ve been a most plentiful catch. Last month I wrote a bunch about the new Coast Guard regulations and now I’d like to tell you about another law that just passed a few months ago. The Billfish Conservation Act prohibits the sale of billfish (except broadbill). To be more exact, “No person shall offer for sale, sell, or have custody, control, or possession of for purposes of offering for sale or selling billfish or products containing billfish.” For many years now it has been illegal to sell Atlantic caught billfish so the commercial fishermen were simply labeling the fish as Pacific caught and selling them anyway. On top of that, the United Sates has been the biggest importer of billfish in the world. That now ends! There is still one little loophole though, Hawaii has been exempted from the new law. Billfish are commonly eaten in Hawaii and it is part of our heritage. I’ve mentioned it several times over the years in my reports that spearfish, striped marlin and smoked blue marlin are all good eating but we catch plenty of our own here so I doubt there will be much, if any importing of marlin to Hawaii going on. We’re still seeing some mahi mahi around along with a few tuna and ono. The bottom bite hasn’t been all that good using live/dead or cut bait but Jigging has been fairly successful. While jigging, the most common catch is a variety of “jacks”. I started tagging jacks like amberjack, almaco jack (that I’m credited with discovering in Hawaiian waters) and an assortment of trevally (also in the jack family) in 1999 because the science was that they live in one section of reef their whole life. Since I fish the same waters often, I was wondering how many times I was catching the same fish over and over again. The tags I started with were from an old snapper tagging program and I used those to tag just under 200 fish. The State Dept. of Aquatic Resources called me after finding out that I was the one tagging the jacks and they wanted to know how many fish I had tagged in Hilo, on the other side of the island. None! They were all tagged on the Kona side of the Big Island. That prompted them to initiate a State wide jack tagging program. In October of 2004 I had tagged jack #1000 and though it’s taken quite a while, this month I tagged #2000! That’s a lot of fish tagged and released and the information gathered by the tagging program proved almost all of the previous (so called) science to be made up B.S. They were shocked to find out that the jacks even travel between islands. One amberjack that I caught a few years back was tagged over 1000 miles from Kona and grew from about 8 lbs. to 75 lbs. in 8 years. The State tagging program officially ended last summer so no more tags will be issued. I have about 50 tags left and then that will be the end of the tagging. Of all the captains in the State of Hawaii that participated, I am the top tagging captain in the whole State. Yes, I’m bragging :) Another really cool thing happened this month. Smoke from the volcano called “VOG” is common in Kona. It restricts visibility and is sometimes so thick that you can barely make out the shore line from just a few miles out. Other times the volcano isn’t so active and visibility is pretty good but the VOG is still here unless strong winds or heavy rain take it away. It’s usually back shortly after but this month we were treated to a whole week with no VOG at all. Visibility was well over 100 miles. To top it off, the seas were very calm, humpback whales leaping in the air (breaching) and the fish bite was on! Not to mention an air temp. of just over 80 degrees and the most awesome sunsets of anywhere in the world. It reminded me of how great it is to live here. The VOG is back now but it was sure pretty while it lasted. I’m going to wrap up this report with something not fishing related but definitely something EVERYONE needs to know. That is if you have a business that accepts credit cards or you use credit cards to purchase anything. A new law was just passed (yes another one). As a merchant that accepts credit cards, it was illegal for me to pass on any of the processing fees that I was charged to process the credit cards. Those charges average about 3% and go even higher for processing a credit card from out of the country. If the credit card companies found out that you were charging any extra for someone using their card or offering a cash discount, they could revoke your processing privileges. Even in a small business like mine, I’ve been spending thousands each year in processing fees and I’ve just had to eat the loss. The new law says that I can now charge up to 4% extra if you use a credit card. Not just me, ALL business that accept credit cards. Target was the first big chain store to step up and say that did not intend to pass on any fees but you can bet that when the news becomes more widely known, there will be many retailers who will start charging if you use a credit card. I’m not sure exactly when I will start charging for using a credit card but I know it will be soon. I’m thinking another option might just be to offer a cash discount because that sounds better than adding another surcharge. Just when you thought that we were on our way to becoming a cashless society ;) See ‘ya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 12-30-2012 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report – Dec. wrap-up. Our mahi mahi run should have lasted about 3 months but it started late and ended early. There were hardly any caught in month of December. In fact, the December catch numbers for any fish was pretty pitiful over all but there are a few factors involved here. The current direction acting all goofy was one factor but the fact that there were hardly any boats going out fishing definitely has an effect on the catch numbers. I’m one of the busiest charters in Kona and there were several days this month that I didn’t have a charter even though statistically I should have been pretty busy and when I did go out, I was usually the only boat in my section of the harbor going out. Its simple math, less fishing effort = less fish. Tourism gets busier here during the holidays and that’s happening right now so of course, the catch numbers have gone up recently. The spearfish have moved in early so there’s some good action on those right now. December is supposed to be a good month for bigeye tuna but it’s actually been the yellowfin tuna and the big skipjack know as otado that have been a frequent catch both in the blind and on the FAD’s. Ono have been scarce and blue marlin almost non-existent. The bottom bite wasn’t all that great in December either but on many trips this month, it was the bottom bite that scored us some fish. I know most of you are sick of politics by this time already but if you’re a fisherman like me, you need to know that some new regulations (H.R. 2838) were just signed into law this month. These regulations are for commercial fishermen and though I consider myself a sport fisherman, the State of Hawaii requires me to have a commercial fishing license to run charters so the new laws affect me and most every fisherman in Hawaii also. If you sell any part of your catch, you are a commercial fisherman according to the Coast Guard. In order to operate a commercial fishing vessel of ANY size, you will soon need a NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) permit that needs to be renewed every 5 years because flushing your toilet or just hangin’ it out at sea pollutes the ocean. You will need a Coast Guard dockside examination of your vessel at least once every 5 years. You will need to carry a survival craft on board that is capable of carrying everyone on your vessel without any part of them having to touch the water. In order to operate a commercial fishing vessel you will need to attend a Safety Training Program where you will learn CPR, basic first aid, putting on a life jacket, deploying and getting everyone into your new survival craft and I’m sure, a whole bunch of things you’ll probably never need to know. The Coast Guard doesn’t even know yet what will be required in the training program or even how they (or whoever) is going to conduct the required classes. I found a time line on all of the new requirements except the safety classes that technically are required NOW. The permit you need to flush your toilet won’t be required until Dec. 2014. The dockside examination every 5 years goes into effect in Oct. 2015 and the survival craft requirement, because of the wording in the new law, the final requirement date will be set in the future but it looks like we have about 3 years before we need to comply. So there’s plenty of time to get ready right? Well maybe. There seems to be some confusion on the dockside examination requirement. It appears that the Coast Guard put the dockside exam rule in effect last October and required it to be done at least every 2 years. That was the original requirement in H.R. 2838 but it was later revised to every 5 years before being signed into law. I got a frantic call from friend of mine who had been out all night fishing earlier this month. He was pulling into a launch ramp in a bay where nearly all the boat traffic is small (average 18’ trailer boats) commercial fishermen. Another small boat coming out approached him and told him not to go in! The Coast Guard was stopping everyone and asking them for their “certificate of compliance”. The guy that approached my friend wasn’t sure what certificate they were wanting, only that he didn’t have one so in the mass confusion going on at the dock, he just turned his boat around and went back out. I knew these new regulations were coming soon so my first thought was for the Safety Training Program requirement maybe but it could also have been the new dockside examination requirement. All I know about either of those is that no one here has a “certificate of compliance” for either. Oh what fun…… See ‘ya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 12-02-2012 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report – November wrap-up . I normally get the monthly report out before the end of the month but I just got too busy to get it done by then so, better late than never. In last month’s report I said that the Fall mahi mahi run starts in October but we weren’t seeing any yet. They finally did show up and the bite is pretty good. Our Fall mahi mahi run only lasts a few months, October to December so I hope that because they showed up late that they will also leave late. Our Fall mahi mahi are also bigger in size that the ones we catch on the Spring run. Mahi mahi are a strong fighting fish so when they get over 40 lbs. it makes for a good fight. There’s been some marlin around but like last month’s report, I would call the marlin bite just slightly above “fair”. There’s lots of small yellowfin tuna around right now and there has also been a bit of an ono bite going on. I scored a spearfish in the first week of the month. This is one of the slowest times for spearfish so it was quite a pleasant surprise. While mahi mahi is sure good eating, I personally prefer spearfish. The bottom bite was just OK for November with the typical catches of shark, giant trevally, amberjack and almaco jack and another that surprised me. I didn’t mention it in last month’s report but near the end of October, we caught a yellowspot trevally. In all my years in Hawaii I’ve only seen less than a hand full. We caught another one just last week. Thinking out loud, I just wonder if the population of yellowspots is rising in Hawaii or could it just be coincidence? I suppose more time bangin’ the bottom will tell. See ‘ya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 10-31-2012 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report October wrap-up , Just days before I wrote last month’s report, another “grander” Pacific Blue marlin was landed in Kona but I didn’t know about it. That’s the 4th grander this year but this one is VERY special. Capt. Gene Vander Hoek with his boat the Sea Genie II has weighed in more Pacific Blue marlin granders than anyone in the world! This was his 4th grander marlin. Most Kona captains, even those who have been charter fishing here for many years don’t even have 1 grander to their credit. To top it off, Capt. Gene has actually caught 5 granders in his career but after weighing in a grander in ’06, he caught another one that he says was even bigger later that same year but decided to tag and release it. Also, when it comes to tag and releasing billfish, Capt. Gene tops that category too. He has been the top tag and release captain in the Pacific many times over for both Pacific Blue marlin and spearfish. I’ve been the top catching captain in Kona for the last 15 years in a row based on sheer numbers of fish and I’ve also released more fish than anyone else in Kona but I’ve been able to do that by targeting a wider variety of fish than anyone else. I also have several state and world records to my credit but my accomplishments don’t even come close when compared to those of Capt. Gene Vander Hoek. On top of his accomplishments that I’ve already mentioned, he has also lead anglers to a whopping 32 world records! Most captains here never get one of those either. Now on to the October report…. Tourism is still extremely slow in Kona so there wasn’t much fishing effort going on. For the few boats that were fishing, the marlin bite and the ahi bite seemed to be just above the “fair” mark. The mahi mahi bite should be happening right now but we’re not seeing the numbers that we should. November is the peak of our Fall mahi mahi season so I’m hoping for a better turn out than we’ve seen so far. There’s been some ono being caught even though their peak season is over. The bottom bite has been good but the bait fish have been hard to catch. The best bait is small live tuna or mackerel but the only way to get them is to catch it yourself. No one sells live bait here, nor is there a market for anyone to sell them since few people here even use live bait. Like I said earlier, I fish a wider variety of fish than anyone else and because of that; I rely on bait fish a lot. If I can’t catch bait, I throw jigs to the bottom but it involves a lot more work to jig and the end results usually aren’t as good as using bait either. I’ve used frozen or day old bait in the past but most times, those are even less appealing to the fish than jigs. This much is certain though, when it comes to a successful day of fishing, variety is the spice of life that gets results. See ‘ya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 09-30-2012 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report – Sept. wrap-up . Tourism makes for a good economic indicator. When people are prospering, they often use their extra income to travel. Here in Hawaii, EVERYTHING revolves around tourism. For instance, here in Kona we have Kona Coffee and while some of it is exported, most of it is purchased by tourists and the same is true with our macadamia nuts. Income from shops, hotels, restaurants and the many tourist activities is what Hawaii thrives on as its base income. If that base income isn’t coming in, ALL of the other businesses here feel the pinch too. In recent years, charter fishing has taken one of the biggest economic hits because it’s one of the more pricy activities. I’m one of the busiest captains in Kona and I also know who the other busy captains are. Without a doubt, the ½ day share charter boats are the busiest of all because they’re the cheapest so when you see them sitting at the dock, you know times are tough. Here’s the kicker! Our local news agencies keep telling us that tourism is GREAT! Best ever in years and junk like that. They must be using some kind of fuzzy math (kind of like the unemployment rate) because many of my charters have even told me that the hotels they’re staying in are near empty. I just don’t get it. We have eyes; we see the struggling economy and feel it. The rose colored glass that the local media must be wearing doesn’t change the facts or maybe they think that by lying about it, it will make us feel better but the truth is tourism just isn’t what it was when the economy was booming. Now onto the fishing….. The trolling bite is pretty good right now but the overall catch is low because very few boats are going out. Of the ones that did go fishing, the catch rate was pretty good in September. The mahi mahi are starting to move in right now. We’re also starting to see more debris in the water and that’s what the mahi mahi love to hang around. Some of that debris coming in is from the 2011 Japan tsunami. While most of the debris will travel on its way Westward to the North of the main Hawaiian Islands, some of the debris will take a slightly different rout because of size, shape, floatation, wind and wave action. The debris will also bring in more tuna, rainbow runner, ono and billfish and I’m looking forward to that part of it as more arrives but the down side will be running over partially submerged debris that will get caught in the props. While having to dive under the boat during a fishing trip to untangle junk from your props kind of sucks, I’m even more concerned about possible prop, strut, shaft coupling or rudder damage because some of that junk is pretty massive and not easily seen. The bottom bite is just OK with the main catch being sharks. I didn’t catch any jacks at all last month and only caught two this month. I have less that 20 more jacks to tag before I hit the 2000 mark of jacks tagged and released but at this rate, it looks like that won’t happen ‘til next year. The sharks have either eaten them or driven them away but the sharks are more fun and more of a challenge to catch anyway. In all the years I’ve been writing the Kona Hawaii fishing report I’ve only had to make one correction. Now it’s two. Last month I got the story wrong about the female angler that almost caught the grander marlin. After talking to her, I also relied on information from some of the other news reports about it. Ooops. The girl who fought the fish for most of the fight does indeed work as a deckhand but in that tournament, she was the angler, not the deckhand. After 4+ hours of fighting, the fish sounded and died. Her husband, who also works as a deckhand and another captain on the boat helped her get it in. See ‘ya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 08-30-2012 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report – August wrap-up . Kona got its third “grander” marlin this month weighing in at 1,022.5 lbs. The marlin was hooked by the “Anxious” while fishing in the Big Island Invitational Marlin Tournament. This tournament is IGFA rules and while I have nothing against female anglers, most of the time they don’t have the strength to finish the job on a big fish. Such was the case with this grander and had she been able to finish the fight, it would have been a new world record also. So, for you female angler reading this, don’t get mad yet. It turns out that there was a female deckhand on the Anxious that day and she was the one who fought the grander for about 3 hours of the 3.5 hour fight. That’s pretty impressive. We also had the Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament this month with 40 teams catching 105 blue marlin, 40 spearfish and 7 yellowfin tuna during the 5 day tournament. There were several “beast” status marlin (500+ lbs.) caught in August. Typically you only get a few shots a year with marlin that size and most of them with the fight. I’m 2 for 2 this month so I’m feelin’ pretty lucky. August is typically one of the best months for ono but very few are being caught. It’s also the peak season for the big skipjack tuna know as otado. There was a 30 pounder caught this month and it’s the first time since 2009 that one that size was landed. The reason I know that is that in 2009 I got a 32 pounder so I’ve been watching because when I got mine, it had been several years since a 30+ was caught. The otado are here in big numbers right now but very line shy so they’re hard to catch. While there weren’t many yellowfin caught by the HIBT anglers, the night time commercial guys have been doing well with both the yellowfin and the albacore tunas. Even though it’s not mahi mahi season, I think more mahi mahi have been caught in August that ono. Like I said in July’s report, I haven’t been doing much bottom fishing because of the good trolling bite and the fact that it’s been nearly impossible to catch fresh bait. So why don’t I just go to the store and buy some fresh bait? Because no one sells it here. There’s one small fish called an opelu that you can buy here but they’re so soft that big fish just tear them off the hook. Nothin’ beats some fresh tuna or mackerel meat and when fresh, they can sustain several hits without coming off the hook. The 1000+ marlin caught this month made Fox news and a few other news outlets because a woman angler has never landed a “grander” marlin. This is the 2nd time in recent years that an attempt was made in Kona but failed. For the women anglers that still have a problem with not being able to match the men when it comes to fighting big marlin, here’s some news. The 2nd place winner of the Big Island Invitational Marlin Tournament was a woman who brought in a 405.5 lb. blue marlin that won her $39,000. That can buy a lot of weight training equipment and since her and her husband own 2 Kona fishing boats, it’s only a matter of time….. See ‘ya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 07-29-2012 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report – July wrap-up . The summer marlin bite finally kicked in to gear this month proving Hawaii to be the blue marlin capital of the world….. or, tied? The World Cup Blue Marlin Championship held of July 4th each year has kind of been the measuring stick for the title of “blue marlin capital of the world”. In 2010 Hawaii found itself tied with Bermuda with 6 World Cup wins each but then Hawaii won it in 2011. This year Bermuda won it so we’re back to a tie. We have several tournaments going on in the summer months here and the number of marlin being caught in them is indeed impressive. In last month’s wrap-up I wrote about the “blind strike” yellowfin tuna bite and that’s still going strong. I also made the statement that “Ahi populations here have been on the rise over the past several years”. Many people went to my March 2011 archived report and read about my theory as to why there was such an increase to the population even though recent advances in fishing methods (extremely large purse seines) seem like it would devastate the yellowfin tuna population in a short time. To make a long story short, my theory is that because the yellowfin tuna are not being harvested out of the nets right away but left in them for an extended period of time, they’re breeding within the confines of the net. Because of the close proximity of the fish within the net, more eggs are getting fertilized than would normally happen in the wild resulting in a rise in the yellowfin population instead of a decrease. So, for those reading this that think I’m full of it, wrong, just dreaming or that yellowfin populations are still in big trouble, I got this to say. The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) is the organization that assesses fish stock sustainability. Their ratings (simplified) are Green – ‘Stocks are healthy’, Yellow – ‘Stocks are in danger of being overfished’ and Orange – ‘stocks are being overfished’. The ISSF just this month changed the status of yellowfin tuna from Orange to Green! I don’t want to diminish the hard work done by the several agencies that strive to protect any fish stocks from being overfished but now I have another concern. Several agencies have put a lot of effort into designing regulations that would restrict the catch and sale of yellowfin tuna. Trying to make their regulation ideas into law has been a long and tedious battle with only limited success but now that there’s no more enemy to fight, I wonder if they will continue to try to pass restricting fishing regulations based solely on the time, effort and resources they have put into trying to pass those new regulations even though there is now no longer a need for them? Even though it’s not mahi mahi season, several have been caught this month. The ono bite is a bit slow for summer but putting in the time and effort will usually get rewarded. Some spearfish are still coming in as the peak season for them comes to a close. The big skipjack tuna’s (otaru or otado) are in and though in many places around the world these tuna are not really considered an eating fish, here in Hawaii they are a highly prized eating fish by the locals. I think it has something to do with their diet while in our local waters that makes them taste good. When reading the ISSF’s tuna reports I found out that more than half of the tuna caught and consumed in the world is skipjack. I also noted that their status is also Green. I haven’t been doing much bottom fishing lately because the trolling bite has been so good and the bottom bite has been a bit slow but I did want to finish up this month’s report with some more regulation information. Hawaii implemented its first ever bottom fishing regulations several years ago because of pressure from the Feds. The Feds wanted a 15% reduction in our bottom fish catch and with very few regulations; Hawaii achieved a 17% reduction. The Feds got greedy and then asked for a 25% reduction. Hawaii then enacted a closed season and a ‘total allowable catch’ (TAC) limit. There really wasn’t a need for this as the science used to access the catch effort was highly flawed. Our DAR ‘estimated’ the recreation catch of our snapper and grouper at 2 to 3 times that of the commercial catch. Anyone with half a brain would know that the recreational catch of our bottom fish was in no way that high. You have to report your commercial catch here but the recreational catch (until recently) was not reported so the ‘estimate’ was really a wild guess. They also didn’t take into consideration the many areas of pristine bottom fish areas that are almost never fished. Bottom fishing for snapper and grouper is a meager way to eke out a living here and is mostly done on very small boats by more elderly people. I figured that with the new regulations, many of these guys would just give up doing it and move on to some other way to make money and I was right. While the big commercial operations still exist, I don’t see anywhere near the number of small boats on the bottom fishing grounds as there once were. This year when the bottom fishing season closed, only about 2/3 of the TAC had been landed. Again, I don’t want to diminish the hard work done by the several agencies that strive to protect our fish stocks from being overfished and, as far as our bottom fishery is concerned, the officials have been adjusting the regulations as they collect better data but I think it might be time to let the small boat guys go back to full time again. See ‘ya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 06-28-2012 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report – June wrap up . “Blind strike” yellowfin tuna tops June as the most common catch. I’ve discussed “blind strike” before but for the benefit of my newer readers, I’ll explain it again. Here in Hawaii “Ahi” are yellowfin tuna that weigh over 100 lbs. Smaller ones are called shibi. The ahi are typically caught year-round in the “porpoise schools” and even that term is a bit misleading because they aren’t porpoise at all but are actually spotted dolphins. The ahi have a symbiotic relationship with the dolphins because the dolphins work hard to keep schools of bait fish balled up tight and the ahi take advantage of that behavior by crashing the concentrated bait schools. More ahi arrive in Hawaii during the summer months and that’s when you don’t need to be working a “porpoise school” to get bit by an ahi, hence the term “blind strike”. When a reel starts screaming, maybe, AHI! Another thing about this summer run is that we’re seeing many ahi tipping the scales over the 200 lb. mark. Ahi over 200 lbs. are somewhat rare here though the state record stands at 325 lbs. It’s quite possible with the size we’re seeing now that the record could be beat this summer. Ahi populations here have been on the rise over the past several years here and I came up with a theory as to why that is. If you’re interested in it, go to the fishing reports page on my web site. At the bottom of the page are links to over 10 years of archived fishing reports. The Mar. ’11 link will get you there. After that report, I had some feedback emails from people in that particular business that indicated that my theory was correct. Summer is also better for blue marlin but we’re not seeing that many yet. It’s also ono season but there hasn’t been many of those around lately either. Mahi mahi season is about over and so is spearfish season but it’s always possible to have a late or off season run. The bottom fishing bite has been pretty good but I certainly would not say it’s great with sharks being the most common catch along with a few of the more typical bottom catches like amberjack, almaco jack, giant trevally and gray snapper. Bottom fishing is usually some fast action and almost a guarantee of catching something, unlike the trolling bite. Even though there have been many blind strike ahi being caught lately, there’s also plenty of boats each day that come home empty handed because all they did was troll lures all day. See ‘ya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 05-30-2012 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report – May wrap-up . May started out kind of slow as far as the trolling bite is concerned but has been VERY good lately. Statistically the mahi mahi bite should be slowing down by now but we’re having the best bite we’ve seen with them so far this season. The same is true for the spearfish bite. Even though it’s not ono season, there’s still a pretty decent bite going on with them too. We’re just entering yellowfin tuna season and there have been a bunch caught recently. Hopefully this is a sign of another good (we’ve had several in a row) season for them. The blue marlin bite is slow right now but as I stated in last month’s report, there’s very little fishing effort going on. I normally take Memorial Day off and ride around the island on my Harley with a motorcycle club but I made the mistake of booking a fishing trip before I knew it was Memorial Day. I was OK with missing the ride but I wasn’t looking forward to the crowd of private and charter boats on the water for the holiday. I was kind of shocked! I hardly saw any other boats the whole day. Tourism is still way down and I’m sure the price of fuel kept many private boats off the water. I guess that was good for us though because with no competition, we had every lure we were running bit and we ended up catching several fish. The bottom bite has been pretty good although catching the bait fish has been difficult at times. I’ve been catching a lot of sharks lately and I’m pretty good with my shark identifications but I caught one a couple of months ago that I couldn’t identify. I caught that same shark about a week later and another one just like it but a little smaller. Since then I’ve caught even more of them but still don’t have a clue as to what kind it is. This I can say about them though, they put up one hell of a fight! They run between 130 and 180 lbs. and when they get near the boat, they get extremely mean and are looking to kick some butt. Sharks are an excellent sportfish to fight because unlike most fish, they usually don’t get tired during the fight so the real challenge begins near the end of the fight at the boat when the angler is tired and the shark isn’t. I even feel sorry for some of the anglers because I’m sure that they had no idea what they were getting themselves into when they envisioned a relaxing day of fishing in Hawaii and instead, ended up with one of the most physically exhausting challenges of their life. See ‘ya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 04-28-2012 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report – April wrap-up . I have to report that there weren’t a whole lot of marlin caught this month but I can easily point to the cause being a lack of fishing effort. If only 1/3 of the boats (or less) that would normally be out fishing in April are going out on charters, then you can expect a big drop in the number of marlin being caught also. Tourism is so slow right now that on several days that I fished this month, the parking lot was near empty, I was the only boat in my row of boats that went out and while I was out, I hardly saw another charter boat all day. I’m one of the busiest captains in Kona and I had several unplanned days off this month. Another thing that has brought the marlin totals down for April is that we’re having a pretty good unseasonal ono bite going on as I mentioned in last month’s report. It’s still going on but it’s highly unlikely that you’ll ever hook a marlin while fishing for ono because the ono like the shallow water and the marlin generally don’t. Of the few boats that are going out, many are spending time hunting those delicious ono instead of marlin. There’s been some spearfish and mahi mahi around but same as the marlin, that’s an offshore bite and there just hasn’t been much fishing effort going on. The tuna bite has slowed also. Last week one boat caught several small yellowfin off one of the FAD’s so I went out there this week and the tuna were gone. The bottom bite has been pretty good although it has been tough to catch the bait fish. The best bait fish for dropping is a 3 lb. or less skipjack tuna, yellowfin tuna or frigate mackerel but you need to catch your own as there are no bait barges here and they’re not sold in the stores either. Live or even fresh dead usually brings success but when I know that bait is hard to come by, I take some that I kept and froze from previous trips. They don’t work near as well as fresh and if the fish are being picky at all, forget it! As a result, I too have been spending more time targeting the ono with pretty good success. While I might complain sometimes about a lack of business, I can never complain about all the delicious fish I get to eat from our abundant Hawaiian waters See ‘ya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 03-31-2012 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report March wrap-up . After “grander” blue marlin were caught both in January and February, It was looking good for another one in March because March is known to be a good month for granders here. While there is still today left to make the mark, the biggest blue marlin of the month weighed in at just under 900 lbs. In the beginning of March there was a pretty good marlin bite and there were a few “beast” status (over 500 lbs.) marlin caught but the bite has really slowed down lately. Striped marlin and spearfish are still being caught as expected and have also slowed down lately. The big news of the month is tunas. Strange thing, I remember that it was March of last year that I wrote about a great tuna bite and also wrote about my theory as to why the tuna bite has been increasing over the past several years. I have that March 2011 report archived on my web site and I got several emails about it, even from the scientific community. Now the story’s getting even better. Albacore and bigeye tuna seem to be increasing in population also. Here in Kona we’re use to having small tunas around the FAD’s and ledges. Recently there were big albacore caught during the daylight hours at VV buoy. Our albacore fishery is usually a summer time bite and is a night time fishery also so that kind of bite out of season and in the day is unheard of here. Not only was there albacore at the buoy but some 100+ lb. yellowfin and some good size bigeye tuna were caught there as well. This month we have seen more 100+ lb. bigeye tuna caught than I’ve ever heard of and most of them were caught while fishing in bird piles and schools of otaru, a tuna we normally see in the late summer. In fact, there were a few 200+ Lb. bigeyes caught this month also to include a new state record at 231 lbs! Mahi mahi are still a regular catch and that bite should be increasing over the next few months. Right now there seems to be a bit of an ono run happening even though it’s not really season for them yet but the cool thing about ono is that we can have a good run of them in any month of the year. Last summer when they were supposed to be here, they didn’t show up in the numbers they should have. About 4 years ago we had a huge influx of Galapagos sharks come to Kona. They devastated the bottom fishery here. The fish that didn’t vacate the deep ledges soon became shark food. The Galapagos sharks seemed to have moved on because I haven’t caught one in nearly a year now. As a result of them leaving, I’m finally starting to see a good increase in the amberjack bite on the deep ledges like it use to be. I see this as a good indicator (and the marks on my fish finder) that the other fish are returning to the ledge also. I hardly ever see the commercial snapper fishermen on “The Grounds” anymore because it was just wiped out and not worth the effort. Right now the currents are moving too fast to be able to fish it well but as soon as the currents slow down, if I were a commercial snapper guy, I’d be dropping some hand lines ;) See ‘ya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 02-29-2012 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report – Feb. wrap-up . Another “grander” (1030 lbs.)for Kona! In last month’s report I stated that since 1954 we have averaged slightly more than 2 granders a year here in Kona so we’re off to a good start with 10 months left in the year to up that average. A few days after the catch I saw the captain and deckhand at their boat so I walked over to congratulate them on their first grander. The captain said it was his third. As I stood there puzzled with a ? expression on my face, he stated that he had caught two grander tiger sharks. It’s not the same thing in my book. In fact, I catch more tiger sharks (and other sharks also) than any other captain in Kona. Because I do variety fishing on almost every trip, it just works out that way. While I do have a grander blue marlin catch already, I have caught and released more grander tigers than I can count. The average size tiger here runs 800 to 1000 lbs. but because I release them, it is an estimate but as I stated in last month’s report, because of experience I know a 1000+ pound fish when I see it. A couple of years ago I even got a tiger up to the boat that was an easy 2000+ pounder. While tigers ( and sharks in general) are indeed a tough fight, the way that marlin and sharks fight is quite different. After you hook a marlin, they usually jump all over the place and wear themselves out. Because of that, the smaller marlins are a pretty easy catch but the real big ones are usually able to catch a 2nd wind and put up a good fight. Sharks fight consistently hard the whole way and don’t seem to get tired at all. In my experience, pound for pound sharks that are under a few hundred pounds are usually a tougher fight than marlin of the same size but when it comes to the power of a really big marlin, big sharks, even grander tigers just don’t compare. While there are a fair number of blue marlin around for this time of year, the striped marlin and spearfish were a slightly more common catch this month. Since I’ve been talking about fight-ability, I’ll throw it in here that spearfish are one of the wimpiest fighting fish ever. One of their favorite tricks for getting away is to match the anglers cranking speed so the angler thinks the fish came off. If an angler doesn’t have much experience, they’ll stop winding and that’s when the spearfish get’s slack line and is able to shake the hook. Some ono have been caught this month and they also are not a very strong fighter. The mahi mahi bite started early this year and when it comes to a good fight, it doesn’t get much better pound for pound than mahi mahi. In fact, the word “mahi” is the Hawaiian word for “strong” and as it is in many foreign languages, if something is VERY much the meaning or essence of that word, they use the same word twice to describe it. Ahi have also been a fairly regular catch this month and pound for pound every bit as strong of a fighter as a mahi mahi. Now for the bottom fish. The bottom bite has been pretty good this month. Most of the sharks I catch are hooked while bottom fishing. I also catch and release plenty of amberjack while bottom fishing. In Florida these fish have the nick name of “reef donkeys” because of their power to fight but there is one fish here in Hawaii that puts ALL of the other fish here to shame when it comes to sheer power. The king of all fish fights pound for pound goes to the GT, giant trevally or in Hawaiian, “ulua”. I also catch more ulua than any other captain in Kona and the fight that they put up for their size is sometimes just unbelievable! If the ulua could obtain a size of 1000+ lbs, I don’t think that there’s any fishing tackle currently made or human strength ability that could even catch one. See ‘ya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 01-31-2012 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report – Jan. wrap-up . Marlin over 1000 lbs., known as “granders” are regularly caught all over the world. Some are taken and some are released but here in Hawaii, we only count the ones that are actually weighted in. Some of the captains here have made the claim that they caught and released a grander and because of their experience, you can take their word for it that they did in fact release a grander but others who have made a claim to have released a grander are received with skepticism. Right before the close of 2011 the word went out that there was a possible grander coming to the scales for weigh in. I didn’t stick around for the weigh in but found out the next day that it only weighed in at 608 lbs. The crew on the boat is experienced so it didn’t make any sense why they thought it would make the grander mark but they only had egg on their faces for a little while because just 8 days later, they actually caught one and weighed in the first grander of 2012 at 1040 lbs. Hawaii’s first official “grander” was caught and weighted in 1954 and the count has continued at an average of slightly over 2 per year since. Hawaii Fishing News keeps the grander tally on their web site so now were up to 128 of them in hawaii. The striped marlin bite isn’t very good at all as we approach the middle of their season (bummer) but the spearfish showed up right on time and have been a fairly common catch. I’ve said it here before and I’m saying it again, those spearfish are one of the best eating fish there is! We had another little ono spurt this month and a few mahi mahi are still coming in. The yellowfin tuna are still hanging on the ledges and FAD’s but the numbers and sizes have dropped from last month. The bottom bite has been a lot better lately with a good variety of fish but there’s hardly any bait fish at the bottom fishing grounds so I’ve been going to the closest FAD to the harbor for bait. It’s in the opposite direction from the bottom fishing grounds but the bait fish have been easy to catch along with the occasional eating size yellowfin as a bonus. I’ve also picked a couple of spearfish off the buoy while catching the bait fish and yesterday we got a spearfish on one of the bait rods. It was some good light tackle action and the spearfish made several jumps. That’s something that they rarely do on our normal size tackle and the more a fish jumps, the more likely it will come off but luckily I had a good angler that was able to handle it so it’s spearfish for dinner tonight :p Last month I talked about the NLOM web site that predicts the speed and direction of the currents and I said that they were “fairly accurate” and that “with few exceptions; they were right on the money”. I’d now like to retract that statement and go back to “there’s no way to predict it”. Their predictions are updated once a week and they have their older predictions on the site also. Not only were their original predictions way off for most of January but even their most current current data(not a typo) is wrong. I’ll still be checking their web site regularly for reference but certainly not relying on it to be accurate. See ‘ya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 12-31-2011 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report – Dec. 2011 wrap-up . I was really hoping that the striped marlin bite would be better this month and while there are a few being caught right now and with more frequently than last month, it’s not really enough of a bite to call it a “run” yet. It’s still early in the season for them though so I remain hopeful that the bite will get better from here. The blue marlin bite has been fairly average for this time of year so there’s one, two or a few being caught daily. We’re just coming into spearfish season. There hasn’t been any caught in a long time but one was caught last Wednesday so again, we can only hope that there will be a “run” this season. Even though the sea surface temperature has cooled down as is typical for Hawaii this time of year, the mahi mahi are still here and they again top the list as the most common catch for the month. Mahi mahi tend to be one of the most temperature sensitive fish but we’ve had plenty of flying fish around to keep them fed. We also have clouds of opelu (mackerel scad) right now along the ledges for the mahi mahi to eat and it also prompted an unseasonal ono run that lasted for a couple of weeks. The smaller size yellowfin tuna (10 – 30) are in on the act along the ledges also and the commercial fishermen have been hitting ‘em hard. Small yellowfin tuna (1 – 3) are being caught on some of the FAD’s. The bottom bite wasn’t very good this month because the current was going the wrong way for most of the month. As soon as the current switched to its normal North direction for Kona, that’s when all the fish showed up on the ledges. If you’re a follower of my reports, and I know there are many of you out there, you’ve heard me say many times that “the current is king” when it comes to the fishing in Kona being good or bad and that there was no way to predict it. Well, I was wrong. A friend of mine sent me a link to a Navy web site and I was astonished! Fairly accurate predictions up to a month in advance with the sea surface height, the sea surface temperature and also the speed (given in meters per second) and direction of the currents. Not just for Hawaii but almost everywhere in the world! I have been following the Hawaii predictions all month and with few exceptions; they were right on the money. I’m sure there are some around that have known about the site for a while but not one captain I talked to knew about it. This information is extremely valuable in an area like Hawaii where the currents can change so rapidly and have so much effect of the fishery. Excited yet? Where is it? Here’s a belated Christmas present to you all. Just Google NLOM Navy and it will be on the top of the search. At least it was for me. Google can tweak its results depending on your previous searches but it should be on the first page anyway. And with that, have fun with it and have a happy new year. See ‘ya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 11-30-2011 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report – Nov. wrap-up . So what happened in October? Where did the report go? Well, I didn’t write one. I was out of action for most of October because I had back-to-back bladder cancer surgeries. Not only didn’t I fish for most of October but I didn’t stay in touch with other fishermen during my recovery so I didn’t have a clue how the fishing was for the month. October for me is just a past memory by now but I did fish plenty this month so here it is…… Mahi mahi tops the list as the most common catch. While it is possible to catch mahi mahi any time of the year here, we basically have 2 seasons for them, a spring run and a fall run. The spring run is usually the small size ones. I like to call them “Smurfs” because of the small size and that they have that bright blue Smurf color while swimming around. The fall run brings us the big ones and this season was no different. While we can get small ones in the fall and big ones in the spring, in general, it’s pretty predictable. With no ono run this last summer it sure was nice having some quality fish for the dinner table. There are a few ono being caught but you just need to be lucky with that. I know one captain that has been spending some of his time on almost every trip trying for them and he’s getting skunked most of the time. The blue marlin bite was pretty good for the beginning of November but the deeper we’re getting into winter, the more that bite is tapering off. There has been no “average” size for the month as the daily catch weight range has been all over the board. There has been a few striped marlin caught in the last couple of weeks so I hope that’s an indicator that we’ll have our winter striped marlin run. If you are a follower of my reports you may remember that we went 5 winter seasons without a good striped marlin run until last winter when they returned in pretty good numbers. Small striped marlin is my 2nd favorite fish to eat. The meat is usually pink and sometimes you get meat that is pumpkin orange and that’s the REALLY good stuff. Seared or as sashimi, Hawaii’s striped marlin are only outdone by the Hawaiian grouper when it comes to taste. The bottom bite has been just OK but as I’ve said many times before, your chances of catching something are far greater going for the bottom vs. just trolling all day. The first part on November I was catching mostly sharks while hitting the bottom but lately the giant trevally are biting again. As winter comes in, the giant trevally bite should get even better. No worries about my health. I’ve been dealing with cancer for a long time. The last operations were #15 and #16 for 5 different kinds of cancer. I’ve been through radiation and chemo before and kept fishing through all of it. I’ll be starting chemo again soon but the only side effect with this kind of chemo is that I run a slight fever so no big deal. Everyone has issues of some kind or another but the attitude you have as your issues come determines the severity of their effect. See ‘ya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 09-28-2011 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report – Sept. wrap-up . As usual September is the slowest time of year for tourism and with the economy still in bad shape; it’s even slower than normal so there’s not many boats out fishing, including me. I used the extra time off to do some work on my web site and I made a videos page. Not only are there some videos that I took myself but also some customer videos and a Hawaii Goes Fishing show. FISHinKONA.com is the largest fishing web site in the state of Hawaii especially with archived fishing reports form the past 10+ years. The next project I’d like to do is an angling “how to” video for fighting fish out of a fighting chair. The deckhands are usually the ones that give the instructions on how to fight a fish from a chair and many simply suck at it. Knowing proper technique not only makes catching easier and more fun but many of the fish aren’t hooked too good and one mistake like jerking hard on the rod, letting the fish have slack line and other rookie mistakes can easily cost you the fish . With all my years of experience, I know I can help many. It just remains to be seen if I can do a good job of explaining it in a short video. The marlin bite remained good throughout the month of September. That’s really nothing unusual. The last of the summer marlin tournaments was the 3 day September Challenge and there were plenty of marlin to go around for the anglers. The winning marlin was taken by the Sundowner weighing in just under the “grander” mark at 943 lbs. Several boats caught marlin during the tournament with the average marlin running about 200 lbs. By now it’s safe to say that there was no ono run this summer. We can get them any month of the year but the summer months should pretty much be a guaranteed bite. Hawaii is just a little speck in a big ocean so they’re out there somewhere, just not here. The big skipjack tuna are here as is typical for this time of year but they’re not biting very well and all of us are having trouble hooking ‘em. It’s frustrating to see the tuna jumping all over the place and the customers looking at you with a look like “what’s the matter with this captain?” The biggest concentrations are on “The Grounds” and many boats are just staying away so they don’t have to see “the look” from the customers. The yellowfin tuna bite got really good this month on a FAD (fish aggregation device) right in front of town. That particular FAD hardly ever has fish on it! Not only were the commercial fishermen getting yellowfin tuna of all sizes there but also albacore tuna. Albacore are usually only caught at night here but they were even getting them during the day at the FAD. There were so many small boats concentrated there that us charter guys on the troll couldn’t get in close to the FAD where the fish were biting. I mentioned that the bottom fishing season opened September 1st for “the deep 7”. In past seasons there was a big rush to get them while the price and demand were high but I’m not seeing that this year. Most of the small boats that I would normally see fishing the ledges for snapper and grouper have been targeting the tunas instead. The bottom bite for bigger game like giant trevally, amberjack, almaco jack and sharks has slowed down quite a bit but bottom fishing is still on average the most productive method for catching. Some trips this month though, I’ve had to put up with “the look” after being unable to entice a bite from the bottom. Sometimes it is fishing and not catching. See ‘ya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 08-30-2011 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report – August wrap-up . This month was one of the best months for blue marlin that Kona has seen in quite a while. With that, the Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament, the Lazy Marlin Hunt and the Big Island Invitational Marlin Tournament were all BIG successes. The marlin are still here in numbers but since the tourism has slowed (as usually happens toward the end of summer) there aren’t many boats going out. Even with a good marlin bite going on though, the only guarantee that you’ll catch one is if you fish multiple days. Even the best marlin captains can come up with a zero during a hot bite. I don’t consider myself one of the top marlin captains here but just yesterday we had 4 marlin bites and that’s some pretty good marlin action but by the end of the day, we only ended up with 1 mahi mahi in the box. I didn’t do any bottom fishing on this trip at the request of the customer. More on that later. The ono bite has picked up so there’s still hope for some kind of end of summer run. The ono bite has been pretty good way down South but the “ono Lane” right in front of the harbor and the airport has only been producing a few. There are still some spearfish biting but we’re heading toward the slowest season for them over the next 2 months. Mahi mahi seem to be showing up here and there so maybe we’ll get an early run on them. Customers often ask me if I like eating ono or mahi mahi the best. The two both taste excellent but here’s my take; if I’ve been eating a lot of mahi mahi, an ono sure does taste good. If I’ve been eating a lot of ono, a mahi mahi sure does hit the spot. Now it’s time for the “more on that later”. Hawaii’s bottom fishing season opens up in just a couple of days on Sept. 1st. the season closed last March and it’s illegal to bottom fish out of season. Hey, wait! I bottom fish year-round. How does that work? Am I breaking the law? No. Luckily there’s a loophole for us that are targeting the big game bottom fish instead of the fish known here as “the deep seven”. It has to do with the specific type of gear I’m using so us catching one of “the deep seven” only happens on rare occasion. While I think any of the deep seven bottom fish beat out an ono or mahi mahi for taste, they just aren’t very exciting to catch. Especially for people that come here to sport fish and aren’t interested in eating their catch as was the case with yesterday’s charter. He only wanted marlin. I’m OK with that though. That means mahi mahi for dinner tonight. I’m so spoiled when it comes to good eating fresh fish :) See ‘ya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 07-27-2011 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report – July wrap-up . So how many of you regular readers of my monthly fishing report Google’d to see who won the Blue Marlin World Cup Tournament on July 4th? You don’t need to email me with the answer but I have thousands of fishermen who regularly read my monthly fishing report and I figured at least some of you would have been curious enough to see if Bermuda was able to take the “Blue Marlin Capital” title away from Hawaii. Drum roll…… Hawaii wins again! Not only did we win but we smoked the rest of the world! In this tournament the minimum qualifying weight is the “beast status” of at least 500 lbs. There wasn’t a single qualifying blue marlin caught anywhere else in the world except Hawaii. In fact, there were 3 qualifying “beast” marlin caught here. The winner was Maui Jim with a 729 pounder but the Maui Jim wasn’t fishing his home turf off Maui, he was fishing right here in Kona where all 3 qualifying beasts were caught. In last month’s report I said that the big blues were here but the smaller males hadn’t shown up yet. Well, they’re here now and the bite is ON! The Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament started last Monday and by the end of the first day, more than half of the teams had tagged and released at least one marlin. The tournament runs for 5 days so we’re right in the middle of it now so I’ll bring you the results in next month’s report. Of course you don’t have to wait to hear it from me, they have a web site. The smaller yellowfin and bigeye tunas are biting on the ledges and buoys and the 100+ yellowfin are biting “in the blind” as is typical for this time of year. The spearfish are biting too, also typical for this time of year. The bummer is that the ono, that are supposed to be here now, aren’t. We’ll see if they’re just running late in next month’s report. The bottom bite, as usual, is the best way to get some quick action. Even though the marlin bite is on, you can still end up empty handed if all you do is troll all day. When the trolling bite is on, I like to spend most of my day trolling but to ensure a catch for the day, nothing beats targeting the deep. Mostly I’ve been catching and releasing sharks with a few GT’s (giant trevally) thrown in. Both offer a fight that humbles even the studliest of anglers. The GT’s fight as hard as a fish 4 times its size and the biggest ones sometimes don’t survive the fight. That just happened to us yesterday so we took it in and weighed it. While we did make Kona’s “Big Fish List” with the biggest weighed in this year at 95 lbs., both the angler and I would have rather seen it swim away. We made several attempts to get it to swim but it just wouldn’t go. I actually have tagged and successfully released bigger ones this year. That makes me wonder…… If there were such a thing as a GT World Cup Tournament with the minimum qualifying weight of 100 lbs., would Hawaii be the “GT capital of the world” also? With my mind wandering and wondering of that thought, I’ll wish you all tight lines and screaming reels. See ‘ya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 06-29-2011 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report – June wrap-up . HUGE blue marlin tops the report this month. Several marlin over 500 lbs. (beast status) were caught in June with a few hitting the 900+ mark and many in the 500 to 800+ lb. range. It was almost a surprise that another Kona grander wasn’t caught. There very well could have been a 1000 pounder hooked and fought but many of the “beast” status marlins win the fight. One of the biggest marlin brought in this month @ 982 lbs. was previously lost by another boat and was towing the lure along with several hundred yards of line. The famous World Cup tournament will be happening soon on July 4th with the prize going to the biggest blue marlin caught that day anywhere around the globe. Kona really needs another win this year. Several years ago Madeira tried to take the title away from Kona as “The Blue Marlin capital of the world” when both Kona and Madeira were tied at 3 wins each. Kona has since taken the tournament 3 more times and Madeira none but now Bermuda has a shot at the title. The current standing is 6 wins each for Bermuda and Kona. The suspense is high but the tie might not be broken this year or even for several more as several other areas around the globe have also won the tournament. While the marlins caught here lately have been big, the numbers of marlin catches haven’t been. The big ones are all females and it’s the beginning of the summer breeding season so the smaller males will be showing up soon. The spearfish bite has been sporadic but during a recent tournament, spearfish was the hottest bite. The yellowfin tuna bite has been pretty good for the 100+ ones and the smaller ones have been easy to catch on C buoy, OT buoy and even on some of the ledges. It’s ono season but the bite has been sporadic too. The bottom bite hasn’t been all that hot but like the marlin bite, there’s some big fish down there. Just like 1000+ lbs. is the ultimate goal for the marlin fisherman, 100+ lbs. is the goal for giant trevally. These fish have amazing strength and pull like a fish that is 3 to 4 times its size. Last month we caught one that was just under the 100 lb. mark (about 85) but this month we got one that was over 100 lbs. I don’t know what happened to the amberjacks, they’ve been a rare catch lately. The shark bite is still good on the bottom and at OT buoy. Again this month, tiger sharks have made the news but I personally haven’t had any encounters lately and it hasn’t been for a lack of trying. Just like any other fish, its right place – right time but there’s one thing I can say with certainty …. There are a lot more 1000+ tigers swimming off the Kona coast than there are 1000+ marlins. See ‘ya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 05-29-2011 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report – May wrap-up . The early part of May was pretty good as far as the trolling bite was concerned. Ono topped the list as the easiest bite but there were also several yellowfin, marlin and spearfish coming in. As usual, when the current direction switches, the bite slows and that’s what happened a little over a week ago. Even though the bite slowed, there remains a bite from some BIG blue marlin. Nearly every day, one or more “best” marlin are being caught or fought and lost. In fact, one marlin that was brought in recently was a “grander” when it was hooked up but during the fight, it threw up the live bait that was used to hook it, a 10+ lb. skipjack tuna, along with everything else that was in its stomach. The weight at the scale was 995 ½ lbs. Close but no cigar. Every year there are marlin brought in that end up being just under the coveted 1000 lb. mark but in the grander game, close never counts! Many of Kona’s career captains have fished here for many years and will even retire (like my dad) having never landed a “grander”. The mahi mahi are basically gone and even the ono bite has slowed. There are small yellowfin and skipjack tuna on the ledges, in the deep and on C and OT buoys but there is also an unusual amount of sharks around. The buoys are especially plagued with them to the point where you can hardly get any fish to the boat before they’re eaten by a shark. Galapagos, whit tips and bronze whalers are the most common but even some tigers have been getting in on the action near the ledges. Sharks make for a great fight because unlike marlin, they don’t tire out easily. When they get near a boat, that’s when they really put the brakes on. For most anglers, targeting sharks is the easiest way to catch something that weighs more than you do and the last minutes of the fight when they get near the boat can be very challenging. Shark attacks have also caused some beach closures this week. Two surfers were attacked and their boards were bitten. Both were in the same surfing area but it’s not known if it was the same shark that did it. The boards will be examined by experts to determine that. Neither of the surfers were injured. A tiger shark is the most likely suspect since they don’t mind swimming right next to the shoreline and are known to be aggressive but there are other aggressive types out here also. There’s one tiger hanging out around Kona waters that is estimated to be just over 2000 lbs. I first encountered this one a little over a year ago and actually hooked it after it ate a 60 lb. amberjack we were fighting. I angled it all the way to the boat where we got several photos and video. It’s been spotted by both fishermen and divers this year but I don’t figure it’s the one doing the attacks. If that monster wanted to eat a surfer, it could just about do it with just one bite. I just hope someone doesn’t kill that big tiger for the publicity. See ‘ya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 04-29-2011 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report – April wrap-up . So here I sit at the computer again about to write the Kona Hawaii Fishing Report. I’ve been doing it once a month for over 10 years now and I always try to get it done just before the month ends. Last month I didn’t even realize the month had ended until after the fact and I found myself cramming the time into my schedule to get the report done. Just to let you know, it takes the better part of a day to write it and post it in several fishing forums. I decided to make yellowfin tuna the focus of the report because I had recently talked to several captains about my tuna theory but in doing so, with blinders on, I didn’t do my billfish homework. My bad. There was a new State record Striped Marlin caught in late March weighing in at 212 lbs. and I had even forgotten that Hawaii’s first “grander” of the year was caught about the middle of the month weighing in at 1062 lbs. That catch had just escaped my tunnel vision mind. This month the billfish bite remained pretty good although slightly less than last month with striped marlin, blue marlin and spearfish being caught in Kona almost daily. On a trip earlier this week we landed a 519 blue marlin that died during the fight. A 500+ pounder is called a “beast” and I wasn’t sure if it would make the weight or not but I knew it would be close. We weighed it and were happy that it made the grade. The guy who filleted it up called me the next day and said that it had a 30 lb. spearfish in its stomach that had just been eaten. It was so fresh that no digestion had even taken place. I’ll take the “beast” status anyway The already full marlin just couldn’t resist the smell of my anchovy stuffed Gatorade bottle lure. That’s right, a plastic bottle. I describe these lures on my web site and they were also featured in Marlin Magazine in ’09. To my surprise I found out last week that I’m in this month’s issue of Sport Fishing Magazine on page 55. There’s no mention of my name but that’s me with the spearfish. Yellowfin tuna, big skipjacks, mahi mahi and ono are still biting pretty good. There were several more instances of blind-strike yellowfin this month. I had a nice blind-strike yellowfin on myself recently but we broke line on it during a hard run. I’ve had some people comment on the yellowfin theory I wrote about in last month’s report. The theory makes too much sense to just discount it. The increase in yellowfin tuna populations has to be due to something. There’s so many out there now that fishermen are having a hard time finding someone to buy them because there’s so many on the market. The bottom bite has been mostly sharks lately with a few amberjack thrown in. I haven’t had time to update the fish photos page on my own web site lately between fishing trips and other duties but now that this fish report is written, with still several hours more needed to publish it on fishing forums and, got to go into town today, I might just be able to update my fish photos page soon. Darn, just realized I got to stop by the boat too and get my camera with all this weeks photos in it. See ‘ya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 04-02-2011 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report – March wrap-up . The trolling bite is still doing real good in Kona with a mix of striped marlin, spearfish and mahi mahi. There have even been a few blue marlin around with one coming in this month just 22 lbs. short of the “grander” mark. While the blue marlin are generally solitary critters, striped marlin swim in schools so many of us are experiencing double, triple and even quadruple hook-ups. There are some ono being caught also even though it’s not really season for them and one of the stranger catches is “blind strike” yellowfin tuna. Yellowfin tuna will be the main focus of my report this month. You can catch yellowfin tuna in Hawaii year-round with the peak season of the 100+ pounders in the summer time. In the summer you can expect blind strikes from yellowfin tuna but in the winter, a blind strike (until recently) has been almost unheard of. In the winter you would generally need to be fishing a porpoise school to score a big yellowfin but that’s changing. Not only have the past several summers been really good for big yellowfin here but so have the winters. So, what might be the reason for such an increase in the fish supply? I have a theory. Big commercial fishing vessels are limited by the number of fish they can hold. Then it’s back to port to gear up for another trip. In the past 10 years a newer method has developed to take even more tuna from the ocean. The now popular method is to surround a whole tuna school with a huge net and drag the whole school closer to whatever continent you come from and then over a period of time, pull the fish out. This method has a high mortality rate and also produces skinny fish because of the lack of food. It sounds absolutely awful and you would think that a continuance of this type of fishing practice would wipe out the tuna industry in a short period of time but in reality, the opposite is happening. Why? Here’s my theory: The tuna are in very close proximity. They’re stressed out because of the confinement and as a result, they’re breeding at an accelerated rate. Sperm and eggs are flying everywhere. With the closer proximity, more eggs are being fertilized than would normally happen in the wild. The now fertilized eggs drift right on through the net and more yellowfin tuna are being produced as a direct result of the confinement. Of course I don’t have any proof of my theory but it sounds like it makes sense. I’ve run this theory by several fishermen here and it generally gets the yes nod. The bottom bite is, as usual the best guarantee of a successful fishing trip. It’s nice having a good trolling bite happening at the same time so I haven’t had to rely on the bottom bite as much. In my January report I mentioned that I had caught more giant trevally (GT) in the previous 6 months than I had in the previous 10 years combined and that trend is continuing. Is someone netting and confining these fish also? No. The tag and release of GT’s has gained in popularity so that has some to do with it but at the same time, the kampachi fish farm just offshore of the Kona airport has become a very popular spot for GT’s to hang out. They are a common site around the nets because the nets are also providing structure for a fish called opelu, a favorite food of the GT and they’ve both been camping out around the fish pens for some years now. Opelu populations rely on underwater structure to congregate so the more structure the better. Again, close proximity of a big population of fish produces even more fish so I’ll stretch my theory even further and say that it’s also helping the GT populations. I have no proof of it but the increase of yellowfin tuna and GT populations in Kona has to be due to something. See ‘ya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 03-01-2011 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report – Feb. wrap-up . The striped marlin are still biting good in Kona but they certainly are running small. When they do show up in the winter they are usually all close to the same size. Some winters they’re all about 50 to 60 lbs. Other winters have had most running around 100 lbs. but this season most of them are under 40 lbs. The spearfish bite has picked up and now it’s about 50/50 with the striped marlin bite. The spears are also under 40 lbs. Sounds like great fishing but there’s a problem. Very few Kona charter boats own light tackle! Other than a couple light rods for catching bait fish, Kona is typically a heavy tackle fishery. Some charter boats troll only with 130’s. Some have a mix of 130’s and 80’s. Some even have a 50 that they use for the 5th stinger line when the smaller fish are biting but even that is a bit of overkill on small billfish, mahi mahi and ono. BTW, we’re getting a good bite on the mahi mahi and ono right now too. So why all the heavy tackle? Well, because you simply have no idea if one of those big Kona blue’s is going to eat your lure. The big ones are around every month of the year but I’ve found that there is a viable solution to the tackle overkill problem. A 130 (wide) is designed to hold close to 1000 yards of 130 lb. test, an 80 (wide) is designed to hold close to 1000 yards of 80 lb. test and a 50 (wide) is designed to hold close to 1000 yards of 50 lb. test. You may think that’s more than enough line on there until you do hook up with one of those big Kona blue’s and see that 1000 yards of line disappear off your reel in less than a minute! The solution is braided line. I been using 100 lb. test Tuff Line for bottom fishing for years now because anything lighter just won’t give you enough stopping power on some of those big sharks and jacks as they try to wrap you around the rocks. A 30 (wide) holds over 1000 yards of 100 lb. test braided line! Another reason that I use 100 lb. is that braided line has a tendency to over-test so 130 lb. braided line might just keep you away from qualifying for that world record fish. You may think that there’s an issue with the drag system between a 130 and a 30 but I’ve been using the 2 speed Penn 30 VSX with a twin drag system for years and it has all the drag you could ask for. I know because sometimes I get stuck on the bottom and need to break off that 100 lb. test. It’s not easy. I have more Penn 30 stand-up rods that I use for trolling. I topped the 1000 yards of braided line with about 200 yards of 80 lb. test mono. The reason for the mono top shot is to get some line stretch and something else to consider, if you’re rod has roller guides; braided line is thin enough to get in-between the roller and the roller frame on some guides when there’s a side load on the rod. If your fish takes a lot of line out, the braided backing isn’t an issue but when your fish is close to the boat, side loading of the rod is likely. All of my 30’s are mounted on stand-up rods without rollers. It’s just easier that way but a quality rod with a good back bone, light tip and no rollers is a hard item to find now days. I also have a wide selection of quality stand-up fighting belts and harnesses. A good harness is essential for fighting big fish on stand-up but for small billfish, mahi mahi and ono, just a fighting belt in enough. That way you get to actually feel the fight as opposed to the typical Kona fight from a chair with a huge reel mounted on a rod as thick as a broom stick. With the current fishing conditions I’m still using a 130 and an 80 for my short and long corner, pulling big lures looking for the beast marlin. I’m pulling small lures on the stand-ups for the smaller fish but that doesn’t mean that a big fish won’t eat my small lures. It’s happened many times in the past and it even happened recently but it wasn’t a problem, my tackle can handle that! Even my bait rods are backed with braided line and I’ve been trolling the deep with them too. My lightest bait rod is only rated for 12 to 20 lb. but I’m using a 150 yard top shot of 40 lb. mono and the rest of the reel is loaded with 50 lb. braid. The small striped marlin, spearfish, mahi mahi and ono are a blast to fight on this rod! My biggest blue marlin so far on this bait rod was a 300 pounder. Other than a slight issue with the lifting power of the rod, there was enough line on the reel and enough line strength to get the job done. With all this said, I have just one more thing to say to all those guys that only troll with 130’s. “Lighten up”. See ‘ya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 01-29-2011 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report – Jan. wrap-up . Great news! Yes, we have striped marlin Kona hasn’t seen a good striped marlin run in the past 5 seasons so I’m very happy that we’re finally getting them. Striped marlin is my 2nd favorite fish to eat after the Hawaiian grouper. Raw with wasabi and soy sauce or seared on the outside, it’s fantastic! I salivate just like Pavlov’s dog every time I talk about eating striped marlin, it’s that good. The meat is usually pink but sometimes its pumpkin orange. The orange meat is the best. It’s the first month of the year and Kona’s “Big Fish List” starts new. In the first week of this month a 914 lb. blue marlin was weighed in so that one might stand as the biggest for a while. The yellowfin tuna category on the list has been changing almost daily while we wait for the first 200+ pounder to be caught. This is the time of year for the smaller yellowfin and bigeye tuna that hang around the buoys and ledges. C buoy has been the #1 place to go for them. Mahi mahi tops this month as the most common fish caught even though it’s late in the season for them. It’s a bit early in the season for spearfish but they have moved in and are now a pretty common catch also. It’s not ono season but a few are coming in here and there. The bottom bite has been spotty with some good days and some bad. It’s a good thing that the trolling bite has been exceptionally good to make up for it. One fish that I have caught more of in the past 6 months than in the past 10 years combined is giant trevally (GT). They are one of the hardest fighting fish pound for pound and are one of the most prized sportfish of the Pacific. Some minor regulations on these fish have been made in recent years but there has been talk of making very severe regulations on targeting these fish because they’re “endangered”. A tag and release program that started on GT about 10 years ago has indeed helped their numbers grow and now there doesn’t seem to be any shortage of them at all. Do you think the DAR will back off on their plans to severely regulate them as a result? One can only hope. We just got a new governor who seems to be more of a friend to the fisherman than to the fish huggers so we will see what the next 4 years bring. See ‘ya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 01-01-2011 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report – Dec. wrap-up . The year ended with a bang as Kona’s 2nd “grander” marlin was weighed in. Usually there’s more than one grander caught in Kona each year but this year looked like it would be the exception. During a year there are several granders hooked up but most of these fish win the fight. There’s also the tag and release factor and this factor alone almost kept Kona’s grander count down to only one this year. The grander, weighing in at 1011 lbs. was caught on the “Game Plan”. It was brought to the boat in only 45 minutes and then tagged and released but after the release, the fish just rolled over belly up, floating, dead. Some fish, especially the old ones just can’t survive a battle. We don’t know how many granders die each year during a fight and sink, making them nearly impossible to get back up. Getting spooled by a grander will also likely cause its death as they can’t continue to swim and feed towing nearly 1000 yards of line behind them. Some granders are released in good health but you get no credit for releasing an “estimated” grander. The only proof of a real “grander” is at the scales. Some striped marlin showed up this week so we may actually have a run this year. We haven’t had a good striped marlin run in several years. There’s been some spearfish being caught also. With both of these billfish, the season is just getting started. Mahi mahi actually tops the list as this month’s most common catch and there’s also been a fair amount of big yellowfin tuna. We often find the small yellowfin (shibi) on the FAD’s and ledges this time of year with only a few big ones being caught in the porpoise schools during the winter but for the last few years, the winter bite for the big ones has been pretty good. The bottom bite hasn’t been all that good but the variety of fish caught has. Sending a jig, live bait, dead bait or chunks has been producing snapper, grouper, trevally, sharks, amberjack and almaco jack. Do you have your Federal fishing license yet? Many people don’t even know that such a thing even exists but as of last year when the law went into effect, if you’re fishing outside of state waters (3 miles here in Hawaii) you could be fined heavily for not having one. In 2010 the license was free. This year it’s $15, next year It will be $25 and you can expect it to go up even more in years to come. Many of us fishermen in Hawaii have a CML (Commercial Marine License) so we can legally sell our catch and having that makes us exempt from needing the Federal license but, since the Hawaii CML is issued to an individual and not the vessel, the Feds have the right to require each individual person out fishing beyond 3 miles to have their license, even on a charter. Look out tourists, my guess is that will be just around the corner. The Feds NEED more money. So, think you’re safe in state waters? Not for long. On July 19th President Obama signed an executive order to form the National Ocean Council. Part of the power given to this new bureaucracy is to regulate coastal waters, effectively giving them the power to tell the states how to regulate their own waters. Some states have taken the Feds to court on both of these issues but Hawaii has a reputation of being like an old marlin on Federal fisheries issues. It will likely roll over, belly up and let the Feds do whatever they wish. See ‘ya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 11-30-2010 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report – Nov. wrap-up . November was a very slow month for charter fishing as the uncertain economy and uncertain tax burden has many vacationers in a wait-n-see mode. The new TSA procedures aren’t helping either. And as I’ve said before, many of the vacationers that are coming to Hawaii are skipping the big ticket items like helicopter tours and fishing charters but on with how the bite was for November. The month started with a very low catch rate as the current direction and speed kept playing tricks on us but now the bite’s pretty good with mahi mahi leading as the most common catch of the day. The blue marlin bite is pretty good now also and it seems that the spearfish have started moving in already. A bit early in the season for the spears but hopefully the run will continue and not peter-out before the peak of their season hits. There has been yellowfin tuna around the FAD’s up to about 30 lbs. but they’ve been very finicky about biting. The bigger yellowfin in the porpoise schools have been playing hard to get also. We’ve had some spurts of ono and otaru tuna but nothing that can be counted on. The bottom bite as usual has been good and the method that almost guarantees a successful fishing trip. In last month’s report I talked about our new Hawaii shark fin law and since then, I’ve kept talking to people both in authority and people who are fishing rights advocates and as it stands right now, it’s in the hands of the States lawyers who now find it necessary to clarify if a shark, brought in with its fins still attached is a violation of the law. The law (as written) makes no distinction in the matter so it comes down to an issue of interpretation. I catch more sharks than any captain in Kona and I let them go but I would most likely keep a small thresher for the dinner table and others readily kill and land mako sharks. According to our local harbor police, landing a shark with its fins attached is a violation of the law and I don’t have the extra funds to get into a legal battle about the issue so for now, if I want some thresher, I’ll just fillet it out at sea. In many States it’s illegal to bring in only fillets of a fish but Hawaii hasn’t made a law against that yet. As I find out more on the shark fin issue, I’ll keep you informed. See ‘ya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 10-27-2010 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report – Oct. wrap-up . October is one of my favorite months to fish because it’s this month that offers the most variety of fish. The blue marlin bite usually starts decreasing this month as does the ono bite but then the fall run of mahi mahi shows up this month, yellowfin and bigeye tuna start congregating on the buoys and ledges and the bottom bite gets better too. All this happened this month so that’s my report….Done. OK, I know many people read my report every month so I won’t disappoint you. With midterm elections less than a week away, Politics is the big news. When it comes to fisheries, it’s important to know where our politicians stand or we may just see fishing as we know it get regulated beyond practicality. A couple of things that are in the progress of becoming law are HR5804, the billfish conservation act and also a petition to include lead as a toxic substance, making lead bullets and lead used for fishing illegal. In a nut shell the billfish conservation act will make it illegal to import, export or sell billfish except swordfish. While blue marlin stocks are in decline, striped marlin and spearfish stocks appear to be doing OK. Most of the billfish caught here are released without any law being enacted to force us to do it! Billfish are a favorite food for many so if the law is passed and you don’t have first hand access to a local fisherman who will ‘give’ you some, billfish is off the menu except swordfish. Why not swordfish? In the world wide market swordfish has been regulated more than any other but they’re big business so as to not step on the toes of big business, swords were excepted so the bill has a better chance of getting passed. Now on to the evils of lead. Yes I understand that birds eat lead shot and small sinkers but with an across the board ban on using lead to fish with, you can forget using lead for downriggers, jigs, ballast in lures, throw nets and a whole lot more. A new law that just passed in the state of Hawaii this last summer makes it illegal to possess shark fins. I called the senator that proposed the law to see if there was an exception if the fins were still attached to the shark when it’s brought in. His reply was NO! To get caught with any kind of shark with its fins still attached is a minimum $5000, and up to $15000 fine for a first offense. You can still kill ‘em and eat ‘em but getting caught with the fins, attached to the shark or not, can be a costly mistake. Not really fishing related for the most part but just to let you know that our politicians made the standard incandescent light bulb illegal and fazing them out completely is now on the way. Fluorescents and LEDs just won’t do for some lighting applications just like a material other than lead just won’t do for certain fishing applications. How about we vote some of these pinheads out of office this Saturday? See ‘ya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 09-29-2010 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report – Sept. wrap-up . While September is the slowest time of the year for tourism, it can be the best time of the year for blue marlin and that happened again this year. The few boats that were going out this month were seeing marlin on almost a daily basis. So what are the odds of getting one? First of course, the more marlin that are around, the more bites, the better the odds. Of the marlin that hit your lures, on average, only 1 out of 3 will stay on the hook long enough to even get the rod to the fighting chair. Of the ones that stay on the hook long enough to fight, only 1 out of 3 will make it all the way to the boat. Angling technique does either increase or decrease your odds. If the fish is hooked good, you can make about every mistake in the book and still get your fish but in many cases, one mistake such as slack line or jerking on the fish will end your fight. With those odds it’s a wonder how so many are caught here in Kona but there are first time winners all the time! One hit, one marlin to the boat. On a good day you might even catch more than one as was done by several boats this month. The yellowfin tuna bite is pretty good too right now. Not so much of a “blind strike” bite but the porpoise schools have been producing a steady number of fish for the commercial fishermen. There are a few spearfish, mahi mahi and ono being caught too but not in any kind of frequency. The bottom bite is still HOT! Catching small tuna for live bait has been pretty easy and my “honey hole” has supplied quick action on almost all my trips this month. I get bit almost every time in there, usually by sharks, giant trevally and amberjacks but sometimes there’s bottlenose dolphin hanging out in the area too. They are smart and excellent at stealing the bait off the hook. It’s no use even trying to bait fish when they’re around. Time to move on but sometimes they will follow me to other areas looking for an easy meal. It becomes a game for them and me also. If I can get them to follow me away from my honey hole, I can quickly double back to my honey hole and get a bait dropped before they get a chance to catch back up to me. Sometimes it works, sometimes not but it always adds a challenge and some excitement to the fishing day. See ‘ya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 08-28-2010 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report – August wrap-up . So maybe I should stay out of the fish prediction business. Last month I predicted that there wouldn’t be a large number of marlin caught in the Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament but there would be a good number of big ones weighed in. I was right about the big ones but gladly I was somewhat wrong about the total number of marlin caught. There was indeed a fair number of small marlin in the 100 to 200 lb. range caught and released this year. Not as many as last year, in fact, the total number of fish caught this year was a little less than ½ of what was caught last year but I was expecting a more dismal outcome based on what was being caught right before the tournament. Out of the 31 teams that participated, only 3 didn’t catch during the 5 day tournament. The number of teams participating this year was lower too. The big news in the tournament this year wasn’t just the big mama marlins that were weighed in but that the press boat was attacked (yes, attacked!) by a big marlin. Fisherman, photographer and a friend of mine Jon Schwartz who has fished with me several times in Kona, has also been an official photographer for the H.I.B.T. two years in a row. He got some great shots of the attacking fish. Last year after the tournament was over Jon fished with me a few days where I put him in the water to photograph a spearfish, a marlin and a shark! The spearfish shots were in February’s issue of Marlin Magazine. We also went swimming in the Kona Kampachi fish pens but the story that goes with those photos hasn’t been released yet. Jon Schwartz has a fantastic web site, bluewaterjon.com where he has several stories, blogs and magazine articles that he has published about his adventures including the story of the attacking marlin. The mahi mahi run has pretty much stopped which is typical for this time of year but the ono bite should have been at a peak this month. There are a few coming in but basically the run is over for now. I say “for now” because we can easily get another run at any time, even in the off season. The “blind strike” yellowfin tuna bite remains good with even more being caught in the porpoise schools. A trip in the porpoise school last week I deployed my mini Green Stick rig and got bit within 10 minutes. The ahi (Hawaiian for yellowfin) didn’t stick and the strike was so hard it broke my gear. I had to order a part and it just arrived so I’ll be back in action with it next week. Yesterday via “blind strike”, I got a 147 ahi. The bottom bite remains HOT and it’s the easiest way to catch several fish per trip. A combination of GT, amberjacks and sharks are quick to gobble down the small skipjack tuna that are all over the ledge just outside the airport, a short distance from the harbor. While the trolling bite is pretty good right now, as 3 teams in the H.I.B.T. found out, there’s no guarantee of catching anything on the troll even with 5 days of fishing. A combination of both trolling and bottom fishing breaks up the day with exciting new prospects but be advised that there are only a few of us here that do it. There are a couple of charter boats here that advertise bottom fishing on their web sites and while they say that they do it, I almost never see them on the bottom fishing grounds actually doing it. What I hear from people who have been on these trips is that on the day of the charter, they are told that the bottom bite isn’t any good right now even though it actually is. Just a “buyer beware” note for those that really want to be assured of a catch while in Kona. See ‘ya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 07-31-2010 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report – July wrap-up . This morning as I’m writing this report the Wahine (female in Hawaiian) Tournament that hosts only female anglers is happening. In recent years it has been the biggest tournament in Kona but the economy has slowed it down to about half of its normal size. Marlin are the prize money fish with a minimum of 300 lbs. for weigh in and only a trophy going for the most tuna, ono and mahi mahi points. The marlin bite has been slow so as far as the number of marlin catches go, I don’t expect much but there have been some big wahine marlin around and it’s those female marlin that are the 300+ ones. I hope some Hawaiian girl has the muscle it takes to bring in a big marlin girl. The Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament starts Monday and goes for the whole week and there also, I suspect there won’t be a large number of marlin caught as happened last year where every team caught at least one marlin but I suspect there will be some real big ones brought in this year. I use to fish most of the Kona tournaments but I don’t like fishing them anymore for a variety of reasons. Both ono and mahi mahi are the most common catch right now. Ono are usually caught close to shore but sometimes there are plenty of them caught offshore in the deep and that’s happened to plenty of us this month. Some of the mahi mahi are being caught in the ono lane also but most of them are in the deep and there are also some spearfish around. Summer time is also the time of the year you can expect “blind strike” yellowfin tuna. Generally you need to work a porpoise school to get the big yellowfin but in the summer, when a line goes screaming, it just might be a big yellowfin on the line and that has happened to a few of the boats this month just proving that trolling offshore in the summer can get you hooked up to just about anything. While summer is Kona is usually a better trolling bite, it’s usually the slowest bottom fishing bite of the year but that’s not what’s happening this summer. The bottom bite has been HOT! In fact, on my boat the Aloha Kai we caught the new state record amberjack this month. When I saw it come to the surface it was hard to believe. When I pulled it in the boat I told the anglers that it might even go a hundred and a half. Three of us on the boat fought the fish and weighing in at 151.5 lbs.(good guess huh), it’s the new Hawaii state record. More than one angler is allowed to fight the fish for a Hawaii state record but for a world record, that’s a big no-no. It was 3.5 lbs. shy of the world record anyway. Sharks have also been a regular catch while bottom fishing but it’s the GT that are the big out-of-season odd ball. I drop bait to the bottom more than any charter boat in Kona and normally I’ll catch only a dozen or less GT in a whole year. I’ve caught GT’s on my last 8 consecutive trips and have caught and released 16 of them. One of them that we weighed on a spring scale was a 95 pounder! Pound for pound the GT is one of the hardest fighting fish you’ll ever hook in to and it’s one of the most highly prized trophy fish in the Hawaiian Islands. We’ve also fought and lost several REALLY big ones. At this catch rate on the GT’s we just might be able to catch the new state record on that one too. Wishful thinking anyway. See ‘ya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 06-29-2010 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report – June wrap-up . The summer marlin bite is kicking into gear so marlin are now a daily sight on the catch board. Mostly blue marlin but the striped marlin are also making a showing. Last summer we had more striped marlin show up in the summer than we did in that previous winter even though the winter months are the peak season for them. It’s very possible that we will see the same thing happen again this summer because this last winter, there were very few around. The spearfish bite has been in a real state of flux this season with them showing up in numbers for a while, leaving, showing up again and then leaving again. Big Yellowfin tuna are remaining a regular catch on the board with some days good and some days not so good. These are one of the most fickle of the pelagics. While working the porpoise schools, you can mark them on your finder but only they decide when feeding time is. I had one customer insist we go work the school all day because he had heard that the bite was good. We worked the school for many hours along with several other boats and several methods were being used. Green stick, dropping bait, trolling and during all that time, we saw only one boat catch one tuna. The customer realized that the fishery wasn’t what he thought it would be (pulling in 100+ tunas all day long) but the day before, almost everyone who fished the porpoise school caught tunas no matter what method they were using. The customer was basing the fishery on the best bite day we saw all this month. The day we fished was more typical of the fishery. The ono bite isn’t much different with some days being really good and on other days you can spend your whole day trying without a single bite. Mixing up the day targeting all kinds of fish and switching methods is the best way to have a successful trip. The bottom bite has been fantastic due to several commercial fishermen dumping tons of anchovies and chunk bait as chum while targeting the smaller “shibi” size yellowfin tuna near the airport. I’ve been catching and dropping small skipjack tuna in the same area and the bites have been almost instantaneous! GT, amberjack, almaco jack and sharks abound in this area right now. Big tiger sharks are among the group and we’ve been hooking ‘em but as yet haven’t been able to get one up to the boat for the photo and release this month. Last March in that same area we caught and released a tiger just under 2000 lbs. and just this last week we had another tiger follow up our catch that looked to be about ½ that size. It’s hard to tell how big they are while they’re still under water so I need a volunteer with mask, snorkel, fins, measuring tape and a good life insurance policy with me as the beneficiary. See ‘ya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 05-26-2010 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report – May wrap-up . We’re experiencing a good ono run right now so ono tops the list of the most common fish caught this month. The marlin bite has been real slow so most of the boats are pounding the ono lane in order to have a successful trip. The mahi mahi are just now starting to show up on a regular basis so the mahi mahi are here late and the ono are here early. More and more yellowfin tuna are showing up but we’ve actually had a steady supply of them all winter. In the summer we get “blind strike” yellowfin tuna in the 100+ lb. range and that is starting to happen already but in the winter, about the only place the big yellowfin can be found is in the porpoise schools. There are only a few boats in Kona that specialize in targeting the big ones all year long and their success comes by using a device called a green stick. I won’t go into detail about the method but it has gained popularity in the last 10 years because it is so much more successful for catching yellowfin tuna in the porpoise schools than trolling conventional lures. Many boats have them installed on their boats now but only a few use them with regularity and success. The bottom bite has been a little slower than normal but one of the most common fish we’ve been catching lately is giant trevally. These are one of the hardest fighting fish you’ll ever catch and it’s one of the most prized catches of the Pacific. Normally they are more of a winter fish but there’s one area near the airport where they’re hangin’ out right now. There have also been sharks hangin’ out in that same area. Either one makes for a great fight on stand-up tackle. See ‘ya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 04-28-2010 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report – April wrap-up , This month, the biggest marlin of the year was made 4 times! If you’ve been following my reports, you might remember that I had the biggest of the year in January but was beat out by 2 ½ lbs. just 3 days later and that 600 ½ pounder has been the leader until this month. On April 1st, there was a tournament and a 669 blue marlin was caught, winning the tournament. These guys weren’t only happy about the win but also making the “Big Fish List” until, a 672 pounder was weighed in later the same day. The 672 wasn’t in the tournament but being knocked off the “Big Fish List” so soon was a bad April fools day joke. Even the 672 was short lived too because a 940 pounder was weighed in just 8 days later. That one should have stuck for a while but the very next day, Kona’s first “Grander” of the year was weighed in and topped the scales at 1104 lbs. The sizes of the blues have been pretty good this month but the numbers are still a bit on the slow side. The striped marlin and spearfish were barely around this month although the biggest spearfish was caught and now stands at 62 lbs. Ono tops the list right now as the most common catch and again, the biggest of the year was caught a few times this month also and now stands at 78 ½s. lbs. Some mahi mahi have been around too and the biggest of the month again, was caught this month and now stands at 38 lbs. With the ahi, there have been a few of the big ones caught, biggest of the year (again this month) now at 209 ½. The smaller “shibi” size have been showing up on the ledges and any debris that happens to be floating offshore. The bottom bite has been good and two bottom fish made the big fish list this month, gray snapper and GT. The GT came in just ½ lb. shy of making the prized 100 lb. mark but it may have been the mode of transportation to blame. Fish loose weight after being caught if bleeding (this one was) and also when left in the sun. The GT was caught from a kayak. No fish box there. I imaging it was a little slow paddling with a 100 lb. fish on his lap also. To top it off, then he had to drive it to the official scale at the harbor in the trunk of his car. This was all done on April fools day. Another bad joke but true. Obviously April was a great month. No Joke! See ‘ya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 03-30-2010 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report – March wrap-up . The March marlin bite has been a let down this year. I hate doing a negative report and I catch some heat from other captains about not pumping up the fishing here but the truth is the truth. There were a few days when the marlin bite was pretty hot but on average, this March just didn’t cut it compared to previous years Almost totally missing from this March was the striped marlin bite. It’s the end of the best part of the season for them but they just didn’t show up this year. The blue marlin bite has been pretty good in recent months but slowed in March. Spearfish is another fish that should be abundant in March and we’re right in the middle of the peak season for them. The beginning of March was really good for them but fell flat later part of this month. March is also known for “grander” marlin and though there were a few released in the 800 lb. range we’re still waiting for the biggest blue of the year (so far) to be beaten out by a grander. The start of the peak mahi mahi is here and there have been some around but it’s the tuna that are making the best showing even though it’s not season for them. 200 lbs. is the big mark on those guys just like 1000 lbs. is the big mark for marlin. A good friend of mine boated a 205 pound yellowfin this month to make the “Big Fish List” for his first time ever to make the list. Bigeye tuna in the 200 + lb. category are fairly rare here and also this month, an out-of-the-ordinary pair of them, both hooked at the same time were brought in. The small one (tongue-in-cheek) weighted in at 153.5 lbs. and the big one weighed in at 211.5 lbs. and very well may hold as the biggest bigeye of the year for the remainder of the year. Otaru tuna, meaning skipjack tuna over 10 lbs. have also been a frequent catch this month. It’s not ono season either but a few are coming in. The bottom bite remains as good as it was last month. With the trolling bite being so slow it’s a good thing. I have a guy from Holland that fishes with me every year and he has connections with Shimano. Last year he caught the biggest otaru of the year on a Shimano outfit that he brought over. We wanted to do something noteworthy this year also, hmmm. It just so happened that Shimano TV from Japan wanted to charter me that same week so we just brought them along, one angler and the cameraman along for two of our fishing days. What a blast! We caught a boat load of fish both days. We caught and released 17 amberjack and almaco jack the first day along with a giant trevally (GT) and two gray snapper kept for the dinner table. All caught on jigs. The next day we did another 7 amberjack and almaco jack along with two more gray snapper on jigs but one thing the Japanese TV guys wanted to do really bad was casting poppers near shore. I informed them that we don’t have much of a shoreline fishery for that here but I do know of a few spots that might produce an occasional good catch. The third spot we tried the Japanese angler was rewarded with the biggest bluefin trevally I’ve ever seen! Had we not tagged and released it, it would have taken the “Big Fish List” with no problem. A fantastic time for both anglers and for the TV show that should air in Japan some time in the next month or two. Maybe next year we should invite Dan Hernandez? See ‘ya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 02-28-2010 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report – Feb. wrap-up . I normally start out with a billfish report but I know many are wondering how Kona was affected by the Tsunami. Out of about 400 boats in Kona’s harbor, all went out to avoid damage except 20. Some of the boats I saw gone were a surprise because I didn’t even think they still ran. I saw only one boat in tow. Myself, I didn’t venture far from the harbor and was one of the first back in. We actually have worst harbor conditions when we get high surf out of the West. This type of harbor water action was WAY different. Instead of boats getting jerked from side to side, in and out, the water level in the harbor just went up and down at about 30 second intervals. We were preparing for a significant harbor surge but the water only fluctuated about a foot and wasn’t surging at all. The biggest blue marlin spot for the year now stands at 665.5 lbs. I was fishing the same area and my customers got film of the event. Another captain had stated that he had released even bigger fish this month. I’m all for releasing marlin but some crews are good at estimating the weight of a marlin and some are always way off. When Capt. Gene Venderhoek claimed that he released a “grander” a few years ago, no one doubted it. That was actually his 2nd for the year. Another captain that same year claimed to have released one also and wanted publicity for it but most captains know that this captain has a reputation for exaggerating the size of his catches. Few if any believed him. The guy claiming a bigger fish in February has so little experience, there’s no telling what it could have been. Bigger or smaller than the current leader we’ll never know. The proof is at the scale. Spearfish continue to be a regular catch here as we near the middle of the peak season for them. Several people emailed me wishing me well during Tsunami day and a couple have emailed saying “Isn’t that you in this month’s Marlin Magazine with the spearfish? Yes, that’s me. Full page photo. Though I’m not mentioned in the article it is a nice shot to hang on my wall. It’s not yellowfin tuna season but you would almost think it was. Several 100+ pounders are being caught daily in the porpoise schools. There are a few that specialize in these guys and they are the ones catching most of them. Mahi mahi are still a good bite and now we’re entering season for them so hopefully that’s a good sign that it will be a good spring run. Ono are showing up sporadically also so the ono lane is always an option for the day. We just hit the start of the peak season on almaco jack and amberjack and they are THICK! Not just the numbers but also the sizes. They are a year-round catch with the peak being in the winter but last winter fell short due to the massive amount of sharks that showed up. That’s my opinion on why it happened anyway. The shark population has thinned out and the jacks have taken their place as the most common catch when dropping bait near the bottom. Weather that’s a good thing or a bad thing depends on who’s fishing. The sharks are a lot tougher fight but harder to find and fewer catches during the day. The jacks are a hard fight too and you can basically catch them all day long right now but usually after just a couple, it’s time to go trolling and give the angler(s) a little rest time. If you really want to pull on them all day long, better be hittin’ the gym often before coming to Kona. See ‘ya on the water, Capt. Jeff Rogers FISHinHAWAII.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 01-27-2010 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report – Jan. wrap-up . The start of a new year so Kona’s “Big Fish List” starts fresh. 22 kinds of fish make up the list but last year, one slot, bonefish, was never filled. “Grander” marlin (over 1000 lbs.) takes the top of the list almost every year but until this years grander(s) are brought in, it’s anyone’s game. On new years day a 197 lb. blue marlin started the top of the list. Just 6 days later I took the top with the first “beast” (over 500 lbs.) blue marlin of the year weighing in at 598 lbs. Both the angler and I had decided to release the marlin early in the fight but it sounded and died during the fight so we brought it in. The glory of making the list was short lived as I was beat out just 3 days later by 2 1/2 lbs. and that marlin currently stands as the biggest of the year. The blue marlin bite has been pretty good for winter but the striped marlin are making a very poor showing so far. I sure hope more show up because they are absolutely delicious! The spearfish are making a strong showing early in the season and are a lot of fun on light tackle and one of the best eating fish you can get. I let my anglers make the decision on whether they want to release those or eat them. Yellowfin tuna bite remains good for the big ones in the porpoise schools and also for the smaller ones on the FAD’s. Some mahi mahi are still around so keeping some lighter tackle out there for them, the tuna’s and also the spearfish makes for some good fun. It’s been a hard decision lately to go trolling in the deep offshore or to stay near shore and troll shallow for the ono. The bite on ono has been good too and few boats are targeting them so it really boils down to a decision of whether you want a shot at a marlin or not because marlins very rarely go in the shallows. The bottom bite has turned back on and even though the trolling is good, there’s still a chance of coming up empty handed if all you do is troll all day. With the bottom bite being good, there’s almost no excuse for not catching something. I tag and release the majority of the bottom fish but I had yet another fish die on me. This time it was a giant trevally (GT) so we took it in and weighed it. Though it wasn’t my first GT of the year, you don’t make the “Big Fish List” unless you get your fish weighed in so the ulua (Hawaiian for GT) slot now stands at 41 ½ lbs. Not a hard number to beat but a respectable size for GT anyway. Personally I’d rather not have anymore fish die on me but I have been eating plenty of that marlin because I had it smoked and my neighbors, family and friends are having a good time with it too. There’s lots of meat on a fish that big. The GT was caught by locals and was also consumed but they also would have rather have see it swim away. We call it sportfishing and some types of fish are commonly kept while others are commonly released. I’ve said it before and I’ll remind you again, some boats kill everything they catch so if you’re not into that, check their policy before you book with them. Also check their policy on keeping a portion, or even all of the eating fish. Many boats now have their policies on their web sites but if they don’t, beware. See ‘ya on the water, Capt. Jeff Rogers FISHinHAWAII.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 12-28-2009 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report – Dec. wrap-up , There has been some big blue marlin around lately and the spearfish run has started early but still no striped marlin to speak of. I’ve only heard of one caught recently. They should be here by now but we really haven’t had a good striped marlin run in years. The one that was brought in weighed over 100 lbs. and one thing that seems consistent with the striped marlin run is that they tend to be all around the same size. I remember one year where they were all around 30 lbs. and another year where they were all in the 80 lb. range. Last year they were averaging around 50 lbs. and there were very few caught that made the 100 lb. mark but the year before there were several. When the average size of the stripies runs big, I tend to get a little nervous about hanging on to my claim of catching the biggest striped marlin of this decade. Actually, by the end of this week, it will be the start of a new decade so I’ll need to change it to the biggest of this century. Weighing in at 186 lbs. I figure it’s going to be fairly safe, as our striped marlin here very rarely reach more than 150 lbs. 2009’s biggest so far weighed in at 117 lbs. There are places in the world where the striped marlins are much bigger on average but they don’t travel to Hawaii. The mahi mahi run is still going pretty good but it will be over soon as the water cools down. We had a nice little spurt of an ono run in December but it was short lived. The winter yellowfin tuna bite has been good this year. We can always count on the small yellowfin and bigeye around the FAD,s this time of year but there has also been 100+ pounders being caught on the FAD’s and in the porpoise schools. I did very little bottom fishing in December. In fact, I didn’t even fish much. The trolling bite has been active enough to keep things busy but when I did target the bottom; I mostly fished where I knew I stood the best chance of catching sharks. I really have a lot of fun watching people try to match their strength against an angry shark. The typical reaction starts off with a very shocked look on their face as they realize that it’s taking all the strength they can muster just to not get pulled overboard during the first run. Then comes the look of determination as they realize this is not going to be an easy battle. Then comes sheer exhaustion! Sometimes before the battle is even over. After the catch, photo and release, almost without fail, the anglers are in a very weakened state and just speechless as they try to catch their breath. Then comes the joy of accomplishment and the highlight of their Hawaii vacation. See ‘ya on the water, Capt. Jeff Rogers FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 11-26-2009 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report – November wrap-up . Mahi mahi tops the list as the most common catch of the month. Normally these fish are caught in the deep either “in the blind” or around the FAD’s (Fish Aggregating Device’s), or on any floating debris (called a floater here) you can find. BTW, Hawaii water is VERY clean so floating debris is rare. Putting your own floater out there might seem like a good idea but first and foremost, it’s illegal. Second, what makes a floater work is that eventually algae and other organisms grow on the floater. That attracts very small fish and that starts the whole food chain in motion so a new floater won’t attract fish. Last, have fun finding any floater that isn’t somehow anchored to the bottom. Currents and winds move objects in unpredictable patterns so going out to search for a floater that you fished on the day before will be nearly impossible to find again. That’s why we have the FAD’s. Floater Anchored Down. No, no, no. I just now made that up. The correct acronym is the one above. Same idea though. So, notice I said “normally” they’re caught in the deep and there’s a reason for that. While some are being caught in the deep, most of them are being caught near shore in the ono lane. We had a nice ono run in November and that changed recently from mostly ono being caught in the “ono lane” (40 – 60 fathoms) to mostly mahi mahi being caught in the lane. I normally lead the Kona fishing report with the marlin bite but with an average of only one being caught every other day, there’s not much to report. There’s no doubt in my mind that the reason for this is due to a lack of fishing effort. There are few boats going out, me included. Staying in the ono lane will get you fish but the marlin don’t go in that shallow. Forty to sixty fathoms is 240 to 360 feet deep. That may seem deep enough but not for marlin. They rarely venture in closer than 600 feet. They can see the bottom at 600 feet! I told you our water was VERY clean. In fact, a submarine driver for the Hawaii Underwater Research Laboratory (HURL, how’s that for an acronym) told me he could read a newspaper without a light on down to 1000 feet. The FAD’s are still loaded with small tuna, some mahi mahi and so many sharks that only a good angler is likely to get a fish in. Poor anglers take too much time and that gives the sharks more opportunity to take your fish. The commercial bottom fishermen would normally be hitting an area called “The Grounds” pretty hard this time of year for snapper but the sharks have been giving these fishermen a hard time too so not many are even trying. A fish that is being fought on the surface can zig zag away from an attacking shark but a fish being pulled straight up is an easy target. Again, visibility is an issue. The sharks see the hook-up, hover above the action and wait for the food to come up to them. I don’t mind the sharks at all. In fact, I love it! They put on a hard fight and it’s an easy way to get an angler onto a fish that weighs more than they do. See ‘ya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 10-29-2009 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report – October wrap-up . The marlin bite is picking up quite nicely especially compared to the end of last month and the beginning of October when the bite was pretty poor due to the water conditions. The waters have cleared up and the marlin have moved in on the abundant tunas that are swimming along the ledges and FAD’s. October has usually been a good month for catching blue marlin in Kona but tourism remains slow so I’m not getting out as much as I have in years past but I’m not complaining because I’m actually having good fun doing several “to do” projects around the house that I’ve let slide for far too long. October is the beginning of the Fall mahi mahi season. Of all the varieties of fish we have here, the mahi mahi are among the most predictable. True to form they showed up with more consistently as the month progressed, November is the peak month for them and then (usually) the bite slows again by the end of December. We can have a run of mahi mahi any time of year but that’s usually associated with unusual water temperatures or currents bringing in a variety of debris where mahi mahi love to hang out. The Fall run is the time of year that the biggest mahi mahi show up. The ono run hasn’t produced much lately but there were several small ones being caught in the deep this month. As mentioned above, there has been a lot of tuna activity on the FAD’s and ledges. Yellowfin tuna from a mere 1 pound to 30 pounds and over are pretty abundant so catching some for the dinner table has been a regular part of my fishing days. Shark! That’s the common call while you’re trying to get those tunas in. The FAD’s have been loaded with them and so have the ledges. A wide variety of them too. Drag any tuna along the surface and it won’t take long for one or more to show up. Drop a tuna to the bottom and it won’t take long either. My fish photos page currently looks like all I do is go shark fishing. I haven’t been putting the tuna photos on it except for my last trip. People are usually thrilled to catch one or two tunas but after that, it’s not much of a challenge anymore. Sharks are another story. They’re almost always a challenge to do battle with. We caught one shark this month that I’ve never seen before. It was a surprise when the shark jumped several times just after hooking up. That behavior prompted an investigation and made a good story for the local paper when added with the 300 lb. marlin we caught on a bait rod that same day. The final result, a black-tip. Not the reef black-tip but an open ocean one. With no black tip on the dorsal fin and black spots all over the body, I wouldn’t have guessed a black-tip but a close examination of the photos did reveal black on the underside of both pec. fin tips. I was further convinced when another charter captain showed me a photo he has of a shark he caught jumping in mid air during the fight and it had the same markings. I hope more of those show up because it was a VERY exciting fight. As for the marlin on the bait rod, that was exciting too and I was lucky to have a good angler on board that day. The only reason we got it (photo and released it) is because the marlin stayed on the surface where I could out maneuver it with my boat. If it wanted to fight deep, we had no power with the bait rod to lift it. I always say, “I’d rather be lucky that good any day of the week” but usually, it takes a combination of the two to get the job done. See ‘ya on the water, Capt. Jeff Rogers fishinhawaii.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 09-30-2009 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report – September wrap-up . The beginning of September was pretty good fishing but I haven’t been getting out much. September is the slowest month for tourism. I’m one of the busiest captains in Kona so if I’m not going out, hardly anyone else is either. It’s not that bad of a thing though because the water has been real dirty and that hurts the bite. We call it “dirty” here when the water clarity is low but in this case, it’s not dirt. It’s all living organisms. Coral polyps are released at certain times and float to the surface. Usually it’s not much and the current takes it away pretty fast but this time it was a lot more than usual and it stayed around for a longer time also. As the coral grows it gets heavier and starts sinking. That’s how it distributes itself. As it starts that slow sinking process, it stratifies in the water column and the fish don’t like it. Especially if there are several layers of it. Along with that we had a bloom of Sea Wasps, Portuguese man-o-war and some other stuff I couldn’t identify. The water clarity got pretty bad for a while and although there were still some marlin, mahi mahi and ono around to be had, it wasn’t our normal bite. I haven’t been out lately but I’m sure it’s cleared up and the fish are back by now. The yellowfin tuna bite has been hot way down South. That’s more commercial fishing territory because it’s so far from the harbor in Kona. There are a few launch ramps down South for skiffs to launch but for the bigger boats, it takes most of the day just to troll down there and back. You can blast it down there if you got lots of fuel money to spare but because so many skiffs are down there catching yellowfin, the price on the tuna has gone way down and even hard to get rid of. The bottom fishing season opened up for the protected snapper and grouper on the 1st but there wasn’t a whole lot of commercial boats out there trying for them. I’m not sure, but I think the dirty water may have affected that fishery too. I’ve been catching sharks and jacks from the bottom when I have been out but I’m generally not going as deep as it takes to get into the red snapper. They hang out in about 800’ of water, or the pink snapper in about 600’ of water. A couple of years ago Hawaii implemented the first ever recreational fishing license requirement for fishers targeting the deep snapper. It was a foot-in-the-door tactic that was forced on Hawaii by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council. They have jurisdiction in federal waters starting three miles from shore but most of the deep bottom fishing is closer, within state waters. The Council forced the state back then to regulate the fishery as they deemed necessary and now they are wanting to go even further! Today there is a WPRFMC meeting and on their agenda is the proposal to mandate reporting of all fishing activities in not just federal waters but in state waters also. In other words, federal fishing licenses and reporting for all fishing activities even if those activities are within state waters! And it looks like the state is going to protest but still bow down to their demands. Hawaii has another option and that is to implement their own fishing license program but it doesn’t look like they are going to do that. The fed’s are going to cram this down our throats. Get ready Hawaii fishers. Like it or not, it’s coming. See ‘ya on the water, Capt. Jeff Rogers FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 09-01-2009 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report – August wrap-up . The marlin bite remains good for Kona. So, “good” being a relative term, what exactly is a “good” bite for Kona? Any day you catch a marlin is a good day but the yearly average for Kona boats is only one marlin for every four days of fishing or a 25% chance at catching one. Some boats beat that average consistently while others consistently come under the mark but I’m talking about the yearly average of all charter fishing boats in Kona. I go into more detail about how the “average” is calculated on my fishing Season Calendar page under the chart at http://FISHinKONA.com/calendar.htm but the Kona bite is considered “good” if 50% or better of the boats going out marlin fishing are catching. We have times where it gets even better than that as we saw last month but right now Kona is still hitting above average at close to 50%. Marlin isn’t the only thing biting right now. The yellowfin tuna are less common right now but the ono bite is good. In fact, hardly anyone is even fishing for them. That doesn’t make sense to me seeing as how the majority of the people I take out are looking for food fish to eat during their stay here. The otaru tuna are biting also and make good table fare. There’s some mahi mahi and spearfish mixed in with the Kona bite also. Make sure you check with the captain/crew of the boat you’re going out on BEFORE you book it to make sure you know their policy on keeping fish. Each boat has it’s own policies and some won’t let you keep any! While many of the boats here have veered away from that policy, I’m giving you a “buyer beware” notice. My fish keeping policy is clearly spelled out on my web site’s FAQ page. Today is the re-opening of the bottom fishing seasonal closure. The price of snapper is very high right now so the first guys to hit the fishery hard will make the most money. I get to go bottom fishing year-round because the closure is for the type of fishing gear you use to catch certain kinds of snapper and the Hawaiian grouper. I don’t use fishing gear that is specifically designed to target snapper but I do catch them (and grouper) once in a while anyway. The most common snapper I do catch is the gray snapper and there is no closed season on those. When dropping to the bottom I’m doing more of a sport fishery than a food fishery. The most common fish I catch while dropping bait or jigs is amberjack, almaco jack, giant trevally and sharks and they get released to fight another day. At least now it’s legal to keep the few of the other kinds of snapper I end up catching. While I’m on the subject of releasing fish, just like each captain/crew has their own food fish policy, each one also has their own marlin kill policy. While most Kona boats now release the majority of their marlin, some boats still have a “kill `em all” policy. If the boats web site doesn’t make their policy clear, make sure you find it out BEFORE you book the boat. Imagine you booked your first Kona fishing adventure just assuming that you would get to keep that ono you just caught to cook up back at the condo and you also assumed that the marlin your now fighting would be released, just to find yourself horrified as you look upon the dead marlin laying next to you in the boat for the rest of the day and your thinking, “well, at least we got some tasty ono for the dinner table …… ooops! Wrong again! See ‘ya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 08-02-2009 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report – July wrap-up . We had some big tournaments this month. The Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament (HIBT) was a huge success with a huge amount of marlin and spearfish tagged and released but almost all of them were the small. The biggest marlin killed and weighed in was a 566 pounder. There were some bigger ones hooked up but the biggest tackle you can use in that tournament is 80 lb. test. For using 50 lb. test you get even more points for your fish so many of the boat only used 50 lb. test. The chance of getting a huge marlin in on that light of tackle is slim to none. The World Cup tournament was surly a disappointment for Kona. Bermuda took the prize this year so now they are tied with Kona at 6 wins each. The only saving grace is that, as I stated last month “Without a doubt, Kona is the Pacific Blue Marlin capital of the world” and that still holds true. Bermuda doesn’t catch PACIFIC blue marlin, they catch ATLANTIC blue marlin. As far as the “blue marlin” title, we’ll have to wait and see what happens next year. In the Marlin Magic tournament, just 30 minutes after the fishing started, the boat “Marlin Magic” called in the first hook-up and 45 minutes later they boated a 782 pounder. No other qualifying fish were even landed in the 2-day tournament. As for my “(not so) secret weapon” I mentioned in June’s report, on the first day of the tournament the 12 oz. Gatorade bottle was caved in by a marlin. We didn’t see it but it must have been a big one to do that. On the 2nd day my 10 oz. bottle was inhaled by a marlin that was well over 500 lbs. but the hook came out after a short run. Our only prize and surprise in the tournament was catching a 50 + lb. ono out in the deep so there was plenty of fillets to go around. Yellowfin tuna are still biting in the blind. Otaru tuna are biting also. During all of HIBT week (no I wasn’t in the HIBT) I fished with a guy that has come to fish with me 6 years in a row now all the way from Holland. He brings lots of cool rods, reels and other tackle to test out and that really adds to our fun. We caught the biggest Otaru tuna of the year with one of his light rigs and made Kona’s “Big Fish List” with a 31 pounder. We also caught what would have been the biggest striped marlin of the year but we released it. It was an easy 130 lbs. and the biggest on the list so far this year is only 117 lbs. No big deal though, we were happy to see it swimming away strong. The mahi mahi and ono are still biting good too so we added some of those to our catch list also. The bottom bite hasn’t been good at all but bottom fishing gear is the majority of the tackle my Holland buddy brought. We had a lot of testing to do and luckily I found a spot that consistently produced bottom fish for us. Our biggest goal though was to match or beat the 1000+ tiger shark he caught with me in ’03. There have been rumors of a couple of tigers that “live” by the green buoy right in front of the harbor. All I can say to that is a big B.S.!!! We spent hours fishing the area with live, dead and chunk bait at various times over several days. We raised a shark but it was far from being the big tiger we were looking for. The local dive shops have perpetuated the rumor and have even named the tiger shark(s). There’s no doubt that some of them have seen tigers in the area but I’ve always known that same area is a major corridor for all kinds of sharks. I’ve been fishing it for years. Tiger sharks that have been satellite tagged have all shown to be highly migratory. I once thought that there was a tiger that “lived” out by the airport when I worked underwater construction there years ago. The satellite tagging data made me realize that this too is just part of that same corridor. Hmmm, maybe I just need some more enticing bait. And adventurous divers want to volunteer? See ‘ya on the water, Capt. Jeff Rogers http://fishinhawaii.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 06-30-2009 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report – June wrap-up The male blue marlin showed up in force this month. These guys average around 150 lbs. and are so abundant now that on a full day charter, you’re almost guaranteed to run into at least one. So what about the big female marlin I’ve been reporting about the last couple of months? Yes, there was finally a “grander” landed on June 5th and weighed in at 1064 lbs. There were also other big marlin both caught and released in the first half of June but in the last couple of weeks, almost all the marlin caught have been the small males and the females seemed to have moved on to other waters. I’m hoping there’s still at least one big one out there with my name on it though because I’m fishing the Marlin Magic tournament tomorrow and the next day. The minimum qualifying weight is 400 lbs. and only pays out for first and second place. Wish me luck! We have many tournaments coming up in July including the World Cup coming up on the 4th. The World Cup is the only worldwide marlin tournament and Kona has produced the winning fish more often than any other fishing destination. Without a doubt, Kona is the Pacific Blue Marlin capital of the world and I hope we can prove it again this year. The yellowfin tuna “blind strike” bite is on! We’re seeing free jumpers too. The otaru are around but are not biting much of anything. The spearfish are now here in bigger numbers and are a common catch. The ono bite continues to be good and there are still some mahi mahi coming in. I haven’t been doing much bottom fishing lately because the trolling bite has been so good and the best bottom fishing grounds, North of the harbor has been too rough to fish. The water South of the harbor has been flat like a lake but there are only a few spots to bottom fish and they haven’t been any good lately. For the next couple of days I’ll be concentrating on huge marlin anyway and using my (not so) secret weapon. I’ve been using 12 oz. plastic Gatorade bottles and 10 oz. plastic juice bottles as lures and stuffing them with anchovies. I gave up my secret to Marlin Magazine for $100 and it was published in last months issue. I kind of doubt that anyone else will be using them in the Marlin Magic tournament. If I win with it, most likely everyone will be using them in the tournaments to come. See ‘ya on the water, Capt. Jeff Rogers Fishinkona.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 05-29-2009 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report – May wrap-up . In last months fishing report I focused in on “Grander” (over 1000 lb.) marlin. Just a couple of days ago another “close but no cigar” was weighed in. This one tipped the scale at 913 lbs. There have been other big ones both brought in and even more released recently. We have year round blue marlin but the summer months usually have more abundance. Last year it was the small male blue marlin that showed up first and the big females didn’t show up ‘til later in the summer. We’re not seeing the males yet but with the big gals around, I don’t think it will be too long before they show up. Striped marlin are more abundant in the winter months but we’ve had a run going on those. There have been almost as many striped marlin being caught as blues. The spearfish should have shown up months ago but we’re starting to see some around now. Better late than never. The big yellowfin tuna (ahi) usually start showing up in May but we’re not seeing the numbers yet like we have the last two years for May. They can be found year round in the porpoise schools but in the summer months we get “blind strike” ahi. It’s not happening yet. Shibi are the small yellowfin tuna and that’s usually a winter bite but the shibi are still here being caught on the ledges and FAD’s. Otaru are the big skipjack tuna and are usually only around in the late summer but I’ve been catching these sporadically for months now. Hopefully that means that they will be in abundance later this summer. The mahi mahi and ono bite is still good. Sharks, sharks and more sharks! I’m one of only a few boats here that regularly targets sharks and I catch more than anyone here. They have been thick around the FAD’s and ledges and put on a real good fight. Boats that have been live baiting for marlin around the FAD’s are hooking sharks whether they like it or not. Most of the charter boats around here are trying NOT to hook them. In fact, if you don’t use a cable trace or wire you probably won’t get it all the way to the boat anyway. Shark teeth slice through monofilament line pretty easy. I’ve been taking the opposite approach by rigging for sharks with a cable trace and a circle hook knowing that the likelihood of hooking a shark is much higher than hooking a marlin. If a marlin takes the bait, fine. I had that happen recently but pulled hook on the marlin. You may not get the spectacular jumps from a shark (except a mako) like you do from a marlin but pound for pound fighting, sharks are just as tough a fight. At the boat, you can usually get the hook out of a marlin but I don’t even attempt that with the sharks. I cut the cable as close as I can (dare) and leave them with a fashionable lip ring to show all their shark buddies. See ‘ya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , FISHinKona.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 04-29-2009 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report – April wrap-up Kona is the Pacific blue marlin capital of the world for more reasons than one. First, it a year round fishery. There’s usually at least one marlin brought in each day even in the off-season. Second, we can get a good blue marlin run any month of year and third, we beat every other destination with the size of our marlin. It’s size that I want to focus on in this months report. With any fish species there is a “magic number” to claim the big bragging right prize. With blue and black marlin alike, that number is 1000 lbs. also known as a “Grander”. The last grander marlin caught in Hawaii was a little over a year ago and was caught by Matt Prater while fishing with me on the Intrepid. We came close to loosing that “grander” status when three sharks attacked our fish while we were trying to get it in the boat and they ate over 150+ lbs. of meat off in less than a minute. It still came in with a little weight to spare at 1056 lbs. Most granders are closer to the ‘make it or break it’ weight. Last year in November the “Hooked up” caught a 975 pounder and followed it up in February this year with a 914 pounder. In April this year the “Marlin Magic” brought in a 940 pounder. Close but no cigar. Just last week another beast was brought in on the “Sundowner” and while being hoisted up on the scale the number hit 1005 lbs. but….. oooops… no one taped or tied the marlin’s mouth shut. Half digested fish, squid and liquid started pouring out of it’s mouth and the scale finally settled out at 990 lbs. While the captain, Randy Llanes is far from being a rookie, it is none the less a rookie mistake. I know because I’m still beating myself up for doing the same thing on my big black marlin although it still remains the biggest black caught in Hawaii this decade. On mine, the scale hit 871 lbs. and then two mahi mahi and two tuna fell out bringing the weight down to 843 lbs. While it’s still holding the record, I’ve always said that if someone beats me out by less than 871 lbs., I’ll sure be sorry about that mistake. As things turn out, Randy’s dad, also a well seasoned Kona charter captain (retired) made the same mistake some years back and also lost the famous “grander” status with a marlin that settled out at 985 lbs. Just to let you know how important those stomach contents can be, the largest marlin ever brought in on rod and reel was a blue marlin caught here in Hawaii and weighted in at 1805 lbs. That fish had swallowed a 150 lb. yellowfin tuna that they were fighting. The tuna got caught in the marlins throat and the marlin gagged to death on it. The marlin was weighed with the tuna still in. Years later there was a 1656 pounder caught and the captain claimed that his fish was actually the biggest ever caught pointing out the 150 lb. tuna but, his fish was also weighed with the stomach contents still in the fish. I’m sure there was more than a pound of something in there. Yellowfin tuna of all sizes are being caught right now but the big news for the month is the numbers and sizes of bigeye tuna being caught. We usually don’t see many of those here but we had a good run on them this month with the biggest weighing in at 223 lbs. Mahi mahi and ono remain a fairly common catch. In fact, the commercial fishermen that have been hitting the ono hard down by South Point are now finding them hard to sell because the markets are flooded with them already. The bottom bite remains good with a combination of jacks and sharks biting. With amberjack, that “magic number” is 100 lbs. The biggest of the year was weighted in last month at 99.5 lbs. and was caught from a kayak. I also caught a big one last month and I know it was over the 100 lb. mark but it came in strong and healthy. I didn’t want to kill it for publicity’s sake so I tagged and released it. Shark fishing is gaining popularity in Kona so more and more boats are targeting them. Tiger sharks are fairly plentiful here and the “magic number” for those is also 1000 lbs. The average weight of tiger sharks here in Hawaii is right around 1000 lbs. so your chances of catching a “grander” is much better with tigers than with marlin. I catch and release several tigers a year with at least one going well over the1000 lb. mark. I don’t see any reason to kill ‘em for publicity’s sake and I’m glad that there’s at least one other captain here that feels the same way. Captain Gene Vander Hoek is no stranger to 1000+ lb. fish. In fact he has landed three 1000+ marlins, more than any captain in Kona and has even released some. He recently released a tiger that he estimated at 1300 lbs! Knowing Capt. Gene, he was probably underestimating the weight. The option to kill or release varies widely from boat to boat. I don’t think it’s right to be dogmatic about doing either one. Killing a huge healthy fish that isn’t good for food but killed just for the publicity is something I’ve done in the past but shy away from doing now but that doesn’t mean I would never do it again. Releasing a fish that you know would make all the papers is also something I have done in the past. On both accounts, it’s no use saying I should have, would have or could have. It’s now history. See ‘ya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers FISHinKona.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 03-31-2009 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report – March wrap-up , What a difference between February and March. The trolling bite went from “soooo good” (last months report) to “not so good”. Typically March is better than February but as I’ve stated before, pelagic fish have no idea what month it is. There going to be swimming around somewhere in the ocean and the Kona coast is just a very small part of it. Very few striped marlin were caught this winter, the season when there are more caught. By this time I think it’s safe to say that for the 4th year in a row now, the showing of striped marlin in Kona was pitiful. It’s my hope that they were just swimming around elsewhere and hope that the schools have not been decimated by the many fish catching and processing factory ships that roam the seas. Our blue marlin bite can be hot or cold any time of the year and the blues don’t tend to congregate as tightly as striped marlin. With that in mind, blues would be less vulnerable to being caught and processed by factory ships. OK, so I’m (kind of) doing some finger pointing without any proof. I really don’t know how many metric tons of what kinds of fish they’re catching and processing, only that they do it. I know that yellowfin tuna is a big one on their target list of fish and with that said, I’m about to contradict the “they did it” theory. Usually the big (100+) yellowfin tuna start showing up in bigger numbers around May and the bite can be good through September. Some years the summer run is poor but for the last two years, the yellowfin tuna bite has been good. It’s really too early to tell but it looks like it’s going to be another good year. There are a handful of boats in Kona that specialize in yellowfin tuna year-round. These few boats go out and target the yellowfin on nearly all their charter trips and if they think they can catch enough yellows to sell and make it worth their while, they go out without a charter. These few boats have been doing quite well lately catching big yellows, some over 200 lbs., that are in the porpoise schools. When/if the summer yellow run really kicks in, we start getting “blind strikes” while trolling anywhere off the Kona coast. Kind of like, if there are enough nuts lying around, even a blind squirrel can find one. The trolling bite hasn’t been all bad. Also showing up bit early for their summer run has been some ono. They’re biting mostly on the South ledges and should be starting to show up near the harbor soon. Personally I like the North ono run and have been trying it a little but haven’t had any luck there. We have a good network of captains here so when they start showing up on the North run, I’ll know it. Mahi mahi are currently the most common fish being caught on the troll. Sizes are ranging from large to small and good eating no matter what the size. The bottom bite has been producing a good number of giant trevally. They are one of the most prized fighting fish in the tropical waters of the Pacific and Indian oceans. Personally I love watching anglers match strength with these fish only to find the shocked look on their face when I bring the fish on board (for photo, tag and release) and they see that it’s only half the size they thought it would be. The shark bite has been pretty good too. Most of them have been sand bar sharks in the 40 to 80 lb. range and they put on a good fight too. I split up my charter days by doing both trolling and bottom fishing but it’s the bottom fishing that gives me the most anticipation of a bite. The key to the bottom fishery is using bait fish, live bait being best. If a blind squirrel were looking for a nut and that nut was shaking and smelling very nutty…… well, you get the picture. See ‘ya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers FISHinKona.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 02-28-2009 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report – February wrap-up . The bite has been soooo good for February that the term I first thought of to describe it is “off the hook”! That’s urban slang for awesome, incredible, wicked, unbelievable, gnarly and such but the term sounds almost derogatory when used to describe a really really good fish bite happening. On the hook? Yes, many of them. I suppose the fish themselves like the term “off the hook” but anglers only like it when a fish is released “off the hook” on purpose. The blue marlin bite has been as good as any summer month, the time when blue marlin fishing is generally at it’s best. I always tell my clients, fish don’t know what month it is and, it’s a huge ocean. The fish are going to be swimming around somewhere in it. Hawaii is just a little pimple in the big pond. The striped marlin and spearfish showed up also as is typical for this time of year but for the last few years, the numbers haven’t been too impressive. It’s good to have them back around in decent numbers. On a recent trip we hooked two striped marlin at the same time within the first hour of the trip but they both came “off the hook” in the bad way. Later we had two spearfish on at the same time. One came “off the hook” but we boated the other one. Later in the day we hooked a nice size blue marlin but it also came “off the hook” in the bad way. Just realizing that in today’s urban slang, bad sometimes means good but obviously that’s not what I talking about. I really would have liked to catch and release that blue. The rest of the day resulted in two more billfish bites. One of them happened so fast that we didn’t see what kind it was. The last bite of the day resulted in boating another spearfish. We intended in releasing the second one but the hook mortally wounded it so we took it. The option of taking or releasing the fish varies from boat to boat. Some boats are “kill all” boats and some are “release all” (except food fish and dead billfish) boats. If you plan on fishing Kona and have a problem either way, keeping or releasing, make sure you find out your captains policy first. I’m right up front with my policy on my web site’s Frequently Asked Questions page. The mahi mahi are biting good right now but a little slower than last month. The small yellowfin tuna (5 to 30 lbs.) are on every single FAD (fish aggregation device) and along the ledges. Bait fish like small skipjack tuna and mackerel are here in abundance on the buoys and ledges also. With the trolling bite being so good I’ve been spending less time bottom fishing but even that bite has been so good that it’s been an easy way to break up the trolling day with some quick shark action. That’s what I’ve been catching most while dropping baits and only a few bites from GT, amberjack and almaco jack. I know this is a fishing report but one thing I almost never mention in my reports or even on my web site is the awesome whale and dolphin watching opportunities we get on almost every trip. I guess I’m just so use to seeing them all the time that I don’t give it much thought. It’s usually the guys that are interested in catching fish and the gals are just along for the ride. If your one of those guys having a hard time convincing your gal to let you go fishing, let them know about the whales and dolphins. Promise that you won’t try to hook one though. It does happen once in a while and that kind of action is REALLY “off the hook”. See ‘ya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers FISHinKona.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 01-31-2009 | |
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Tourism remains pretty good here with a fair number of boats going out daily. Not as many as in previous years but I think the cold mainland temperatures are keeping more people thinking about Hawaii sun and fun. The blue marlin are biting good right now. It’s striped marlin season and there are some of those being caught but the number of blue marlin around is exceptionally high for this time of year. The big ones are here too. So far the biggest blue weighed this year stands at 914 lbs. Spearfish are in abundance too and are great fun on light tackle. Last week I caught and released a blue marlin that weighed about 250 lbs. and when it came up jumping next to the boat, I saw that it had no bill sticking out. When I got the marlin right next to the boat. I saw that it did indeed have a bill but it was bent 180 degrees backwards and growing tight across the top of it’s head. On each side of the backwards bill were two smaller stunted bills sticking in the right direction (forward) that more resembled tusks. The story and picture hit the Kona paper with the title “World’s ugliest marlin caught” written by Jim Rizzuto. The black and white photo in the local newspaper doesn’t show near the detail of the full color photo. I know many of you want to get a look at this thing. There is a photo of it on my fish photos page but it doesn’t show the detail of the close up head shot I got. Sorry, but I’m reserving putting that out on the internet for a later time because a few fishing magazines have expressed interest in using it. Once it’s old news, I will definitely put a full color close up on my “Hall of Fame” page. Some people say that I should have killed the marlin and given it’s head to science. I think it will be even more interesting if it’s ever caught again and to see a photo of this 3-billed marlin when it grows to 500+ pounds. The mahi mahi are biting good also and are the most common fish being caught right now. There are some ono being caught even though it’s not season for them. Shibi (small yellowfin and bigeye tuna) are on the buoys and ledges but not in great numbers. Continuing the story of the “forbidden seven” fishery, the number of boats fishing for them has dwindled to just a few of the old regulars. This brings the fishery back to more “normal” catch levels. I don’t think that will keep the DAR from having a panic reaction when they compile the catch reports from December though. The bottom bite for bigger game has been frustrating. The fish are being shy. Hitting the baits but not wanting to commit to eating them. Some of the time it’s that the bait fish are just too big for the fish to swallow but in other cases, I’ve found the fish I’m catching are so full that they can hardly get in another bite. The bait fish are in abundance right now too but again, not biting well for the same reason. They’re already full. Overall, The Kona bite is good for a January. There are plenty of fish here. The fact that the ugliest blue marlin in the world even showed up to get in on the action proves it. See ‘ya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers FISHinKona.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 12-31-2008 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report – Dec. wrap-up . Tourism definitely picked up for the holidays. With all the snow, ice and freezing temps happening in the continental US, Hawaii was a good holiday destination choice for many. The tourists aren’t afraid to spend their money either. It’s the most boats I’ve seen going out since September. The trolling bite has been fair but not great. Good size blue marlin continue to be caught by the fleet on a daily basis and finally, the striped marlin have shown up. There were two of them caught on the 22nd and more followed after that. I’m really looking forward to catching my first small one of the season because it’s my 2nd most favorite fish (after the Hawaiian grouper) to eat. Like most billfish, the small ones are tender but as they get bigger, the meat gets tougher. The flavor of a striped marlin really depends on what they have been feeding on. Killing a striped marlin only to find that the meat is white is somewhat disappointing. It doesn’t taste much different than a blue marlin so it’s just not very tasty (not bad though) but usually the striped marlin meat is some shade of pink. It makes great sashimi and I personally think it tastes better than sashimi cut from yellowfin or bigeye tuna. Once in a while you get the real big treat and find pumpkin orange colored meat. It is indeed the most awesome of all the billfish meats even beating out broadbill swordfish and spearfish. The spearfish are running now also so I wouldn’t pass up a fresh spearfish meal either. We really do get spoiled here in Hawaii with all the varieties of tasty fish we catch here. More on that later. The big mahi mahi are still here even though it’s late in the season for them. We had a nice yellowfin tuna run this month. Not the little guys that are typical for this time of year around the ledges and buoys but the 100+ ones. They were hanging out with the porpoise school as they usually do but in the winter months we usually don’t see this many around. Yellowfin tuna sashimi is a big favorite here in the islands for Christmas and new years parties. The bottom bite for sportfish like sharks and jacks should be good right now but it’s a bit slow. The bite should be picking up soon on those. In last months wrap-up I talked about the “forbidden seven” and the regulations that have come down from the DAR. It seems to me that they have created even more of a problem with their regulations this year than in years past. By extending the closed season by a month and a half, they brought the open season closer to the time of year when there is the highest demand for red and pink snapper. Just like yellowfin sashimi is a desired holiday favorite in Hawaii, so is steamed snapper. Because there was no snapper on the market for several months, the price for them was WAY up when the season started. The snapper bite started off slow in November but this month they were easier to catch and the commercial fishermen were filling cooler loads. More fishermen heard about the good bite and shifted their efforts toward catching snapper. Well, with the high number of snapper being caught, the price went down. Easy fix, just spend more time and effort catching more of them to make up the difference. In all my years fishing here I have never seen so many boats targeting the deep snapper. When the DAR first started their public forums about upcoming regulations, one of their concerns was that when the season opened, there would be so much fishing effort on them that it would negate the closure. In years past, that didn’t happen but it may be happening this time. I expect a panic reaction by the DAR with an immediate closure of the fishery within the first couple months of the year. Of course, if they just left it alone, it would settle out on it’s own but if they create another closure panic, the price will shoot back up and the fishing pressure will increase just prior to the closure. That’s my (professional) opinion, we’ll have to wait and see how it pans out. In the mean time, I have fresh snapper in the fridge to bring in the New Year and expect some fresh striped marlin sashimi is not far behind. See ‘ya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 11-28-2008 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report – November wrap-up , Not what you would expect for the winter season in Kona but the striped marlin haven’t shown up yet but some BIG blue marlin have. Like I said in last months report, they tend to run in packs of about the same size. The BIG ones are usually expected in the summer time but the fact is, They`re swimming around somewhere so why not cruise by that big pimple in the middle of the Pacific Ocean? I remember around Christmas time some years back that the same thing happened and any marlin caught under 300 lbs. was considered a baby. The biggest marlin of the month (a few more days to go so it’s not over yet) weighed in at 975 lbs. My buddy Chuck, Captain of the boat that caught it was a little disappointed in being just 25 lbs. shy of making “Grander” status but a fish that big is really nothing to be disappointed about. The very next day he had another BIG one on and broke line on it. Tourism is still way down but it appears to be getting better for the holiday season. Not many boats are going out right now so it’s hard to put a finger on how good the marlin bite is, only the size of the fish. The mahi mahi bite continues to be good. The big ones (30 to 50) are still here. Most are being caught “in the blind” but the FAD`s are a good place to look also. I found a huge “floater” this week. A huge wad of netting and when I found it, I figured there would be mahi mahi all around it. All I found was small yellowfin, bigeye (shibi) and skipjack tunas. Very disappointing. I guess someone else beat me to it and cleaned it out. The South porpoise school is still producing some nice size ahi and the ledges are also holding shibi. Some ono were caught way down South but up by Kona, not good. Bottom fishing season opened for the “forbidden seven” this month. These seven fish are six types of snapper and one type of grouper. The closed season was extended by another 46 days because the DAR (Dept. of Aquatic Resources) said they needed more time to “access the fishery” as if more than five closed months wasn`t enough time. What a bunch of B.S! They also implemented the first ever recreational fishing license in Hawaii that is required if you intend to deep drop for “the seven”. It’s nothing more than a foot-in-the-door technique to eventually require recreational fishing licenses for all fisheries in Hawaii. Recreational fishermen rarely do the deep bottom drops (I’m out there, I see what`s going on) but DAR states that the recreational catch of these “seven”, according to their statistics, stand at a rate of 3 to 4 times that of the commercial catch over the past several years. I’m still trying to figure out how they came up with that number seeing as how recreational fishermen (up `til now) didn`t report their catch? It`s a fictitious number that they made up. It just shows us how ignorant these desk jockeys really are about what goes on out on the water. If they dropped the amount of recreational catches down to a believable value, they would have the Federal catch reduction they are looking for. Maybe with the new license requirement (though not necessary) they`ll figure that out or, maybe they skewed the statistics on purpose in order to implement that recreational license? Hard to say. Another value they ignore is that people mainly fish the bottom fishing grounds that are near ports and boat ramps. That leaves most Hawaii bottom fish habitats unfished. Hmmmm. Last year they closed the bottom fishery earlier than required because they said the “total allowable catch” had been reached. They came up with this figure even though 85% of the commercial bottom fishermen had yet to turn in their reports. It must be those recreational guys catching all the fish huh? It’s just plain stupid to think that a degree and a desk makes you more knowledgeable about a fishery than people working behind the wheel on the water but the power of a DAR pen has time and time again proven mightier than any number of fishermen speaking out. See ‘ya on the water, Capt. Jeff Rogers FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 10-31-2008 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report – October wrap-up While tourism is still down for the state of Hawaii, the amount of blue marlin in Kona was on the upswing in October. Marlin are odd critters in that they tend to run in packs of about the same size when a run starts and also about the same aggressiveness. We get runs of “light biters” that have a tendency to come in and check out the lures and nose around a little but not really come after them. On other runs that happen they may be collectively very aggressive and that makes for many great catches. Unlike Cabo where marlin hunting involves searching for fins on the surface, here in Hawaii seeing free-swimming marlin is rare. In the last couple of weeks I’ve seen more free-swimming marlin than I usually see in a whole year. The problem is, they don’t seem interested and there are no signs of aggressiveness at all when I drive past them with my lures. The color brightness of a marlin usually gives you a hint as to its attitude. All lit up brightly shows aggression. That’s the kind of fish that’s going to come in and smack your lures. The marlin I’ve been seeing the last couple of weeks are dark, swimming slow and for the most part, disinterested in those bright splashing and popping objects trailing behind my boat. I’ve heard the same description form a couple of other captains but at the same time, there are fair numbers of marlin being hooked up by the few boats going out. I really don’t want to kill any but I think my chances with a harpoon might be better than lures at this point. The Fall mahi mahi run has started and, as is typical for the Fall run, they’re BIG! Thirty to fifty pounders are a common size this time of year. A great fight and great eating. The ahi bite slowed for October but as is typical for the winter months, the small yellowfin and bigeye tuna (shibi) will be here and some have already started to show up on the buoys and ledges. The ono bite was real slow this month but it’s not a good time of year for them anyway. Some great news on the bottom fishing front. The biggest amberjack of the year was caught last Monday on the Monkey Business and weighed in at 137 lbs. That’s a big one! Bottom fishing for sharks, jacks and trevally was pretty good in October. As we come into winter, it will only get better. I had what you could call a spectacular catch myself this month. I started tagging amberjack, almaco jack and trevally in 1998 and I was a part of getting the statewide jack tagging program started. We caught an amberjack this month that had previously been tagged and was #225 of the number series that is now in the 10,000’s. I knew right away that this fish had not been tagged on the Big Island. Records show that this fish had been tagged at Maro Reef more than 1000 miles to the North of Kona in Sept. 2000. At a recorded length of 21” that put this fish at less than 10 lbs. when it was tagged. When we caught it (and released it again) it was 51” and weighed about 75 lbs. When the tagging program was started, the “known science” was that jacks live their whole life on one section of reef. The tagging program soon proved that to be false. In fact, it became apparent that the jacks around the island of Hawaii trend to circle the island in a counter-clockwise direction while on Maui, they circle in a clockwise direction. On Oahu, they do six months clockwise and six months counter-clockwise. Cool data! Also, this isn’t the first time a tagged fish has gone between islands but this is the longest distance traveled and may be the longest time span (more than 8 years) from tagging to recovery. I’m proud and privileged to be a part of one of the best fisheries in the world, Kona, Hawaii and also to be involved in the study of our ocean resources (I’m also on the billfish advisory committee for DAR) so my children’s children can have as much fun as I do rippin’ fish lips. See ‘ya on the water, Capt. Jeff Rogers FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 10-02-2008 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report – Sept. wrap-up It’s really difficult to determine if the fish are biting or not when the fishing effort is at it’s lowest in many years. As I mentioned last month, tourism is down and big ticket activities (like charter fishing) are at an even lower low. I have been luckier than most and I’m getting out one or two times a week so I’m still able to see a little of what’s going on out there but us fishermen rely on reports from other boats to determine where (or even if) there is a bite going on. It’s a big ocean out there and a single boat can only cover so much of it in a day. The marlin bite definitely slowed recently as a result of less fishing effort and the current switching from the typical North direction to a South direction had it’s effect too but trying to look at the big picture I would have to say that the marlin bite is down a little but not bad. The yellowfin tuna bite from the porpoise schools has been hot! That’s a big change from what we were seeing near the end of August. Unfortunately for the charter boats out of Kona, the porpoise school has been far to the South so you have to be willing to burn a bunch of fuel and get there quick or else you’ll only have a short amount of time to work the school before it’s time to head back to port. I’m still waiting for the mahi mahi bite to kick in. I’ve been seeing a few mahi mahi flags flying but I didn’t even get a single bite from one in September. I tried some near shore ono fishing also in September also with no luck. Back to the fishing effort issue. I’ve been spending a lot of my fishing effort sending bait and jigs to the bottom and have been rewarded with good action and some pretty spectacular fights. Most of the fights have been with sharks and some mixed giant trevally and amberjack action too. I had a few sharks hooked up this month that just outclassed my tackle so broken line and even a snapped rod a couple of days ago ended those fights. Tigers? Probably were. I got one tiger to the boat for a photo this month. At about 400 lbs., it was just a baby. A good fighter and one of the smallest tigers I’ve ever seen. Early in September, several beaches in Kohala (North of Kona) were close for more than a week because of tiger shark sightings. Against a swimmer or a surfer, even a 400 lb. baby has the home turf advantage and could easily make baby food out of a person. See ‘ya on the water, Capt. Jeff Rogers FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 08-27-2008 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report – August wrap-up Kona’s hot marlin bite continued to be good through the first couple of weeks in August but then slowed a bit. Part of the reason is simply less people fishing. The tournaments are over and August has typically been slower than June and July for tourism anyway. Couple that with the news media promoting a recession, presidential and other elections just around the corner not knowing if your taxes are going to go through the roof or not, The rising interest rates to even have a roof, electric bills, food, gas prices …… The price we pay to play has tightened up. Bigger ticket tourist activities like helicopter tours and fishing excursions are being replaced by cheaper things like more time on the beach, snorkeling and kayak rentals. September is typically the slowest of all the months here for tourism so it looks like I’ll have some time to go to the beach myself, do some surfing, ride my ATV, cruse my street bike, hang out at my new house and enjoy the awesome ocean view (while putting off all those unpacked boxes in the garage). Some of you may wonder if I like to go fishing on my days off. The fact is, I can’t afford to. I have to pay for the use of the boat and the fuel too. I’ll just wait for a paying charter to go have some fishing fun. The yellowfin tuna bite has slowed down a whole bunch. Even the night time commercial guys have stopped trying. There has been smaller yellowfin tuna on the FAD’s in the 8 to 15 lb. range so for the people looking for some meat to cook up, it’s a good time right now. The ono bite hasn’t been very good but there are still some coming in. We’re seeing some mahi mahi around, an occasional spearfish coming in and the otaru are starting to show up so for those looking for some food fish, There shouldn’t be too much of a problem. The bottom bite is really off right now. Bait fish are in abundance along the ledges but the bigger predators like sharks, amberjack, trevally and such that are normally around when the bait fish are, have traveled elsewhere. I’ve been chasing tiger sharks after hearing reports of them being sighted in certain areas but have yet to see one myself. As long as I run into one while fishing on my boat and not while surfing, I’ll be happy. See ‘ya on the water, Capt. Jeff Rogers FISHinHAWAII.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 08-02-2008 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report – July wrap-up . First I`d like to apologize to the many loyal readers of my reports for not doing a June wrap-up anywhere but on my own web site FISHinKONA.com and now even being late with this one. Many of you did go to my web site and found the June wrap-up and I got plenty of emails congratulating me on my new house. Escrow was fast and so was the move so there was just no time to get it out on the web. From writing it to putting it on about 50 web sites takes the better part of a day to do. I always try to get it done as close to the end of the month as I can but the end of July was just too hectic. With that said, here we go: The marlin bite has been real good. Just in time for the many tournaments that go on here in the summer. One of the most famous tournaments in the world, the Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament (H.I.B.T.) fished this week was a great success. In years past I can remember some teams getting no marlin at all during the 5 day tournament and making claims like “Hawaii is all fished out” and such. This year, each team (37 I think) had several fish on. A total of 86 were caught and only a few were brought in. The biggest marlin boated in the tournament was a 973 pounder caught on 50 lb. test! Kona also maintained its claim as the Pacific blue marlin capital of the world when on July 4th, Kona again won the World Cup Tournament with a 773.5 lb. marlin putting to shame all the other wanna-be contending waters around the world who would like to be known for big and abundant marlin. The yellowfin tuna (ahi) bite has been really good too. Around the middle of the month there were as many ahi being caught as there were marlin. The size of ‘em is bigger on average than in recent years also. In a normal year there are only a few brought in that tip the scales at over 200 lbs. but this year we’ve seen many. The spot for biggest of the year has moved up a few times this month and now stands at 240 lbs. That’s just the sport caught ones. The night time commercial fishermen have been catching the big ones too but are not reported to the general public. The ono bite has been slow this year. Some mahi mahi are being caught even though it’s not season for them. The otaru are starting to show up now and usually peak in August. The bottom bite really slowed down as the month progressed. I’ve been catching a larger number of sharks lately so that may be the reason for the slow down. The current has been playing tricks and on a few days this month, the best bottom fishing grounds were too rough to fish. Summer water in Kona is usually flat calm but we had some unusual winds this month and we’ve also seen a fair amount of rain. Hopefully August will bring things back to normal. With the economy heading down hill at a fast rate, tourism is suffering here in Hawaii. Reports of unseasonal rain and heavy smoke from the latest volcanic activity haven’t helped the situation either. The house I just bought has a beautiful ocean view when the rain and winds wipe the smoke away. See ‘ya on the water, Capt. Jeff Rogers FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 05-31-2008 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report – May wrap-up . Marlin were in short supply for most of May but the number of marlin catches has increased over the past week. Spearfish are the most common billfish being caught right now but with the summer season just starting up, we should see the numbers of blue marlin increasing and the number of spearfish decreasing. May is listed as the peak season for black marlin in Hawaii but what most people don’t realize is that black marlin are a rare catch in Hawaii. The spot on Kona’s “Big Fish List” for the biggest black marlin of the year remains vacant. With most marlin being caught and then released by the majority of captains now, it’s possible that one or more blacks have been caught this year and released without it ever being known that it was a black. It takes a keen eye to spot the subtle differences between the three types of marlins we catch here. The best way to tell a black marlin from its cousins is that the pectoral fins stick straight out and are fixed. Striped and blue marlin pectoral fins can fold back and lay tight against the body. If you’re going to release a marlin, it’s not likely that you’re going to take the time to try to move its fins. There is another way to tell a black from the others but that’s reserved for people who can spot those subtle differences I mentioned. A black marlin has a larger, fatter bill in comparison to its body. In fact, all three types of marlins caught in Hawaii have differences in the bill-to-body size proportions but it takes years of seeing these marlins next to the boat to readily spot those differences. . Other billfish that are rare in Hawaii are sailfish and broadbill swordfish. The first broadbill of the year was brought in this month. Broadbill are caught at night and are usually a bycatch of the night time tuna fishery. There are only few broadbill and about a dozen sailfish caught in Kona in a typical year. The blind strike ahi (yellowfin tuna) bite started right on time this year. From May until the end of summer, when a lure is taken on the troll, it just might be a 100+ lb. ahi. The ono run started early this year. Last year they didn’t even show up. We had a little spurt at the beginning of the summer last year and then nothing for the rest of the summer. This year it looks like things might be back to normal. Mahi mahi are still being caught on a regular basis but their close cousin, the pompano dolphin are being caught here also. I think there are only a handful of us here that even know the difference between a pompano dolphin and a mahi mahi. Most of the pompano are being mistaken as baby mahi mahi. It’s another one of those “subtle difference” things. I tried doing some research as far as how big they get. My IGFA world record book is from 2001 and the pompano dolphin isn’t even listed in there. I caught one yesterday that was about 14 lbs. and I found out today that the Hawaii state record for these is only 7 lbs. Most of them I’ve been catching are under 5 lbs. but the next big one I get (if I get another big one) will definitely get submitted for the state record. The bottom bite was pretty good this month. The sharks have been thick so getting fish to the boat has been tough but the sharks in turn are a fairly easy hook-up and they make great sport. With the marlin in short supply right now, sharks are the biggest animal that you have a good shot at catching. On stand up tackle, they can be more of a fight than most anglers are up for. The “subtle differences” on shark identifications are even more complicated than with most fish. For instance, the difference between a bronze whaler and a dusky shark is the shape of the bottom teeth. I have to admit, most of the time I’m just guessing as to what kind I’m catching. I’m leaning. But just like playing with marlin fins, It’s too dangerous to give a P.O.`d shark a close dental check-up. See ‘ya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 04-29-2008 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report – April wrap-up . I did last month’s wrap-up a day before the end of the month and in last month’s report, the big news was Kona’s first “Grander” of the year. The very next day after that report, last day of the month, another “Grander” was caught. It was an awesome battle! I know because I was the captain on the boat! It’s a huge milestone for any captain to bag a grander and most Kona captains never attain the goal. A lot has to go right in order to get one. It really is a combination of skill and luck. We came close to loosing her a couple of times and then, once we had her subdued, we almost became a sad “almost a grander” story. Three Oceanic white tip sharks attacked the marlin as we were trying to pull her in the boat. They took about 150 lbs. of meat off of her in about 1 minute but even with that, she still weighed in at 1056 lbs. There’s more about the trip at FISHinKONA.com on the “Hall of Fame” page and for only about a week more, on the “Fish Photo’s Page”. The angler also wrote about the trip in the “Guest Book”. A note for you fish huggers out there, I release almost all my marlins and I don’t feel bad at all for killing this fish. If I ever get another grander, I’ll kill that one too. Any blue under 1000 lbs. is free to go. I keep small striped marlin to eat. Any big ones are free to go. It’s most likely that because I target a wider variety of fish than any other captain in Kona and, I let most everything go, that I lead the Kona fleet in released fish and have for many years. Mid size fish are plentiful right now. Spearfish, mahi mahi and ono are the most common fish being caught. There’s also plenty of shibi (small yellowfin tuna) in the 5 to 20 lb. range and Skipjack tuna in the 5 to 15 lb. range. I caught some shibi trolling in the deep yesterday and filleted them for my customers. It was saddening to see what they were feeding on. They’re stomachs were stuffed with 4” to 5” baby spearfish! False killer whales were also in the area feeding on the shibi. It’s a tough life cycle out there. Bottom fishing was pretty good for most of April. The current started moving North pretty fast and hard this week so it’s been more difficult to work it. With the current finally moving though, the baitfishes are congregating in their usual spots. With baitfish fairly easy to get, the bottom bite for sharks, trevally, amberjack and almaco jack has been the easiest way to score some hard fighting fish. With a decent trolling bite going on at the same time, it’s been a fun month for fishing even though a few of the 3/4 days I fished drew a blank. Bites and fights but no catches other than small tuna. I said earlier that to catch a grander, a lot has to go right and it’s also a combination of skill and luck. I think that also applies to fishing, or I should say “catching” in general. See ‘ya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 03-30-2008 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report ñ March wrap-up . March isn`t considered a good month for blue marlin but one thing about these animals is that they will group somewhere. Even in the off-season we can get a decent run of blue marlin and that happened this month. Not only are we getting a fair number but we`re getting some real big ones too. The biggest blue marlin of the year was caught last Tuesday and weighed in at 1251 lbs. A marlin over 1200 lbs. hasnÃt been weighed in since `04 (a summer time catch @ 1258 lbs). Spearfish and mahi mahi were again the most common catch of the month. We`re at the beginning of the season for mahi mahi and the middle of the season for spearfish so you may end up reading next month that these fish top the list again as the most common catch. That being said, the ono have indeed started to show up but it`s a bit early to say that the run has started. Bottom fishing in Hawaii is again being pounced upon by more regulations. It`s just around the corner and we will see the first ever ìrecreationalî fishing licenses required to fish in Hawaii but for now, it will be just for bottom fishing. Other bottom fishing regulations are being looked at but it`s clear that the Feds are pushing for the bottom fishing license option and it will probably be implemented this summer. Right after that will be fishing licenses for all fisheries! ItÃs already being pushed through by the beaurocrats. The state also announced yesterday that they are making it illegal to fish for or take six different kinds of snapper and one kind of grouper effective April 7th within state waters. There was already a Federal and state closure (implemented for the first time last year) on those fish scheduled for May 1st through August 31st. Hawaii has always been fishing regulation free (for the most part) and bottom fishing was the easiest way for both federal and state beaurocrats to get an easy ìfoot in the doorî on their way to regulating all of Hawaii`s fisheries. I know that all of the other 49 states have had to deal with fisheries regulations for a long time so boo-hoo, poor Hawaii. Well, I say, just another piece of paradise stolen. See ëya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , FISHinHAWAII.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 02-26-2008 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report ñ February wrap-up . The biggest blue marlin of the year was weighed in on the 15th. The year is still young but a 934 pounder might just stand for a while. The marlin died 1-Ω hours into the fight and it took another Ω hour to plane it up. ItÃs a lot of work to plane up a dead fish and luckily they were using 130 lb. test line. ThereÃs a theory among fishermen that if the dead fish is 10X the weight of the line, then it canÃt be planed up. I proved the theory wrong about 8 years ago by planning up an 843 lb. black marlin up on 80 lb. test line. It took 45 minutes of hard work and I donÃt think IÃd ever like to test the theory out again. I think we were just lucky that the line didnÃt snap. We had some striped marlin caught this month but it looks like striped marlin season will remain slow this year. The last good season we had on them was back in Ã04 so weÃre over due for a good one. ItÃs a good thing weÃre having a good spearfish season. Spearfish and mahi mahi top the list as the most common catches and thereÃs still some yellowfin tuna being caught also. I got word that there was a decent ono run happening down by South Point but it takes an overnight trip to fish that far away. I hoping they make their way North. The North bottom fishing grounds has had flat water fishing conditions and the bite was pretty good until just recently. The current is switching around so the baitfish took off. Hopefully it wonÃt be long before they show up again. ItÃs usually easier to catch the bottom fish using live bait and on some occasions, jigging may even out-perform live bait but the average size fish caught on bait is much bigger than on a jig. Big sharks usually wonÃt take a jig and if they do, they usually bite it off anyway. The monster amberjack and trevally rarely eat a jig either. OK, so I know what some of you are thinking. Why be so cheap? If you want the bigger fish, go buy some live bait! And I would have to say to you, youÃre spoiled if you can go buy your live bait. I would gladly buy some if someone sold some. The bait we use here are mackerel and tuna in the 2 to 10 lb. size. For many of you, the fish we use for bait would be for you, a ìkeeperî. Not only are these baits usually in abundance here so itÃs pretty easy to catch your own but, theyÃre also hard to keep alive. Forget about putting them in a bait tank unless your tank is a hundred + gallons. The tuna tube was invented about 12 years ago and this, for the first time allowed us to keep bigger baits alive for a while but, they also tend to get weaker and weaker the longer they stay in the tube. I take frozen bait with me sometimes but it just doesnÃt catch as well as live bait. If there are any really really smart people reading this, let me know when you get baitfish cryonics figured out. Sometimes I put frozen tuna into my tuna tube just to thaw them out a little and have actually had customers ask me if the bait is now alive. See ëya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , FISHinHAWAII.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 01-29-2008 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report ñ Jan. wrap-up . January has been a good month overall for trolling. The spearfish are still in abundance and if youÃre looking for some good fish to eat, it doesnÃt get much better than fresh spearfish. The mahi mahi bite was good all month too and thatÃs a bit unusual for January but I donÃt hear anyone complaining. Also during this month, yellowfin tuna of all sizes showed up. The small bait size yellowfin are a common winter catch here especially on the FAD (fish aggregation device) buoys and F buoy was even producing 20+ pounders for a while. Other 20+ pounders were being caught in the blind and in the current lines. As for the 100+ size yellowfin tuna, theyÃre here too. Working the porpoise schools has been very profitable for the boats using the more commercial type methods for catching them. There are different baiting methods and the ìgreen stickî method but just trolling lures through the school hasnÃt been getting too many bites. Normally I open my monthly reports talking about the marlin bite but thereÃs not really much of a catch to report on. The striped marlin bite picked up just a little bit this month and went from a average of about four per week to a few a day coming in on some days. There were a few ìbeastî (over 500) blue marlins caught, typical for any month of the year in Kona but most of the (few) blues being caught right now are babies under 100 lbs. that havenÃt even grown their noses yet. Some people who donÃt know how to tell the difference between a blue and a striped (many donÃt) are actually thinking that the small blues are striped marlin. Bill proportions, stripe density and white belly shade are just a few ways to distinguish between the two but the ultimate test is the dorsal fin. The size of the dorsal fin in proportion to the body is yet another clue with the striped marlin having a larger fin in proportion to itÃs body but as with the previously mentioned signs, these are all comparative differences. A hard way for the untrained eye to tell. The most distinguishing characteristic and sure-fire way to tell is that on a striped marlin, the first dorsal fin bone is flexible and on a blue marlin, itÃs not. I always like to wrap up the wrap-up with the bottom fishing report. ItÃs usually where most of the action and unusual catches are. Winter is a peak time for bottom fishing but itÃs also the season when Hawaii gets its roughest sea conditions. Watching the news this morning, I see that even the Hawaii Super Ferry is docked due to rough sea conditions. Kona is unique in that the huge mountains protect us from those sea conditions but the most productive bottom fishing grounds to the North of the harbor are less protected and as a result, I wasnÃt able to fish the good bottom grounds for most of the month. When forced to go South, I pray for a good trolling bite because the bottom spots are few, far between and usually not as productive. The up side to that is the water is flat like a lake almost every day. The flat sea conditions also make fighting a fish easier. It also helps if you got a marlin up next to the boat and youÃre grabbing at it trying to see if itÃs first dorsal fin bone is bendable. See ëya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 12-30-2007 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report ñ December wrap-up . And so ends another year. The spearfish came in early this season to help us celebrate and they are currently the most common fish being caught. Mahi mahi are still biting too but they`re not as abundant as they were at the beginning of the month. Otaru tuna are another fish that put on a good showing for us around the middle of the month and are normally a summer bite but we`ll take `em any time we can. The blue marlin bite picked up a bit in the last couple of weeks even though this is the slow season for them. The striped marlin should be here already but they havenÃt really shown up yet. There has been a few caught but not like it should be for December. Another animal (not a fish) that should be here in numbers are the humpback whales. IÃve only seen a couple so far this year where usually, they are a daily sight in December. Hopefully when more whales do show up, they`ll bring in the striped marlin with them. The bottom bite has been slow. IÃm seeing plenty of fish on the sonar but they`re just not biting much. Live bait is usually the best method for catching a variety of bottom fish but lately the baits are either not taken at all or just crushed and killed but not eaten. Catching with jigs has been fair but it`s a lot of hard work deep jigging. Another down side to jigging is that fish caught on jigs are generally smaller on average than the fish caught on bait. So, what are the up sides to jigging? For one, that hard work is a good workout. I love to jig for at least an hour a few times a week just to stay in shape. Most of my customers only last 20 to 30 minutes of hard jigging before whimping out. Because I`m usually the one that hooks up (the faster you jig, the more likely you hook up), I get to feel most of the hits and the first pull of the fish. Most charter captains rarely ìfishî themselves, they just drive the boat. I think in many cases, I`m just as excited (if not more) about hooking up fish as my customers are. They can have the big fish fights though. IMHO, there can come a time where a workout becomes more like grueling work. See ëya on the water, Capt. Jeff Rogers , FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 11-27-2007 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report ñ November wrap-up . If you`ve been following my reports you know that last month the current (or lack of) killed the trolling bite for most of the month. Just when things were getting back to normal, a big storm came through on Nov. 4th and shut the current off again. Here it is over three weeks later and the current is just now starting to pull in it`s typical North pattern. The bait fish stayed on the ledges and FAD`s the whole time the current was slack but there was certainly a lack of marlin in the area even though in some areas, bait fish abounded. Good thing the mahi mahi bite stayed good throughout the month. The striped marlin should be here shortly. There were two caught last week and they were pretty good size ones. When the run does happen, typically they`re all about the same size. We never know if they`ll be in the forty to fifty pound range or the eighty to one hundred pound range. One of the ones caught last week weighed in at 128 lbs. When the average size runs big, one of my claims of fame is in jeopardy. I have the biggest striped marlin so far this decade. At only 186 lbs., it`s a surprise that it hasn`t been beaten yet but the striped marlin in Kona tend to run a bit on the small side compared to other parts of the world. I also have the biggest black marlin of the decade here in Kona and that one would be hard to beat. OK, since I`m bragging about catches, I got one more. It has taken nearly eleven years to get one but I finally got a 100+ lb. giant trevally (GT) this month. I wasn`t the angler but the captain gets some credit too. The 100+ is a special category for GT much like getting a 1000+ marlin and there is a published list of the anglers who have accomplished it. I always said that if I caught either one of these special fish that I would kill `em for the publicity. Well, I had my chance and I just didnÃt have the heart for it. The GT came up strong. It was just too easy to tag it and let it go rather than kill it, hang it for the photos and then dump the carcass or find someone willing to risk eating it. A beast that big would almost certainly have ciguatera toxin in it. Personally, I donÃt think it`s worth the risk to eat any fish that might have the toxin. There are several people who get ìhitî here every month. If you donÃt know what ciguatera toxin is or the nasty effects it will have on you, try a wikipedia.org search and check it out. After reading about the symptoms, would you risk it? See ëya on the water, Capt. Jeff Rogers , FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 10-30-2007 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report ñ October wrap-up . IÃve said before that itÃs the current direction and strength that is the most important factor when it comes to the bite being good or bad in Kona. For most of October we had a prolonged bad split current situation. There will always be some fish around during a bad current but they are certainly few between. The best news is that itÃs finally over! The current has stabilized to its typical North direction and although itÃs moving a bit fast, the fish are coming back. It started with a sudden influx of blue marlin catches and what soon followed was a fantastic mahi mahi run that is still going strong. Mahi mahi is a fish that can be caught any month of the year here but we get two seasonal runs per year. The spring run is commonly the smaller variety known as ìschoolie dolphinî or ìsmurfsî (little blue guys) and are typically about 5 to 20 lbs. but itÃs the Fall run that brings in the big ones. Right now a typical mahi mahi runs anywhere between 20 and 50 lbs. with a few even bigger. The Hawaii state record of 82 lbs. was landed in Kona in Ã87 and I remember it well because just a week after that fish was caught, my dad and I landed an 80 pounder that would have been the new state record if the 82 pounder hadnÃt been caught. Targeting the bottom fish and nailing a few nice tuna on the troll was the ticket for scoring a %100 catch rate for the month. Some of those days it took a lot of work to get a fish though. The commercial snapper fishery re-opened on October 1st and in my Nov. wrap-up I made kind of a prediction. What actually ended up happening was something I donÃt think anyone would have guessed. There were indeed a bunch of boats fishing the Kona snapper grounds the first week. Many that IÃve never seen fishing there before and only a couple of the old regulars fishing it. By the 2nd week not many boats were fishing it at all. I think the current was messing up that fishery too. The 3rd week had even fewer boats. So here we are now at the end of October and what I see are the same few regulars that fished the area before the closure going back to work. TheyÃre bringing in about the same numbers of fish that they were before the closure so it seems like business as usual. Fisheries people will be crunching numbers over the next few months to attempt to analyze the effect of the closure on fish populations. Reports will be made and people will analyze the reports. The worst part of all that is, the powers that be have already set their plans for the future closures and the data collected from this first closure wonÃt make any difference in their plans anyway. That bites! See ëya on the water, Capt. Jeff Rogers , Kona Hawaii Sport Fishing |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 09-25-2007 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report ñ September wrap-up. September is typically the slowest tourist month of the year. The trolling bite on marlin was a bit slow too. Part of the reason was the lack of boats going out. You might think, well, not many boats out so thereÃs more fish for me but thatÃs not really how it works. Picture this: A map of the Kona coast and off shore in a 25 square mile area, make a dozen scattered blue pinpoint dots that represent marlin. Then make a dozen scattered black pinpoint dots representing boats. As these dots are set in slow moving motion, remember that they have to randomly touch each other for a hit (hopefully not boats colliding) to occur. The more dots of either blue or black, the more likely the chance of a hit. Take away some of either color of dots and the chances of a hit diminish. Yea, it would be great if there were tons of blue dots but thatÃs just not realistic. Take away half of the black dots and youÃll now see the chance of a hit decreases by a whole lot and the overall situation may look like thereÃs no fish around when the real reason is the lack of fishing effort. It happens many times in fisheries management that when a total catch rate diminishes that itÃs assumed that the cause is a lack of fish when sometimes the real reason is a diminished fishing effort. There werenÃt any spectacular marlin catches this month but the sailfish continue to make weekly appearances of the fish catch board. The otaru are mostly gone now but some small yellowfin tuna have shown up on most of the FADÃs. Mahi mahi are starting to show up too so I guess you could say that the Fall run has started. IÃve given up even trying for ono. The first ever seasonal bottom fishing closure for Hawaii ends in less than a week. The closure made it illegal to keep six different kinds of snapper and one kind of grouper but fishing for bigger bottom fish like jacks and sharks luckily wasnÃt prohibited. Some Dept. of Aquatic Resources people think that when the season opens that there will be such a rush to catch those valuable seven kinds of fish that it will negate the closure. I think theyÃre wrong when it comes to Kona. I canÃt say what the other islands will do but I predict that little Kona town will see the same few boats that were out there bottom fishing prior to the closure and not much more than that. Hey, IÃm not really a psychic but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. See ëya on the water, Capt. Jeff Rogers , Kona Hawaii Sport Fishing |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 08-28-2007 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report ñ August wrap-up. Pacific blue marlin tops the list of the most common fish being caught in August. Sizes are ranging from just over 100 lbs. to just under 1000 lbs. Just like last month there were a few 900+ fish caught but that magical 1000 lb. mark has escaped many. Spearfish also had a decent showing in August and even some sailfish caught. Sailfish are a rare catch in Hawaii with only about a dozen caught in a year. There were at least half that many caught this month. ThereÃs been some yellowfin tuna coming out of the South porpoise school (if you can find ëem). Otaru (skipjack tuna over 10 lbs.) have been running in bird piles and up on the grounds. I know in some places of the world people donÃt eat their local skipjack tuna but here in Hawaii, the meat (of the big ones) is quite good because of their diet. On the East side of the Big Island, you actually get more $ per pound for otaru than for yellowfin of the same size. The ono run that didnÃt happen, well, itÃs still not happening. IÃm not giving up though. They could show up any time. The bottom bite has been fairly consistent. The live bait bite has been best but the bait fish have been hard to find and catch. I get asked all the time about buying live bait. ThereÃs no live bait business here so youÃve got to catch your own. Dead bait works sometimes but at other times, if itÃs not live, they wonÃt touch it. ThatÃs where jigging comes in. If you canÃt get bait in a reasonable amount of time then the next option is to go jigging. Live bait averages bigger fish than jigs but jigging has itÃs own rewards. Last month I got some remarks about a statement I made in the July wrap-up. I said îyou can expect the sale of Marlin in Hawaii to be totally outlawed soonî. While some organizations and individuals are supporting this, it may not end up being a total ban and ìsoonî is a relative term. I youÃre not familiar with the Magnuson-Stevens Act, I suggest you do a Google search for Magnuson-Stevens summary, click the top link and find out about it. Terms like National Fishery Management Program and Individual Fishing Quota Programs should get the attention of some of you. Back in my March report I told about HawaiiÃs first ever seasonal closure for snapper and Hawaiian grouper. The Feds gave us an ultimatum. Either come up with your own regulations or weÃll come in there and make them for you. After Hawaii successfully met the Fed requirements by implementing its first ever bottom fishing closure areas, The Feds pushed for even tighter regs in this fishery. Whether theyÃll be satisfied with the outcome of the latest area closure expansion and the current seasonal closure remains to be seen. This is just the tip of a whole bunch of regulations being forced on Hawaii. Next on the list looks like there will be stricter tuna regulations that probably include quotas. With billfish, the big decision for Hawaii seems to be either a slot limit or a total ban on the sale of billfish. Either way, we were told that if Hawaii doesnÃt regulate billfish on itÃs own by 2011, the Feds will do it for us. Look at the track record of both sides when it comes to fisheries managementÖÖ Looks like more bumpy seas. See ëya on the water, Capt. Jeff Rogers , Kona Hawaii Sport Fishing |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 07-31-2007 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report ñ July wrap-up. The marlin bite for the month was pretty good. If the number of charter boats going out were like they have been in recent years, there would be more caught and you could probably call it a really good bite but the lack of boats going out is keeping the marlin catch numbers down. Summer months are usually pretty busy with tourists here in Hawaii but thereÃs a definite slow down of tourists. Most likely the result of a slowing economy. As I said last month, the smaller male marlin showed up and are the biggest part of the Kona catch now. Nearly all the marlin are being released. Even many of the big ones. Yesterday there was a 967 pound blue marlin weighed in and another marlin about that same size released. Only about six years ago Kona was a kill all marlin fishery. Without a single regulation being made it became mostly a catch and release marlin fishery. Did we all of the sudden become fish huggers? Not really. The main reason for the change is that selling the marlin became a big hassle. ItÃs just not worth the frustration of trying to get rid of it when you get in at the end of the day. There was a time that when you pulled into KonaÃs harbor and there was a fish truck waiting at the weigh-in scales ready to buy any fish you had. It was easy and profitable. The main fish wholesalers here now import more fish than they buy locally and the truck waiting at the scales is a thing of the past. There are a few boats here that still regularly kill their marlin and have created a network to get them sold but most of us have decided the hassle factor of getting marlin to market just isnÃt worth the few bucks you get. Even with most marlin currently being released with no regulations, you can expect the sale of Marlin in Hawaii to be totally outlawed soon. The yellowfin tuna bite slowed down but itÃs still a decent bite. ThereÃs been some mahi mahi around too. Spearfish are still making a good showing but the ono bite just isnÃt happening this summer. Too bad. ThatÃs one of the best eating fish we got here. Normally the summer months arenÃt considered a good season for bottom fishing. Most of the good eating bottom fish are illegal to keep right now because of HawaiiÃs first ever closed season for certain offshore fish and typically, the bottom bite seems to slow down in the summer anyway. Fish are not always predictable though. Big amberjacks moved into the Kona coast and I got the biggest one of the year last week weighing it in at 122 lbs. IÃve also caught several others recently around the 100 lb. range. Big jacks are a lot of fight and fun. I had the great opportunity to be the escort boat for nationally acclaimed kayak fisherman Jon Schwartz. www.bluewaterjon.com last week. I took Jon to my best amberjack spot and Jon caught and released several big jacks. YouÃll see the story and photos soon in Sport Fishing Magazine. While it was great fun and good fishing, I feel just a little disappointed that I didnÃt get to see the ultimate goal achieved. Jon has never caught a shark from his kayak. Jon and I talked over the scenario and risks at length and we both felt good about it. While Jon indeed did hook into a couple of sharks that took his yak for a good ride, he was unable to get them up. IÃm looking forward to the rematch! Yes, I understand the potential for disaster there. ThatÃs why IÃm the one in the boat and not the one in the kayak :o See ëya on the water, Capt. Jeff Rogers , Kona Hawaii Sport Fishing |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 06-28-2007 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report ñ June wrap-up. The big female marlin are still around but the big question for most of the month was, ìwhere are all the malesî? Normally when someone is hooked up to a big female, you will find several 150 lb. size male marlin in the same area not to mention the daily catches of this size marlin. They just showed up in the last few days so the Kona marlin fishery is looking up. A near grander marlin was caught by a skiff in the Ahi Fever tournament this month and weighed in at 953 lbs. They missed the weigh-in cut off time by just a bit and the fish was disqualified. Bummer. ThereÃs been a fair amount of spearfish being caught lately along with some mahi mahi and striped marlin. The ono bite has been a feast or famine thing. The bite has been jumping from hot to cold with no luke warm ono bite to be found. The area and time of the hot bite has been unpredictable. There were three skiff tournaments this month. The ìWee Guysî tournament is perhaps the most popular of them. Most of those guys go after the ahi and there have been plenty of those caught by the skiffs lately. The technique for skiffs is to stop and drop bait and chum. The charter boats mainly just troll. Many times itÃs trolling that gets the best bite in the ahi schools but lately itÃs the stop-n-drop technique that the ahi are going for. Shark, sharks and more sharks. There sure is a bunch of ëem around. For years the sandbar shark was the most common shark I caught but a couple of years ago I started catching some galapagos sharks. Now that is my most common shark catch and thereÃs plenty to be had. Tiger sharks are also common in Kona and almost every year I catch and release at least one that weighs over 1000 lbs. Last year I had a couple of 800 lb. size ones and those were the biggest of the year. I finally got my ìgranderî tiger for this year a couple of weeks ago. It beat the 1000 lb. mark by more than 100 lbs. Since I release them, itÃs just an estimate but IÃve seen grander tiger sharks and grander marlin hanging at the scales. This one easily made the mark. It burned through two anglers and when I got it to the boat it was tail wrapped. Dragging a tiger by the tail can actually kill it and this beast was real tired after the long fight. I worked fast to get itÃs tail unwrapped because I didnÃt want to hurt it, then made a discovery. Unlike the old saying ìdonÃt grab a tiger by the tailî (probably not a good idea for land tigers), a tiger shark is much easier to deal with at the boat tail first. It turned and tried to bite me but couldnÃt. It was after I got the tail unwrapped that things went nuts. That was one P.O.Ãd tiger! Real scary but I made the release OK. Lesson learned, next time, (if I can) IÃm keepinà control of the end without the teeth! See ëya on the water, Capt. Jeff Rogers , Kona Hawaii Sport Fishing |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 05-30-2007 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report ñ May wrap-up May started off pretty slow but it ended with many nice catches. Several ìBeastî blue marlin (over 500 lbs.) have been caught recently. Most are getting tagged and released. This is just one of the things that marks summer time in Kona. With the big females will also come many smaller male marlin to join in the fun. As I mentioned in last months report, the summer yellowfin tuna run is marked by ìblind strikesî and thatÃs starting to happen now also. A few boats got a big surprise while trolling for ono this month when a school of big yellowfin tuna went cruising into the ono lane looking for breakfast. Everyone who was in the lane near the airport got multiple bites from 100+ lb. tuna. The lane is very close to shore and 40 to 60 fathoms deep. The big tuna usually donÃt like coming in so close to shore but that particular area has a unique topography and as a result, often gets a mix of both near shore and off shore species. It was the hottest spot for ono around the middle of May and besides regular catches of tuna under 100 lbs., there were also some nice size mahi mahi caught in that same area. In Kona, the speed and direction of the current is the most important factor when it comes to the bite being good or bad. Moon phase comes next followed by the tide height and times. The current was really weird in May and made the fishing very unpredictable. In many parts of the world, water temperature and tide changes are the most important factors. Here is Kona the tide is only about two feet and the water temperature remains about 80 degrees +/- four degrees between summer and winter. A temperature ìbreakî is usually less than one degree and hardly a factor when fishing. The reason IÃm mentioning this is that visiting fishermen will sometimes try to plan their particular day(s) of fishing around a moon phase or the solunar tables. IÃll admit that there is a slight factor there but in Kona, the current is the king and as far as I know, no one has figured out a way to predict what it will do. I suggest the high tech method of throwing a dart at the calendar. The bottom bite has been pretty good for jacks and big sharks. These types of fish are a specialty of mine. In fact, IÃm officially recognized as the discoverer of almaco jacks in Hawaiian waters (2002) and my oldest daughter caught a world and state record dusky shark that also was thought to be, but not proven to be in Hawaiian waters until her record catch in August 2000. While I do like trolling for billfish, tuna ono, mahi mahi and such, IÃve found with my years of experience that deep sea trolling is mostly just a game of luck. With bottom fishing, you can go where the fish live and get into some (almost) guaranteed fishing action. Doing both styles during the day mixes up the action and provides a bigger opportunity for a successful trip. Either way, luck or skill, come visit the flat blue waters of Kona and letÃs catch some big ones. See ëya on the water, Capt. Jeff Rogers , Kona Hawaii Sport Fishing |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 05-01-2007 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report ñ April wrap-up. April was a pretty weak trolling month overall with mahi mahi being the main catch but things are really looking up now. The ono run had started! I canÃt say that it will stay in full swing through the summer but if the current run is any indicator of whatÃs to come, itÃs going to be a good season. Another fish just coming into season is yellowfin tuna. There has been some caught almost daily in the porpoise schools but weÃll know the real run is happening when we start getting ìblind strikesî. No indication that the yellowfin are even in the area and all the sudden one or more lines go off. Tuna surprise! No matter how slow the trolling bite is in Kona you can always count on at least some marlin being caught here. ThatÃs what makes Kona the Pacific blue marlin capitol of the world. A few big blues were landed in April although most were tagged and released. Striped marlin are scarce right now but still a couple a week coming in. The bottom bite has been turning hot and cold. Normally the jacks are hanging on the edge of the ledges but bait schools running around is the flats, a very large area, have been scattering them and making them hard to find. A lot of big sharks have shown up too. Several 1000+ lb. tiger sharks have been spotted lately. One followed up an almaco jack that we brought in last Thursday but it was getting late in the day and not the type of people on board that could handle a big fight like that. I had several big shark fights in April and either pulled hook or broke terminal tackle on every one of them. IÃve been beefing up my rigs trying to prevent more failures but mostly itÃs been a problem of me being too stingy with the drag at the end game. My anglers for the most part have been getting these huge sharks close to the boat but thatÃs when they go nuts, do a lot of thrashing and head shaking. ItÃs funny when anglers do that ÖÖ no no no, just kidding. Some of them have been less that happy that they didnÃt get a chance to get a good shark photo though. See ëya on the water, Capt. Jeff Rogers , Kona Hawaii Sport Fishing |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 03-31-2007 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report ñ March wrap-up. March has been BIG marlin month in Kona. This yearÃs first ìgranderî marlin (weighing 1000 + lbs.) was caught this month and just barely squeaked in at 1011 lbs. A ìbeastî marlin is one weighing 500 lbs. or more and those have been showing up here on a daily basis. Some are being released and some are being killed for food. The thing about the big marlin, as I have mentioned before, is that many of the big ones win the fight. There was another marlin fought this month that the captain and crew said would easily pass the ìgranderî mark but after 4 hours of fighting, the 130 lb. test line snapped. A lot of things need to go right in order to get a big one. The fighting will of the fish is the biggest factor. Some marlins jump all over the place when hooked and wear themselves out quickly. A fish that just swims slow and strong after being hooked can take a long long time to get in. My longest fight was with an 843 lb. black marlin that did just that. It took 7 hours (one guy fighting it the whole time) but we eventually got the fish. The longest fight I know of here in Kona was about 55 hours (burned through several anglers) and the marlin came up jumping just an hour before snapping the line and saying aloha. Another grander marlin a few years back was taken in just 15 minutes! ItÃs not always the size but the attitude of the fish that makes or breaks a fight. Mahi mahi topped the list as the most common catch in March. There are still a few striped marlin coming in as are spearfish and a few ono. The ahi bite has slowed down but thereÃs still some big ones being caught. The bottom bite has been really good for several kinds of jacks. Bottom fishing for anything else is soon to be a big no-no. Hawaii just passed itÃs strictest bottom fishing regulations ever. Bottom fishing for snapper and grouper is now illegal between May and September. The deep snapper are heavily fished from the shores of heavily populated Oahu but here on the big island, only a few boats even target them. It was once a big fishery here but nearly all the old timers that did it are retired or dead. ItÃs just no longer a popular fishery. As a result, the numbers of bottom fish caught dropped. Scientists looking at the drop in catch numbers looked at it as a collapse in the fish stocks while the main reason (here on the big island anyway) is really a lack of fishing effort. We have always been lucky here in Hawaii that we have very few fishing regulations but the fish hugger mentality that all fisheries should be regulated is coming for us too. I went to a fisheries council meeting where a scientist gave a presentation about billfish larvae. In his conclusion he stated that Kona is the breeding grounds for many kinds of billfish and killing any big breeders needs to be stopped. At the end was a Q&A session. The scientist was asked if he looked for billfish larvae anywhere else than the near shore Kona waters, like 50 to 200 miles out? He claimed that he couldnÃt take his little Zodiac out that far but also made the claim that he was sure that the larvae werenÃt out there. ThatÃs opinion and not science! The problem is, guys like this will most likely get their way if the fishermen donÃt fight for their rights. After attending a few meetings, it appears to me that the people who are passionate about regulating (or stopping) fishing are a louder and a more active voice than the people who just like to fish. Tofu anyone? See ëya on the water, Capt. Jeff Rogers , Kona Hawaii Sport Fishing |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 02-27-2007 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report ñ Feb. Ã07 wrap up. The biggest blue marlin of the year now stands at 846 lbs. and was caught right in front of the harbor. I happen to know that because I actually saw part of the fight. Well, kind of. After I got in from a full day charter, I was greeted by a couple of captains who were looking for someone to go on a rescue mission. There was a boat adrift but the boat these two captains had was also broken down. I took one of them with me on my boat and we headed out to sea. I saw a boat stopped right in front of the harbor and I thought it would be a quick rescue. After getting the coordinates of the broken down boat I realized that the boat stopped in front of the harbor wasnÃt the one needing rescue. I found the broken boat about 6 miles from the harbor, tied it up and towed it in. The sun was just setting as we got near the harbor entrance and the boat I saw stopped as I was coming out was still sitting in the same place. Recognizing the boat, I called the captainÃs cell phone to see if yet another rescue was in order. No answer but I was relieved when I saw his boat power up and follow in behind us. Looking back I could see that his boat also had something in tow. I knew right away it was a big marlin. It was now dark after getting the boats docked up but I walked down the dock to see how big the fish was. Other people showed up too. The marlin was tied up next to the boat and looking at it under flashlight power, the group collectively decided it was somewhere around 800 lbs. The fish weigh scales were opened up about an hour later and the official 846 weight was made. Summer is normally big blue season but big blue marlin can be caught any time of the year in Kona and February actually had many stories of big fish. Most of the time the big ones win the fight. I had a shot at a big one this month also but it was short lived when one of the guys on the boat jumped to the reel right after the bite, grab the drag lever and shoved it back and forth a few times. The line on the reel bird nested, snapped and the marlin along with a bunch of expensive tackle was lost. The excitement of a big fish gets anglers excited. Sometimes that excitement brings on a major case of stupidity! He was lucky he didnÃt loose any fingers. A loop of 130 lb. test line flying around the reel and with a big fish pulling on the other end, you could get your hands mangled before you even knew what happened. Big yellowfin tuna and otaru are also known as mostly a summer catch and if youÃve been following my reports, you know that the bite for them was good in December and January. This month was also good. One of the yellowfin brought in was a 250 pounder. ThatÃs the biggest caught in Kona in many years. The mahi mahi bite is also good right now. The bottom bite has also continued to be good. Sharks are still plaguing some of the best bottom fishing areas and I finally got tired of being a victim of there attacks. I decided to gear up and target them on some of my charters. While targeting one last week I got a big surprise. Instead of the shark I was targeting grabbing the bait, a bottlenose dolphin (about 250 lbs.) grabbed it and got hooked. ItÃs not the first time IÃve hooked a bottlenose and they really put on a good fight. The big advantage to angling one is that they have to come up to breath. When they do, you can gain a lot of line backing the boat to them. I had this one right next to the boat a few times and just wanted to get a good photo and cut the line as close to the dolphin as possible but we got lucky all the way around when it shook the hook during one of my backing maneuvers. ItÃs a big ocean out there and there are all kinds of critters swimming around looking for something to eat. ThatÃs one of the coolest things about fishing the ocean. The BIG pond is stocked with a huge variety. You can never be sure what your next hookup will be. See ëya on the water, Capt. Jeff Rogers , Kona Hawaii Sport Fishing |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 01-30-2007 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report ñ Jan. Ã07 wrap-up The new year hasn`t shown us anything too impressive yet. This years biggest blue marlin stands at 611 lbs. the biggest striped marlin at 157 lbs. The marlin bite has been slow but we did have a nice run on spearfish at the beginning of the month and the biggest so far is 62 lbs. With the exception of the spearfish, the billfish bite just hasn`t been very good. As I said last month the striped marlin should be biting but it`s still early in the season for them and I have confidence that they`ll eventually show up. Other fish that are still around although they really shouldn`t be here are the big yellowfin tuna and Otaru. These are summer fish and I mentioned in my December wrap-up that they were biting. TheyÃre still here although the numbers are starting to decline. The mahi mahi are still around too. The bottom bite has been the best bite going. The amberjack and almaco jack have made for some fast action. Live bait is the best to use but theyÃve been in short supply. Dead bait just hasn`t been doing well for attracting the fish but the jigging has been HOT! Sharks moved in heavy in the middle of the month and made for some hard fights. They seem to be gone now. Another fish prized for it`s fighting ability is the Giant Trevally. Locally know as Ulua, these are one of the hardest fighting fish you can hook into. Early in the month we caught an 86.5 pounder on a jig. The fish swallowed the jig all the way down and the trapper hook (this is the only hook on the jig) barely stuck in just under it`s chin. That prevented the ulua from spitting out the jig. ItÃs one of those once in a life time lucky catches. It made the local paper as the biggest of the new year and didn`t even last `til the end of the month because another was caught just a week later weighing in at 90 lbs. Every year I take 1 to 3 positions on ìThe Big Fish Listî of the 21 species listed. The list is filling fast and it looks like the competition this year is going to be tough. Lucky catches are a lot of fun and I`ve always said I`d rather be lucky than good any time but it takes more than luck to stay at the top. This year it looks like IÃm going to need both. See ëya on the water, Capt. Jeff Rogers , Kona Hawaii Sport Fishing |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 12-31-2006 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report ñ December Ã06 wrap-up: December has been an awesome month for fishing in Kona! Every kind of fish came in to celebrate the yearÃs end with us. A BIG marlin by Kona standards, also known as a ìbeastî is a marlin 500-lbs. or bigger. While a big marlin can be caught any month of the year, summer is usually the best. This month, big marlin were abundant as were big (100-lbs.+) yellowfin tuna, spearfish and otaru. These fish are known to be a good summertime catch so we were reel glad to see ëem this month. The only fish that didnÃt show up in abundance is ono. They never really showed up during the summer either. Party poopers! Even the mahi mahi stuck around with us for most of the month but it seems they recently went elsewhere to visit for the holidays. The winter months are known for striped marlin, shibi (small yellowfin and bigeye tuna) and a variety of bottom fish. The striped marlin bite was slow in the beginning of the month but theyÃre making a good showing now. Some shibi are biting as blind hits while trolling but the ledges and FADÃs are holding the majority and theyÃre more easily targeted there. The bottom bite has been no exception to the good bite thatÃs been happening. Last month it was mostly the bottom bite and a few mahi mahi coming in that made for a successful fishing day. This month, the bottom fishing got even better and targeting the bottom has produced several big jacks and sharks. IÃm going to use the end of the year report to voice a concern of mine. There has been a definite drop in tourism here in Kona for this time of year. What could be the cause? Hey, with 6 to 8 hours out on the ocean to talk to people (between catching fish) about all of lifeÃs adventures, ups and downs, IÃve been asking them about why they chose Kona? There are all kinds of reasons why people come to enjoy Kona but one concern of many was the bad weather. What? Bad weather in Kona? Yea, all that rain we heard about. What are you talking about? Then I found out why the concern. The Internet has produced all kinds of web sites that forecast the weather for Kona. Looking at many of them myself, I found that the forecast for Kona ranges from raining every day to sunny every day depending on the site you choose to go to. Many of you may not know that Kona is not a town but actually two districts divided into South Kona and North Kona. The district of North Kona has an 8000 ft.+ mountain called Hualalai that gets rained on nearly every day while Keahole airport, in the town of Kailua Kona (most just call it Kona) gets rained on only a few times a year. Your chances of getting rained on anywhere near the coastline is pretty slim. Getting rained on while out fishing is an even rarer occurrence. Flat water and sunshine is what Kona is all about. Come join us! See ëya in the sunshine, Capt. Jeff Rogers , Kona Hawaii fishing |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 10-31-2006 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report ñ October Ã06 wrap-up: October has always been one of my favorite months to fish because of the variety of fish to be had. Last year was the first October in memory that was bad. IÃm glad to see that itÃs back to normal this year. The blue marlin bite has been pretty good this month! Probably out doing the so-called ìpeak seasonî of the summer months. I use the word ìprobablyî because there is a major factor to be considered. In the summer, there are simply more boats being chartered because summer is when most people take vacation. October is slower for business but those that are getting charters and going out are having good action. Other billfish that have been showing up are spearfish and striped marlin. ItÃs late in the season for spearfish and early for Striped marlin. ThatÃs one of the things that makes October so interesting. Yesterday a boat caught a sailfish. ThatÃs a rare catch in Hawaii and IÃm sure glad he boated it. Luckily heÃs a generous captain and I got a fillet. I ate it sashimi style (raw) and it sure was tasty stuff! The mahi mahi have arrived on time this year. The Fall season mahi are usually bigger in size than the Spring chickens but at the beginning of the month we were only seeing small ones come in. That has now switched and the big ones are here! Another decent bite has been with yellowfin tuna in the porpoise schools. Not too many schools around but the ones that do show up are holding fish. The bottom bite has been slow for October. ItÃs usually a lot better. I see lots of small fish marks on the fish finder screen but a severe lack of bigger marks. The commercial bottom fishermen are complaining that theyÃre not getting the numbers of fish (snapper and grouper) that they normally get this time of year. Hmmmmm, consider this. The best bottom fishing grounds in Kona were also the epicenter of the big earthquake that hit Hawaii on October 15th. Maybe, like many of us land based critters that live near the epicenter (like me), theyÃre still busy cleaning up and rebuilding. Habitat is essential for fish populations and almost nothing destroys fish habitats (or human ones) like natural disasters do. A reef that took hundreds of years to build can be gone in a moment of time. IÃll stop short of agreeing to give the fish disaster relief funds though. See `ya on the water, Capt. Jeff Rogers , Kona Hawaii fishing |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 10-01-2006 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report ñ Sept. Ã06 wrap-up. For those loyal readers of the Kona Hawaii fishing report, Sorry that there was no August Ã06 wrap-up. I was on vacation for most of August. The beginning of the month wasnÃt looking too good anyway and although I did keep in contact with a few of the captains during my vacation, it doesnÃt appear that I missed much of a bite during August. Many people ask me ìwhere do you go on vacation if you live in Hawaiiî? To visit relatives that do not live in Hawaii of course. People also ask if I fish while on vacation. YEP! I fished almost every day this time. Also got in some white water kayaking, skydiving, flew around my brothers gyrocopter (a lot) and got to fly (with an instructor) a trike (powered hang glider) for the first time. Hey, if youÃre not catching big fish in Hawaii, itÃs real hard to find anything else that can come close to the thrill! . So, on to the September wrap-up. I think this is a crack up. IÃm sitting here with writers block wondering what I can say about the month. I started wondering about last September so decided to look at last years report. What I found really made me laugh because itÃs the same as this year. HereÃs a quote from the Ã05 report: ìFishing in September is really a gamble in Kona. I was just looking at my September fishing report from last year along with my own catch records from September Ã04. What I saw prompted me to go ahead and look at my Ã03 and Ã02 reports also. I did find somewhat of a pattern. September is a good month for marlin overall but the bite seems to turn on and off throughout the month. Not just a slow down or pick-up. IÃm talking` a definite ON / OFF. It also seems to be one of the best months for big marlin. Several 500+ marlin are caught in September and this year proved it again with quite a few big marlin both brought in and many released.î And so the ìpatternî continues. I had a shot at one of the big blues just a few days ago but it came off after straightening out the Mustad 12/0 stainless hook. The 100+ yellowfin bite was pretty good all month long. The porpoise schools holding them have been near shore and easy to find. Usually itÃs just the first boats in the school that get bit. The ahi get shy (or wise) after the first bite but there a few captains (not me) here that constantly catch them every time (almost). They pick one or some out of the school even though the rest of the fleet is having no luck. It takes a lot of dedication to keep up with the ahi. TheyÃre fast, smart, have excellent eye site and are picky eaters. ThatÃs where skill and luck separate. Mahi mahi are a fairly common catch right now followed by just a few ono and spearfish. The mahi mahi seem to be small this year. The bottom bite has been slow this September. As you may have noticed from recent reports, IÃve been doing a lot more jigging lately. Jigs of all size and shapes are now (as of this year) available at the local tackle shops in Kona. IÃm also testing some new jigging equipment. IÃve had some good catches with the jigs including a couple of ono recently, the biggest kawakawa IÃve ever seen (made KonaÃs ìBig Fish Listî) and even tried for some of those fast, smart, eagle eye, picky eaters but it seems that only the younger and smaller ones are stupid enough to fall for a jig. I guess the big ones donÃt get big for nothinÃ. See `ya on the water, Capt. Jeff Rogers , Kona Hawaii fishing |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 07-29-2006 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report ñ July wrap-up ñ As I said last month, the marlin are here. The full moon on the 10th and premium water conditions made for some really good fishing. The Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament, one of the most famous tournaments in the world was held this week. A five day tournament and it got off to a slow start. The week before the tournament started the current was switching and an influx of cold water hit the Kona coast. It shut the bite down to almost nothing. As the week progressed, the current became steadier, the water warmed up and the bite turned back on. Several billfish were tagged and released including many spearfish and striped marlin. There was another ìgranderî blue marlin (1027 lbs.) caught this week but not by a boat that was in the tournament. IÃm not sure how many granders that makes for the year so far but I know of at least five. ThatÃs a big improvement over the past few years. . The ono were biting pretty good until the current switched. TheyÃve scattered offshore so most that are being caught are being caught in the deep. Ahi and mahi mahi have also been a fairly common offshore catch for July. Trolling offshore for the day is almost a guarantee of getting hit. Getting them to stick on the hook has been a common complaint. Getting anglers to get one to the boat without loosing them has been a problem IÃve been having lately. . Jigging has been working better than bait for targeting the bottom. Not many sharks around anymore. Almaco jack and amberjack are the most common jig catch but you never know what else will hit a jig. Ono and snapper were a couple of recent jig catches but the one that really sticks in my head was just a light hit. After the hit, the jig felt heavy but not like there was a fish on it. When I got the jig up I found it snapped in two with the inner wire holding the halves together in the shape of an L. No marks on the jig whatsoever. Whatever hit the jig had a lot of speed and power but it must have missed with itÃs mouth. I figure any fish head butting a 12oz. jig at high speed would probably be knocked out cold. IÃll never know what it was but I can imagine it would have been a pretty funny thing to see. . See ëya on the water, Capt. Jeff Rogers , Kona Hawaii Sport Fishing |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 06-29-2006 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report ñ June wrap-up - The marlin have arrived. Blue marlin of all sizes ñ small to grander. Yes, there was a 1075 pounder caught and there have been reports of other 1000+ marlin fought/lost and one even caught, at the boat floating belly up dead but due to the incompetence of one of the crew, it slowly sank to the bottom with a bunch of shallow gaff holes and one gaff still in it. It was definitely a sad tale to hear and extremely frustrating for the angler and the one experienced crewman who, like many of us has yet to attain that coveted ìgranderî status. I congratulated the guys that did land that 1075 pounder this month and asked my long time friend Steve ìHow long did it take you to get it?î His answer ì22 years Jeff.î A lot has to go right to subdue an animal that big. Most of the time it just canÃt be done and the fish wins. Sometimes the boat wins and on rare occasion, they both loose. Personally, IÃve never even had a decent shot at getting one. IÃll continue to dream of that day though. The spearfish are here in full force and something very strange, the striped marlin came back. Normally a striped marlin caught in the summer is a rare thing here but several are being caught now. For those billfish huggers that are appalled about us killing a few (I almost always get comments from them), lighten up! We release many more than we kill (and eat). Unlike the longliners that kill thousands just to toss them back into the water dead. If you really want to make a difference, do something to shut those guys down instead of wagging your finger at us small time operators. Ahi season has arrived also. This is the time of year that we get the ìblind strikeî yellowfin tuna. One of the exciting things about this time of year is that when a reel starts screaming, it could be just about anything on the line. There are still some mahi mahi around and some ono being caught in the deep. Small yellowfin and bigeye tuna on the buoys and those ìblind strikeî tuna are usually yellowfin over 100 lbs. Sharks are dominating the depths right now. If you hook up anything other than a shark down there, you better be quick to get it up. Sharks can really move fast but as a general rule, they swim slowly acting like time is on their side. Almost every fish we hook that isnÃt a shark will either get attacked right away or will have a shark following it right up to the boat. Slow down your (fast) retrieve rate just a little and your fish (and maybe your jig) is gone. Last month I talked about cheaper jigs. Yes, they work real good and yes, IÃve lost them all + some of the expensive ones to shark attacks. Back to the tackle shop today to get more of those cheap ones and some more hooks. I did some work on my jigging page (FISHinKONA.com/jigging.htm) and illustrate how to tie your own trapper hooks. The cheap jig (lost the last one yesterday to a shark) is in the bottom photo, the jig on the left. See ëya on the water or maybe the tackle shop, Capt. Jeff Rogers , Kona Hawaii Sport Fishing |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 05-29-2006 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report ñ May wrap-up ñ The most common billfish being caught right now is spearfish. While good eating, theyÃre not what the common angler is trying to attain while fishing Kona waters. The coast is loaded with bait schools right now. Aku and shibi popping up out of nowhere and others being marked by bird piles from near shore to beyond the horizon. Now all we need is the blue marlin and ahi to find `em. There have been only a few marlin around and a few ìblind strikeî ahi catches. There has been a porpoise school outside the harbor and South that has produced some ahi also but with the abundance of bait in the water, when the summer yellowfin & blues do show up, there will be plenty of reason for them to stick around. Ono are beating out the mahi mahi right now as the most common catch but not by much. Both are in abundance so overall, adding in the spearfish bite, the bite is pretty good. A great opportunity for those looking to take home some fresh island fish or just to have some back at the condo. I cover how to get the fish home on the FAQ page on my web site. With the trolling bite being what it is, I havenÃt been devoting much time to bottom fishing. On days that I have done it though, itÃs been a quick and easy bite. The sharks are still abundant as are the amberjacks and almaco jacks. Jigging has been the quickest method for getting a bite but costly when the sharks rob you of not just the fish youÃre fighting but your jig, hook and rings for a total about $30 and another trip to the tackle shop. I hear there are some cheaper jigs available in one of our local shops so IÃll be giving those a try when my expensive ones all get eaten. With tying my own trapper hooks now and jigs available for just over $10 (if they work), now I can loose twice as much tackle before I get pissed! Oh, did I say that out loud? My fingers were just typing away and it came out. Hope IÃm not violating this forums vulgarity policy. If a moderator thinks it is, please insert ìvery very very very angryî where that other word is :) See ëya on the water, Capt. Jeff Rogers , Kona Hawaii Sport Fishing |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 04-28-2006 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report ñ April wrap up ñ The blue marlin bite remained pretty decent in April. Not as many big ones as last month and the overall total seemed to be less but itÃs not even the start of peak blue marlin season yet. If the pre-season numbers and sizes are any indicator of whatÃs to come this summer, Kona again will prove to be the Pacific Blue Marlin capital of the world. There were even some straggler striped marlins caught this month. The spearfish bite should be at its peak right now but there arenÃt many around. They came in early this year so IÃm sure weÃll be seeing that bite going hot and cold for the next couple of months for spearfish. . Mahi mahi tops this months report as the most common catch. WeÃre right in the middle of the peak spring run on those. Normally the fall season run produces the bigger mahi mahi and the spring season run is the smaller schoolie dolphin. The average size being caught this spring season is pretty big with most weighing over 15 lbs. and the average being close to 20. Ono season is starting off with a bang. WeÃre just at the beginning of the season for them now. Last year the ono bite started off real good at the beginning of the season but went to almost no ono being caught in the peak season. Because of what happened last year, you wonÃt be getting any predictions from me on how that bite is going to turn out this year. ItÃs just a ìwait-n-seeî on that one. . The bottom bite has picked up pretty good. LotÃs of big sharks in the area also. After catching and releasing a 120 lb. amberjack earlier this week, we hooked up another close to the same size right after and it was eaten in one quick gulp by one of those big eating machines. Just the day before in the same area, we caught a giant trevally and a tiger shark followed it right up to the boat. All I could say is that it was HUGE! If youÃre looking to catch something thatÃs a lot bigger than you are, Sharks (also known as tax collectors around here) are the guaranteed catch right now. Last month I mentioned jigging and the modifications IÃve made to the Penn 9500. I did get some emails about it so I made a page up on my web site showing the mods and added a really good knot for joining braided line to mono. The URL is FISHinKONA.com/jigging.htm and there will be more info being added as time permits. Because of the sharks in the area, IÃve had to put jigging on hold. As I said last month, those Shimano jigs are expensive. The tax collectors (sharks) cost me way too much this month. Anyone else feel that way in April? . See ëya on the water, Capt. Jeff Rogers , Kona Hawaii Sport Fishing |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 03-30-2006 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report ñ March wrap-up . Big billfish top this months fishing report. KonaÃs biggest blue, biggest striped marlin, biggest spearfish and biggest sailfish for the year were caught this March. There actually were several big blues caught this month and the biggest was KonaÃs first ìgranderî of the year weighing in at 1,049 lbs. and boated on the Sea Genie II by angler Tommy Werner. Other marlin estimated as granders were also reported as fought and lost this month. While this typically isnÃt the time of year known for big billfish, itÃs proved many times through the years that a run of big ones can happen anytime. With that, just when we thought the striped marlin season was over, a run on those came in also. The biggest of the year was caught on the Hookele weighing in at 138 lbs. I got my fair share of stripe action too. Although very good eating, I released all of them this month, my biggest estimated at about 120 lbs. I still maintain the biggest stripe of the decade so far weighing in at 186 lbs. Each winter I stand a chance of loosing that claim but so far, so good. The biggest spearfish of the year came in early this month and weighted in at 63 lbs. Sailfish are rare in Hawaii and the boat that caught this years biggest one (so far) at 84 lbs. is even more rare. A 15à Hobie Power Skiff with a 50 HP. outboard motor. The sailfish jumped into the boat during the fight and landed in the lap of one of the two occupants who was sitting on a bucket. No injury was reported. . Mahi mahi season has started and though Kona maintained a fair amount of mahi mahi throughout the winter, we should be seeing even more in the months to come. The ono seem to be biting lately also. Small bigeye and yellowfin tuna are still on the buoys and ledges and March even produced some blind strike big yellowfin weighing well over 100 lbs. . The bottom bite has been slow. The main reason I think is that the baitfish have been rather large this season and the bottom fish running rather small. Sharks and jacks usually run in the 40 to 100+ lb. range but there seems to be a bunch of small ones down there this year. Jigging has been the key to getting ëem and IÃm sure glad that Shimano started promoting the ìButterfly Jig Systemî in the US recently. IÃve been using the Japanese style jigs for almost 10 years now. The problem was that I could only get good jigs by bumming them from my Japanese jigging clients. In the US, you could get Diamond, Tady and Salas jigs and it was even harder to find them in the size and weight it takes to deep jig the Kona waters. The Shimano jigs work much better by design and are now available at two of our local tackle shops. The jigs are expensive as are the hooks and connecting rings but the price is well worth it. The reels that they promote for jigging are expensive too. Instead of Shimano reels, IÃve been using self-modified Penn 9500 spinning reels and 5Ã5î spinning rods for years. The trick on the Penn reel is to install a 2nd silent anti-reverse dog and Loc-tite all the screws and nuts. Jigging is really hard on a reel and if you just take a 9500 out of the box and go jigging, it may not even last a single day. I also attach a 2nd handle. By shimming the handles up so they face the same direction, it really balances out the reel and itÃs much easier on the arms after a long day of jigging and a lot of fights. If anyone wants more information on my mods, shoot me an email. Jigging isnÃt just tough on equipment, itÃs also tough on the body. If you really get into this aggressive style of jigging, youÃre in for a work-out. When just one arm starts looking like it belongs to Popeye, you may want to take my 2 handle advise. ItÃs IGFA legal! See ëya on the water, Capt. Jeff Rogers , Kona Hawaii fishing |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 02-28-2006 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report ñ Feb. Ã06 wrap-up The winter season is nearing the end and it`s been a very mild winter so far. This is stormy season for Hawaiian waters but so far we`ve been blessed with flat waters almost all winter. The striped marlin never really came in this season. We had a few spurts of `em but nothing consistent. This make two years in a row of a slim stripie run and that followed three years of really good runs. We know very little about where the Hawaii striped marlin come from and go. Hawaii is such a small dot in the middle of a big ocean that I guess it can easily be passed by. Too bad the striped marlin aren`t more like the Humpback whales with a built in GPS. Mahi mahi has dominated the winter catch totals and thatÃs a little odd because when the water gets to be on the cold side (76) they usually aren`t around but we have had a lot of floating debris coming by the island. Nets, ropes, logs and with that stuff is usually mahi mahi no matter what the water temp. Spearfish is running a close 2nd to the mahi mahi catch and there has been blue marlin scattered (as usual) throughout the winter months. The bottom bite hasn`t been anything spectacular lately but I did catch the biggest amberjack of my career last month. Weighing in at 131 lbs., it`s the biggest amberjack caught since the new state record of 145 lbs. was caught in `02. The amount of sharks hanging around in the main bottom fishing area has lowered and the commercial snapper fishermen are liking that. Myself, I`d rater have some big sharks to fight. If you`re looking for a good battle, my personal experience is that between a marlin and a shark of the same weight, the shark usually fights longer and harder. While a marlin has the potential to be the tougher fight, they usually wear themselves out at the beginning of the battle and are pretty tired by the time you get them to the boat. With sharks, it`s near the boat when anglers need to be on their game and muster all the strength they can to get it to the boat and get the job done. While at leader next to the boat, sharks are usually more gentile and less dangerous than a P.O.`d marlin ÖÖ. As long as give up on thinking about getting your hook back. See ëya on the water, Capt. Jeff Rogers , Kona Hawaii fishing |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 12-31-2005 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report ñ Dec. wrap-up Better late than never. The striped marlin have finally showed up. TheyÃre running very small this year. Bad if youÃre looking for a good fight but great if youÃre looking for food fish. Hawaii striped marlin babies make the best sashimi! ItÃs also great seared on the outside and raw in the middle. Unlike the striped marlin caught off of Southern California and Mexico, Hawaii striped marlin meat is light pink and can even be orange in color. A very light, non-fishy flavor and if theyÃre less than 40 pounds, very tender also. Mahi mahi and spearfish are still biting along with blue marlin of all sizes. Over all, the trolling bite is slow. The current is going South and that usually slows the fishing here. It should switch back North soon. Shibi (baby yellowfin & bigeye tuna) are on the FADÃs and ledges as is typical in the winter time here. The humpback whales have started to show up also. While they donÃt have any effect on the fishing, itÃs an added bonus to see these huge animals. At the beginning of the Hawaii humpback season theyÃre pretty shy. Having theyÃre babies and teaching them a few things. Toward the end of winter, they start mating and thatÃs when they put on the big show. Jumps, tail slaps and fluke waving. I never get tired of seeing these animals play. The bottom bite is good for pink, red and gray snapper right now. The bigger bottom critters like amberjack, almaco jack, giant trevally and shark are in short supply. IÃve been having good luck catching sharks at the green buoy right in front of the harbor entrance. It couldnÃt be kept a secret for long. Other boats saw what I was doing and I also told a couple of guys. Now thereÃs a lot of competition for the few sharks that hang out there. Several boats are dropping baits at the buoy now in an attempt to make up for the slow trolling action. That makes it harder for me but it also forces to go find a new jack and shark honey hole close to the harbor. A friend of mine just installed a $30,000 forward and side scanning sonar on his boat. HeÃs very anxious for me to come out and play with it. IÃm anxious to go find some spots near the harbor full of fish and not have a bunch of boats hitting my hole. See ëya on the water, Capt. Jeff Rogers , Kona Hawaii fishing |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 11-28-2005 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report ñ Nov. Ã05 wrap-up Well, this month was definitely better than last month. The current has slowed down and the fish are starting to come back. The marlin bite is still slow. The striped marlin havenÃt showed up yet but there has been a few blues here and there. My luck with the blues has me singinà the blues. Up until November I had only lost one lure this year to a big marlin. In November I lost 3 big blues along with 3 big lures. The first one wrapped up in the leader and broke off leaving me just 5 inches of scuffed up leader when I got the line back. A boat near-by said he saw my fish with the lure stuck on the end of its nose. Another was lost with the failure of a professionally made wind-on leader. Another was lost when my crimp at the hook failed. I had a lot of pressure on the fish but it should have held. It seems like many of the boats are having the same kind of luck I am because few marlin catches have been reported this month. The mahi mahi bite is doing well. Most of them are pretty decent size. Mahi mahi tops the list of the most common catch right now. Currently weÃre having another flurry of spearfish. The 100+ ahi bite has slowed to near nothing but the babies (shibi) are hanging around the ledges and buoys. The bottom bite has been tough because the jacks and sharks only want live bait right now. ItÃs hard to imagine sharks being picky eaters but IÃve seen it with my own eyes. If itÃs wigglinà then it gets bit pretty fast otherwise, you can almost forget about getting a bite. Sharks are pretty much ruling the North grounds right now and with the marlin bite being slow, a greater number of Kona sport fishers are targeting the sharks for some action. Sharks donÃt fight anything like a marlin. Marlins usually make those spectacular runs and jumps at the beginning of a fight and typically wear themselves out fast and are pretty easy to get in after that. Sharks on the other hand tend to fight consistently and donÃt seem to tire out even on a long fight. Pound for pound, I think a marlin has the potential to fight harder than a shark but usually doesnÃt. The shark, while generally looked down upon in the sport fishing world as a good catch, deserves some respect for itÃs fighting ability. Even more respect if youÃre trying to get your hook back! See ëya on the water, Capt. Jeff Rogers , Kona Hawaii fishing |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 10-28-2005 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report ñ October Ã05 wrap-up. Mommy always said ìIf you donÃt have anything good to say then donÃt say anything at all.î This is where this report should end butÖ.. I never did do everything my mommy told me. October was one of the worst fishing months ever. The sea conditions werenÃt bad, the supply of baitfish has been pretty good although theyÃre not biting too readily. ItÃs just been a tough month to find anything bigger than bait fish out there. The marlin bite should still be pretty good this time of year but itÃs not. The striped marlin should be coming in soon and there were a couple of ëem caught recently so weÃre waiting to see how that season will pan out. We did see a little flurry of spearfish the first week of October but none after that. A few ono here and there but nothing consistent. The mahi mahi bite is supposed to be happening now and though there are a few being caught, itÃs a pretty poor showing for this time of year. The only bite that has been going on with some consistency is a yellowfin tuna bite in a porpoise school down by C buoy. ThereÃs a bunch of boats working that school daily so itÃs pretty crowded but there are a few 100+ pounders being pulled up every day. The bottom bite has been off too. A strong North current has made things difficult along with the bait fish being hard to get. IÃve been using frozen opelu as backup bait but a live mackerel or skipjack just canÃt be beat. The current slowed down yesterday and it even looked like itÃs trying to switch South. That gave me an opportunity to fish an area that I havenÃt fished in a while. I got a 40 lb. amberjack and a 350 lb. shark out of the deal. Just to make mommy happy, hereÃs something good to say. After a month like this, it can only get better from here. See `ya on the water, Capt. Jeff Rogers , Kona Hawaii fishing |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 09-26-2005 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report ñ Sept. Ã05 wrap-up Fishing in September is really a gamble in Kona. I was just looking at my September fishing report from last year along with my own catch records from September Ã04. What I saw prompted me to go ahead and look at my Ã03 and Ã02 reports also. I did find somewhat of a pattern. September is a good month for marlin overall but the bite seems to turn on and off throughout the month. Not just a slow down or pick-up. IÃm talking` a definite ON / OFF. It also seems to be one of the best months for big marlin. Several 500+ marlin are caught in September and this year proved it again with quite a few big marlin both brought in and many released. We also got to see Kona`s second ìgranderî marlin of the year this month weighing in at 1197 lbs. caught on the 5th during a Labor day benefit tournament. So what tides, moon phase, solunar table should you look at before picking the day(s) for your September big marlin trip? I suggest the most scientific method. Stand back and throw a dart at the calendar! The pattern I found is that there is no pattern to this ON / OFF month. Ahi are still a fairly common catch right now but the bite is quickly turning from a blind strike bite to a porpoise school only bite. The mahi mahi stuck with us all summer with a few here / few there and the season for them is just around the corner so expect the bite on these to pick up real soon. As for ono and spearfish, not too much action on those. Otaru are around feeding on shrimp at the surface but don`t seem to be very interested in any trolling plugs you want to throw at them. The bottom bite is usually a little slow in the summer. My last bottom fishing trip got me fast hook-ups but I`m not sure the slow season is over yet. Live bait was harder than usual to get this summer and with live bait being the best bait, it definitely had an effect on my summer catch rate. The mackerel finally started showing up and they`re biting so there`s hope that even if the top water bite shuts OFF, we can get a good tug on the line by dropping live bait to the bottom. See `ya on the water, Capt. Jeff Rogers , Kona Hawaii fishing |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 07-31-2005 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report ñ July ë05 Kona is doing what Kona is famous for. Producing a whole lot of Pacific Blue marlin. The summer is the peak season for blues here and thereÃs several tournaments going on also. Tournaments make finding the bite and counting the catch results off Kona easier because itÃs all broadcasted on the VHF radio. Tournament boats are required to call in their hook-ups, fights, fish landed or tagged so if one particular area has a bunch of fish biting, the information gets out immediately. Under normal circumstances, VHF radio is rarely used to talk to our other fishing friends. We all use cell phones so no one else can listen in so a hot bite in an area can generally go unreported to the majority of the fleet ëtil the end of the day when weÃre all lookinà to see whoÃs flying the fish flags and the ìdock talkî goes around about where the action was. Many of us who tag and release marlin and fillet out our smaller fish donÃt even report the event to The Fuel Dock who keeps the best daily catch board of the fish weighed in and also lists tagged fish if the boats report it to them. Their catch board is a good general indicator if the bite is good or slow but itÃs always yesterdays news and leaves out the most important piece of information. WhereÃs the bite? Right now it really doesnÃt matter where you go because the marlin are everywhere. There does seem to be a pattern of the bigger ones in close and the smaller ones on the outside though. While I was on vacation (end of June / beginning of July) I heard that the yellowfin tuna bite got so good that the fish buyers didnÃt even want them anymore. Yellowfin isnÃt something you would normally release because itÃs the highest dollar fish we have here but if there are no buyersÖ.. Yes, I heard that some were released because they were just too hard to get rid of. There are a few mahi mahi around but I guess we should just give up on seeing any kind of an ono run happen this summer. Because of my vacation I was also only going by hear-say about the bottom bite. I hear that the sharks have been in full force making it hard to catch any of the good eating stuff like snapper or grouper. IÃve done a few drops since IÃve been back and didnÃt have too much of a problem hooking up to amberjack, almaco jack, palani and snapper. I only had a couple of shark bites so maybe the main shark population has moved on. I hope not! If itÃs a big fish fight youÃre looking for, a good size shark can really put an angler to the test! See `ya on the water, Capt. Jeff Rogers , Kona Hawaii fishing |
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Posted By: | Chip Van Mols | Date Posted: | 06-01-2005 | |
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Kona Fish Report and news from Rod Bender Sportfishing. May 31, 2005 This year spring really sprung in Kona with some of the best blue marlin action weÃve had during this time frame in the last few years. Great numbers of 500lb +++ fish too, which is normal for this time of year here but better than average this year! Late March thru May quite often produces the first Grander of the year and this year was no exception. The first near miss came in late April on board the Sundowner and weighed 991.5lb, then another a few weeks later a 968lb on the High Noon. Blue marlin of all sizes continued to bite and then finally on Friday the 20th May it happened, 1132.5lb blue marlin captured aboard the Five Star! There were several 500+lb blues and lots of smaller ones caught that day, it was going off! The very next day it shut down completely but it has come back around to fair bite and will bust loose again any day now. To make things even better this spring was the late arrival of striped marlin which were scattered all over the place and some pretty good numbers of spearfish too. Several big yellowfin tuna have already been caught in the blind and the porpoise schools are starting to hold them well also. Deep water wahoo have also moved in making a nuisance of themselves among our marlin lures with their razor teeth but yes they do eat very nicely! The hardest thing to catch during this period were the charters to get you out there, which is typical of spring here, but for those lucky enough to get out you had the good spots to yourself. Some years itÃs big blues or nothing during spring but this year we had it all! I would expect the next grander to come in the next three weeks or so! Stay tuned! HereÃs how we did on the Rod Bender for the few trips we did this past May. May 2, Full day with Gerry Bailey. We had the hum today and started Gerry off tagging his first marlin ever, a stripey est. 125lb. We then backed that up tagging his first and then second spearfish, both est. 35lb. ìsure would be nice to find him a Blue tooî and there it was on the long corner tube, whoosh! 15 minutes later Gerry is getting his photo taken with his 500+lb blue marlin alongside the boat for unhooking and release! Grand Slam, and a nice one too! May 4th, group half day, we tagged two stripeys from a double header. Missed a small blue too. May 9th, half day with returning angler Barry Barber from Florida. I tried to talk Barry into a full day but he reminded me that when he fished with us 2 years prior he caught a 200 pound and a 600 pound blue both on half day trips soÖ half day it is. It didnÃt take long, about an hour into the morning and my Smash bait on the short corner gets SMASHED and starts doing what it likes to do which is going backward behind large blue marlin at warp speed! Tough fight on this one but 45minutes or so later Barry is checking out his 700+ pound blue marlin beside the boat for release. The set of Hays Hooks IÃm testing in that lure really did the trick, test passed, strong as too. We set up and trolled back into the strike zone and promptly caught Barry a spearfish. Set back up again, went about 200 yards, and my long corner tube disappears into a massive hole of white water, YIKES here we go again! BarryÃs wife Karen hops into the chair on this one and everythingÃs going great , all settled down, IÃm thinking how weird it would be to catch husband and wife both fish over 600lbs on a half day and the hook pulls. WeÃll never know how large that one was but it sure moved an impressive amount of water on the strike and got a lot of string out! Karen then came back with a spearfish of her own! Only in Kona! I suggested Barry try fishing a tournament or two but I canÃt find any half day tournaments! May 11th, holo holo, My daughter Jada and I left the dock about 10:30 or so with my new crew Will for a little shakedown and to see if Jada could up her junior world record a few notches. She jumped off a little blue, caught a stripey est. 120lb and two spearfish to boot. In by 3:30pm, Good Fun! May 12th, Holo holo, I have big blue marlin fever, they are here, another training day for Will is in order and I bring along Terry to crank. We promptly jumped off a 250 then tagged a 150lb blue. Backed that up with a couple spearfish and finished the day jumping off a blue around 400lb. We tried a legend lures ZEUS teaser off the cleat on the long corner side today and immediately added a shock rubber to the tow rope, ItÃs going to get smoked! May 17th, half day with Dan and his wife from North Carolina. We go straight down to my Zone, smack on my first set of marks, and there she is on the long corner tube behind Zeus. What a bite this was! Inside out sideways and did a big slashing 180 degree turn with the lure then launched itself (really high) straight back across the spread, over my long rigger and shotgun and under the short rigger, landing well outside the opposite side of the spread and started smoking. Looked 800+, I about fell off my chair! No tangles either. 50 minutes later Dan is standing alongside a really fat one weÃll call 750+ for the tag and release! Hey Guys! How about some copies of the boatside photoÃs please! May 21st, Half Day golf superintendents tourney, Big shutdown the day after the grander bite, I was foaming at the mouth in anticipation when we pulled out! 12 boats and one 125lb blue is the only marlin caught. We caught an ono. May 27th, full day, itÃs a new ocean out there and the fish have figured out a new way to feed, 0 for 2 on small blues, 0 for 2 on spearfish and 0 for 2 on wahoo. Rubber hooks! May 28th, full day, 0 for 2 on small blues again, 0 for 1 on spearfish but we did catch 2 from 3 shots at nice sized deep water wahoo so the boys got plenty of fillet to take home. It has really started to pick up again over the weekend and a few big ones are starting to show up again! Peak blue marlin and yellowfin tuna season are right around the corner and this next moon should be a lulu. WeÃre flat out starting the 16th of June thru the 5th of August after which we have a lot of prime open time in August for anyone looking for some summer action. September, also one of my favorite months here, has plenty open time as well. LetÃs rock!!! Good Fishing and Aloha, Chip Capt. Chip Van Mols Rod Bender Sportfishing bvanmols@rod-bender.com www.konasportfishingcharters.com 808-960-5954 |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 05-29-2005 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report ñ May ë05 The big fish just keep getting bigger! Kona now has itÃs first ìgranderî of the year thanks to the captain, crew and angler of the Five-Star. The blue marlin weighted in at 1,132.5 lbs. There were a few ìbeastsî caught this month also. A ìbeastî is a marlin over 500 lbs. and one of those was caught on stand-up tackle!! Not to toot my own horn too loud but yes, it was with me. Kona captains rarely use stand-up tackle for anything but catching baitfish. IÃve been a stand-up fan for a long time now for both bottom fishing and trolling. While IÃve caught several mahi mahi, ono, spearfish and sharks up to 1000+ lbs. on stand-up Penn 30Ãs (modified) loaded with 100 lb. braided line, the biggest marlins I ever got on these rigs were in the 200 lb. range. Not much of a fight. To top off the difficulty of a 500+ lb. beast, this marlin was also foul hooked in the left shoulder. This gives any fish a better mechanical advantage. Even so, angler Bud Foster got the fish (after it took 600 yards of line out on itÃs first run) up to the boat in about 40 minutes. The mechanical advantage the angler had with proper stand-up technique, modern equipment and just pure strength was enough to overpower any advantage that foul hooked marlin had. She was in good shape when we got her to the boat so we decided to just photo and release. Mahi mahi should be in full swing right now but there is a severe lack of those sweet tasting critters. ItÃs a good thing the spearfish are biting good right now. The ono bite is picking up real good also so it should be a good season for them. Blind strike ahi are still being caught but not in the numbers that we saw last month. The bottom bite has been real slow for everything but sharks. Even if itÃs not a shark that takes your bait at first, it wonÃt take long for `em to find what you hooked up and gobble it down. Although I hooked some ìbeastî sharks this month, we broke leader, line, cable or pulled hook on all of `em. I made 2 new rigs with heavy tri swivels to try to beef up the strength of my bottom fishing rigs but the welds broke! Back to tying knots. Anyone here know a knot stronger than a dropper loop that you can tie using 300 lb. test mono leader???? See `ya on the water, Capt. Jeff Rogers , Kona Hawaii fishing |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 04-28-2005 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report ñ April Ã05 ñ The billfish bite was real good for April. ItÃs still going strong now. ItÃs mostly spearfish with blue marlin of every size mixed in. Personally, IÃm still having problems getting a decent billfish bite. HereÃs an example of the kind of luck IÃve been having lately. IÃm up on ìthe groundsî last week trying to catch live bait. The baitfish are in the area but not biting too well. I finally get a bait bite on the rod that I set and then notice we had a double baitfish hookup but my customer forgot to set the clicker on his reel. His baitfish already had about 2/3 of the Shimano TLD25 emptied. He gets his bait about Ω way back to the boat and then something grabs it and starts running with it. There had been some bottlenose dolphin in the area so I just figured it was one of them. I push the drag up to strike on the 25 lb. test and suddenly a huge blue marlin makes itÃs hook up jump behind the boat. Now were hooked to a huge blue with a bait rod! Right about the time I was contemplating turning a chasing it, the line broke. Good thing anyway, we really couldnÃt have done much with a fish that size on such light tackle. That marlin (or possibly another huge one) was hooked a little later, a short distance away. Angler Kevin Poynter fishing on the Sundowner with Capt. Darrin Isaacs pulled in what is now KonaÃs biggest fish of the year. A 991 Ω pounder. Just shy of that elusiveì granderî victory. Anyone think there was a chance at it on a bait rod with 25 lb. test? The ahi, mahi mahi, ono, and shibi bite it also good right now. Some of the ahi are getting caught in the porpoise schools but most are getting caught ìin the blindî. ThereÃs been some 100+ bigeye tuna getting caught in the blind also. Ono lane is producing many of the ono but theyÃre also biting in the deep. With the trolling bite doing good, IÃm only spending a small portion of the day bottom fishing lately. If you know where to go, it doesnÃt take long to hook up. The middle of April we hooked up to a shark (one of five) that quickly took out over 300 yards of 100 lb. test line with the drag cranked up high. I was backing down the boat hard and it was still taking line fast. I was turning to chase when the leader snapped. I figured it had to be a tiger shark by the way it fought. The next day in the same area, same anglers, we got to see the beast. Estimating it to be every bit of 1000 lbs. I threw a skipjack tuna to it and although it followed it, sniffing it out for some time, it just wouldnÃt take the bait. Yesterday, in that same area, another grander tiger (or possibly the same one?) came in trying to eat a 50 lb. amberjack we were hauling in. The water was real flat so we all got a good look at it. No one on the boat wanted to have anything to do with a beast that big. The best angler I had on the boat was still huffinà and puffinÃ, out of strength from fighting the amberjack. IÃll be out tomorrow and the next day with an experienced jig fisherman that has fished with me several times over the years. He brings his own tackle and only wants to jig but IÃm hoping I can talk him in to going after that tiger with one of my new 2 speed Penn Int. V reels. ItÃs PennÃs latest model and so far, IÃm very impressed with the performance. If we do catch that tiger, you wonÃt see a picture of it hanging dead at the dock! I get a few of these beasts hooked up every year, It could even be the exact same ones. A photo and release will do just fine. See `ya on the water, Capt. Jeff Rogers , Kona Hawaii fishing |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 02-24-2005 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report Feb. ë05 The trolling catch in Kona diminished in February from a really good catch in the first part of the month to only a good catch recently. We`re still getting lots of hits but everyone here is having ìrubber hook syndromeî. When the fish get less aggressive, they tend to just zip off a little line and then come off. Captains and crews start changing hook sizes, angles, length in the skirts and of course sharpening the hooks to a fine needle point. That helps somewhat but if the fish just won`t hit hard, there`s not much you can do. I had a REALLY HUGE marlin (well over 500 lbs) checking out one of my lures a couple of days ago and even though I teased her with it, she just watched it for a while and then moved on. There are some really big marlin swimming the Kona waters right now. Two monsters were caught this week. The biggest of year is now 923 1/2 lbs. and that same day, another marlin over 700 was caught. Most of the bites in Kona are still coming from spearfish. These guys are really stealthy and have a tendency to grab-let go-grab-let go-grab-let go. They`re really hard to hook when they do that. The striped marlin and mahi mahi are doing the single hit and run thing. If you donÃt hook `em on the first hit, chances are that they won`t come back for a second try. Ono are still biting in the deep. Plenty of shibi and otaru still around. The current is pulling North again and appears to be stable. ThatÃs always good for the bite right in front of the harbor and North of the airport. The bottom bite has been slow because of the recent inconsistent currents. It could also be that the big sharks that were here for the last two months sent the typical reef dwellers running for their lives. The shark activity seems to have shifted to the South and that`s good because the best bottom fishing is a short run North of the harbor. Tourism here is Kona is going full tilt! All the hotels are full. Many boats going out. This is odd for February but I think I know the reason. The mainland U.S. has been getting slammed with some pretty foul weather. Many mainlanders go to Florida or the Caribbean to escape the nasty weather but because those places are still repairing and cleaning up from all those hurricanes, Hawaii seems like (and is) the better option. The sun is shining, the waters are flat and the fish are biting, biting, biting Ö.. well as long as they keep biting, sharpen those hooks more, you`re just one hook-up away from the fish of a life time. See `ya on the water, Capt. Jeff Rogers , Kona Hawaii fishing |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 01-28-2005 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report ñ Jan. wrap-up. The good trolling bite is still happening in Kona. I could just about copy and paste last months fishing report in here because not much has changed. Mostly spearfish coming in followed by mahi mahi, striped and blue marlin, shibi and otaru but thereÃs yet another fish to add to the list this month. Ono (wahoo) are normally a summertime fish but we do get small runs from time to time in the winter. Mostly ono like to hang near shore but sometimes they wander the deep. Right now weÃre having a deep water ono run. The bottom bite slowed just a little and most (but not all) of the sharks have moved on. Baitfish along the ledge of the grounds are few between and not readily biting either. Live bait always out shines dead baits when bottom fishing. Two days ago Capt. Rennie Boyd was fishing near me and he called my cell to talk about what was going on. I had just landed an amberjack and it got shark bit on the way up. The Capt. Rennie decided he would switch to shark fishing. He called me later and said that three tiger sharks, each over 1000 lbs. were feeding near his boat. He had one hooked for a while but didnÃt get it to the boat. He did catch and release a dusky shark about 400 lbs. though. Yesterday I fished that same area and hooked up one of those 1000 pound tigers. About an hour into the fight the three main gear screws sheared off and jammed the spool tight. I towed the fish around for a couple of minutes and then gunned the boat to break the line. ItÃs a fairly new reel but a fish like that really puts a strain on the tackle. Our disappointment was short lived. About 15 minutes later, trolling on the way home, we caught a 545 lb. blue marlin plus we already had a rainbow runner for the dinner table caught earlier in the day. As of the end of 2004, I became the top sportfish catching captain in Kona for the 8th year in a row. Capt. Guy Terwilliger was my closest competitor and my hatÃs off to him because he did it mostly by trolling and only some bottom fishing. It was a common site last year to see Capt. Guy flying one or more fish flags nearly every trip. When I talked to him a few weeks ago about his catch percentages, they werenÃt very far below mine. A year ago this month I decided to put my money where my mouth was and offer $100 off your full day charter if we didnÃt catch at least one fish. My 2004 stats for January were really suffering because I had already missed catching on three days. After making the offer, I only missed two more days the rest of the year. An extra $100 in the pocket sure is a good motivator! See `ya on the water, Capt. Jeff Rogers , Kona Hawaii fishing |
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Posted By: | Chip Van Mols | Date Posted: | 01-09-2005 | |
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Kona Fish Report, Jan. 9 Ã05, Capt. Chip Van Mols reporting from the ROD BENDER. The wintertime variety season is upon us here in Kona and IÃll give the coast a fair or medium rating so far this season. WeÃre still waiting for the bulk of our small striped marlin to show up but the largest concentration of sub 100lb blue marlin IÃve ever experienced has helped fill the gap left by the tardy stripeys. The little blues, 25 to 80lb were particularly thick the last week of December. Spearfish have moved in now and pretty much a daily occurrence with some days seeing them thick as thieves, IÃve seen a few boats come in with 4 spearfish days. Seems like weÃve been averaging 3 or so bites a day from mahi mahi 15 to 35lb so weÃve all been eating well and if you find something floating look out, youÃll catch a bunch. A few thumper blue marlin around as usual just to keep you honest and we got thumped ourselves a couple times since my last report, damnit! Biggest blue so far this year was 670 something and was caught by the MADUSA last week. On the weather front, weÃve been getting our usual weather fronts, thunder, lightning (which is rare), and rain today so IÃm happy behind my computer but mostly the days are sunny 80 degrees with moderate to flat calm seas. ThatÃs the way we like it! HereÃs how we did on the Rod Bender since my last report: Dec. 13th, full day for three mahi mahi Dec.15th, half day for zip Dec. 18th, full day. We caught 3 nice mahiÃs missed a couple stripeys and a spearfish and got blown away by a 400lb blue marlin on 20lb, Ouch! Dec.22nd, full day with returning friends Vince and Patty Carr. Pattie caught her first blue marlin! A 90lb model. We also caught three mahiÃs for the BBQ and had a few other shots at spears I think. Dec. 23rd, full day with Graham McCoy and his partner. 1 for 3 on little blues tagging one about 70lb. 2 mahi for the BBQ. Dec. 24th, Full day with Graham again and we tagged a stripey about 50lb and a spearfish about 30lb. 2 more mahi and we missed a few other shots on various little billfish Merry Christmas! Dec. 27th, full day with the Dave Hawkins party. Our party of 5 caught 5 billfish today; everybody got one and our first grandslam of the season too. We tagged 3 blues from 4 shots est. 35lb, 65lb and 80lb. 1 spearfish about 45+lb from 3 shots on them and 1 striped marlin est. 100lb from one shot. DonÃt forget the 25lb mahi for the BBQ. Happy New Year! Jan 3rd, Ω day with Leslie Steidel and her 2 boys. Leslie caught a nice mahi right out of the gate then our hooks turned to rubber going 0 from 6 shots on spearfish leaving the boys empty handed, we did get one to leader but he fell off out of tag range, sorry boys. Jan. 4 and 5 we had Ted Wills who came to Kona from the east coast to finish his 10 billfish royal slam with the addition of a shortnose spearfish, day one we accomplished that goal with Ted tagging a 30 pounder and his son catching a couple mahi mahi, one a nice sized bull. Missed a stripey and another spear too. Day two Ted brought his daughter Megan to try for the slam and we started off early with a quick spearfish about 30lb, then a Mahi, a missed strike or two and then HERE SHE COMES, 700lb blue eats the long rigger and weÃre off to the races. It all went well chasing her down except the other boat that was in the fishÃs path and cut us off, bad luck! It almost jumped in their cockpit, no ones fault, IÃm sure they were as shocked as I was pissed. Right after that Megan tagged a blue about 100lb and the search was on for the stripey to fill out the slam but we couldnÃt find one. Jan.7th, half day and we forgot to put quarters in the fish machine before we left, no hits, no runs, no errors! Very slow for everybody today but should start to fire again after this front passes and the current starts moving again. So there you have it, averaging around 2 billfish per day and still have a shot at monster and get to catch dinner too. When the stripeys show up itÃll be nuts. TheyÃll rattle you outriggers all day when they arrive! Humpback whales are full speed right now too. The whole tackle stores on board now, weÃre just waiting for you to come over and join in the fun. Questions? email bvanmols@rod-bender.com, call 808-960-5954 and have a look at the Rod Bender on www.konasportfishingcharters.com . WeÃll both be glad you did! Tight lines, good fishin and Aloha! Chip Capt. Chip Van Mols |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 12-31-2004 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report ñ Dec. 2004 wrap-up The year is ending with an awesome bite going on in Kona. On the top of the catch list is spearfish. ItÃs not even time for them to show up yet but they`re here in large numbers. They donÃt fight very hard but these rare billfish are really cool looking. Kind of like a cross between a sailfish and a marlin with a short nose. They`re also good eating. Most Kona fishermen prefer eating spearfish to mahi mahi or ono. Mahi mahi is the second most common catch but the list goes on Ö.. Blue marlin and striped marlin are both biting. Most of the blues are small but there`s some big girls swimming around too. The striped marlin aren`t here in big numbers yet but it`s still early in the season. I`m keeping my fingers crossed. To top off the great trolling action is blind strike ahi and otaru. This is usually a bite that happens in the summer. We do get shibi (small yellowfin and bigeye tuna) on the buoys and ledges in the winter but the size of these tuna and the fact that they`re just biting in the blind makes this an unusual month. The bottom bite has been the best way to get something huge on the line. Lots of big sharks moved in. Tiger, dusky, Galapagos and the usual sandbar sharks are thick as thieves. The Sandbars are up to 100 lbs, the Galapagos are 100 ñ 400 lbs., the dusky`s are 100 ñ 600 lbs. and the tigers are 750 - 1000 lbs. The commercial fishermen that fish for snapper this time of year are really mad about the shark invasion. Snapper fetches a good price on the market around new-years eve/day being a traditional Japanese dish. The snapper get chopped before they can get them up. Since IÃm into the sport of fishing, I find this shark invasion to be a great opportunity to test the strength and skill of anglers using my modified stand-up tackle. IÃve broken the gimbaled butts of two rods and shattered a fighting belt this month. We got the fish anyway! The belt was a total loss but IÃve already replaced and beefed up the rod butts. For those regular readers of my report, remember last month I mentioned the bait-stealing bottlenose dolphin? Well, about a week after my last report, I hooked one about 350 lbs. right in the corner of the jaw with a circle hook. My two anglers that day were both too old and weak to handle such a beast so I got to fight the fish (ooops mammal) on stand-up tackle and drive the boat at the same time. It`s this kind of stuff that makes this job so much fun! It adds a whole new dimension to a fight when the thing pulling on the other end of the line has intelligence. Leaping summersaults, long hard runs and circling the boat at high speed but it made one big mistake. About 20 minutes into the fight it decided to go deep and try to cut me off on some rocks. I kept the line straight up & down to prevent getting snagged. It stayed down a little too long and when it came up for air, it was so winded and out of breath that getting it close to the boat to cut the line was pretty easy. For those of you thinking that fighting this dolphin to the boat was cruel, consider what would have happened if I had cut the line while right after it took the bait. Trailing a couple hundred yards of 100 lb. test line, pulling it`s resistance through the water, getting too tired and weak to feed or maybe even getting it`s tail wrapped up in the line. A slow and painful death. Instead, while fishing the same area a couple of days later some bottlenose came by the boat to check things out. While the others swam away, one of them, about 350 lbs. came right up to the boat several times and kept staring at us, checking the people out. Because of it`s unusual fascination with the people standing on the deck, me included, IÃm pretty sure it was that same dolphin even though I didnÃt see it wearing its fashionable circle hook lip ring. See `ya on the water, Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Chip Van Mols | Date Posted: | 12-08-2004 | |
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Kona Fish Report, Dec.8th 2004, Capt. Chip Van Mols reporting from the Rod Bender. Yep itÃs been awhile since my last report, thatÃs because there hasnÃt been a lot to report on. One of the slower fall seasons weÃve had in the last several years. Things went pretty quite in early Oct. with only the odd small blue marlin around except the last week of that month when a wave 500 to 700lb fish swept past and an occasional mahi mahi started showing up in the blind. I then departed for Australia and a weeks fishing on the Great Barrier Reef, which was outstanding this year! Returned to Kona on the 13th of Nov. to find little change in the fishing here. Plenty of bait in the form of small skipjack tuna getting around on the outside but not much here to eat it. The mahi mahi had increased a little, generally this time of year is the start of the mahi season and bigger individuals will be encountered in the blind and we start keeping an eye out for floaters that may hold schools of them and there has been a few of those. The second half of Nov. did give us a little wave of small blues with the odd 400lb model mixed in to keep you on your toes. Some years November gives us great runs of small to large blues that follow in the juvenal skipjack we have this time of year. You never know about this place, we get great runs of blue marlin whenever they feel like showing up. Now itÃs Dec.8th and what most of us are waiting for are our winter runs of striped marlin and spearfish, which can provide great action on light tackle when they get going. Should be any day now we start seeing them, often theyÃre here already by now but they can wait till the end of Dec. to early Jan. sometimes. Hopefully we get an early Christmas present this year! Or better yet a big run of Blues! IÃve been on the bench the last couple weeks healing up a hook wound through my left Achilles tendon but hereÃs how we did on Rod Bender the since my return from down under. Nov.14, Double half-day group charter for Red Bull. We caught a mahi in the morning and a mahi in the afternoon. We were top boat for the 10-boat group, a bit slow. Nov.16, Full Day with Scott. All zeroÃs today. Nov.18, Full Day with returning anglers Mike and Debby Morris. Mike and Deb usually pop in around this time of year and theyÃve seen it hot and cold for a variety of species, catching three blues in one day in Oct. and 5 stripes and couple spearfish in one day during Nov. in the past. We caught a spearfish today to avoid the skunk. DidnÃt see much else though. Nov.20 thru 22, full days with Jon Smyth and friends to try for blue marlin on stand-up gear. Day one we caught 2 or three big skipjack and I think we missed a small blue (could have been a big mahi). Day two we caught 2 mahi mahi 20 to 25lb. and jumped off a 200+ blue on 30lb standup at the end of the day. We also watched a boat hook and catch a 400+ blue right next to us, the only blue for the fleet that day but we know where they are! Day three, we pounded the area and were finally rewarded with a double header on small blues and released them both, 70 pounds each! I said small but they were blues! Another 25lb mahi finished out the day. ThatÃs a bit better. Nov. 26th, I did a little moonlighting as deckhand today on a friends boat for a æ day. I got the spread out on our way to the grounds (the area from last three dayer), got the first angler in the chair for the rundown and bang weÃre hooked to a small mahi mahi. The day just kept going like that and by about 11:00 am we have three mahi mahi, three big skipjack and a blue marlin about 130lbs. Just get set up again and weÃre hooked to another mahi about 25 pounds, I gaff him (a bit shallow) and go to pin his head in the corner for the hog tie and pops off the gaff and gets me the with the other hook in my ankle. Sorry folks gonna have to make this a half day! Moral of the story, if you fish double hook rigs when these yellow basturds are around, gaff them good in the head and if they fall of the gaff RUN!!!!! Or fish single hooks. I know very few fisherman here that havenÃt been hooked by a mahi like this and if they do it long enough they will get it, itÃs not if, itÃs WHEN! OK, itÃs variety time here, got the whole tackle store on board the boat; 16lb to 130lb tackle, just waiting to see what shows up tomorrow! Should be striped marlin madness anytime now followed and joined by spearfish and as many blue marlin as want to join in. Throw in a few mahi for BBQ and thatÃs what you should expect from this place thru March, seems we average about 3 billfish releases per day from now till then and grand slams happen this time of year too! Come and thaw your bones. Questions: email bvanmols@rod-bender.com or call 808-960-5954, IÃm always happy to help! www.konasportfishingcharters.com Tight lines, good fishin and Aloha! Chip |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 11-27-2004 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report ñ Nov. wrap-up The mahi mahi bite is still going strong with baby blue marlin pulling in close as the number two bite while out on the open troll. Some bigger marlin are around too but not many. The striped marlin season is close so they should be showing up soon. Along the ledges thereÃs plenty of bait and some otaru running around. IÃve been live baiting the ledges a lot lately and trying to stay away from the many many many barracuda that have also been cruising the tops of the ledges. TheyÃre notorious bait choppers and are very good at not taking the hook. TheyÃve even been coming out and nailing me in the deep sometimes. Barracuda are not a common fish here in Kona and I donÃt know what brought them here but as long as thereÃs ample food for ëem, I guess theyÃll be staying. Another pest for the live bait bite has been bottlenose dolphin. TheyÃre also very good at stealing bait and not getting the hook but I did manage to hook one of ëem recently. Those things sure can pull! Luckily, by giving it some slack line it was able to shake the hook and I didnÃt have to deal with it at the boat. IÃve been catching mahi mahi with the live bait too and hoping for some marlin but no luck lately. My last catch (and release) on live bait was a surprise. A Galapagos shark of about 200 lbs. At first I thought I had a marlin on. How disappointing :( The bottom bite hasnÃt changed much since last months report. Kind of slow but still producing some kind of a catch. Mostly amberjack, almaco jack, shark and snapper. I got new toys to play with! As if three boats werenÃt enough, IÃm adding another one to my line-up. ItÃs a Stamas 310 center console. You can see the review at http://www.offshoremag.net/reviews/stamas_31tarpon1/index.html Twin Yanmar inboards and a bow thruster! IÃve got it all geared up now and will be taking it out this Tuesday for the shake down run. IÃll be offering this boat for EXTREAM SPORTFISHING! No fighting chair on this boat, itÃs big game stand-up for experienced anglers only. The main tackle is new Penn 50 VSW two speeds (4 of ëem) on Diawa rods loaded with 1000 yards of 100 lb. test. 750 yards of braided line topped with 250 yards of mono. These new Penn 50Ãs seem like they can handle the load but if not, the drags are easily modified and beefed up. IÃve been using beefed up Penn 30Ãs loaded with 100 lb. braid on all my boats for many years. IÃve never found that the tackle was too weak for any fish IÃve hooked up, my biggest being a tiger shark at about 1000 lbs. The problem has always been weak anglers. IÃm hoping the Penn 50 two speeds will make it easier on ëem. I hate anglers that whine : ) See `ya on the water, Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 10-23-2004 | |
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Mahi mahi season is here, right on schedule. ThatÃs amazing considering that fish donÃt have calendars or maps along with the fact that historically, they rarely do show up exactly when they are supposed to. I have a fishing season calendar on my web site and above that is the disclaimer that fish, like party guests don't always show up when they should and sometimes they still hang around when they're supposed to leave. So what about the fish other than mahi mahi on that calendar? Typical of that disclaimer, the blue marlin bite should be good and itÃs not. Spearfish are still coming in and they shouldnÃt be. Where are the bigeye tuna? I guess they got lost. Some yellowfin are still being caught out of the porpoise schools and the ono bite is actually pretty good right now. The bottom bite should be kickin` into high gear but that bite has slowed down recently. The currents have been switching back and forth this past week so the hunt is on. The old fishin` holes are dried up so itÃs a matter of finding where they moved to. Five and a half years ago I started a tagging program for jacks. Giant trevally (in the jack family), almaco jack and amberjack. The state of HawaiiÃs DAR (Dept. of Aquatic Resources) started sponsoring my program shortly after and now thereÃs taggers on all the islands. Last week I put a tag in my 1000th fish. The news made the local paper and will also be in Sport Fishing magazine. DAR had already published the news of the 1000th tag several months back but that was news to me. My records didnÃt reflect 1000 tagged fish. The difference came about because they were counting fish caught that were previously (several hundred of them) tagged. IÃve been re-releasing the fish with the original tag still attached. Recording the information like length and area caught but there was no need to put another tag in `em. So, counting the fish that I actually put a tag in, I finally hit the 1000 mark. This also happened while I was doing a photo shoot/story for a Japanese fishing magazine called Salt World. Lucky me! A cute little Japanese girl got jack #1000 so itÃs really her photo that makes the story worth publishing :) See `ya on the water, Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 09-29-2004 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report ñ Sept. wrap-up The marlin bite really turned on last week and this week. Just about every boat that has been fishing North of the airport and using live bait has been scoring. Most of the marlin are running between 100 and 200 lbs. though a few bigger girls have been hooked and lost (man IÃm going to miss that lure). The bite is starting to taper down now. There were still a couple of boats that scored yesterday but nothing like it was earlier this week and last week where you could see several fights going on at once and even more marlin crashing bait schools on the surface. TheyÃre feeding on skipjack tuna but some of those tuna are much bigger than bait size. Some of them that weÃve been catching are over 20 pounds and a lot of fun for the anglers on light tackle. The bottom bite has been VERY good. The amberjack have been running bigger than normal with most of them in the 50 to 100 lb. range. ThereÃs been no waiting for this bite to happen. As soon as you send one of those tuna (the smaller ones) toward the bottom, youÃre hooked up! As many of you know that regularly read my reports, I love the bottom bite. I havenÃt seen any big sharks in the area yet but I hook most sharks while bottom fishing. I expect that it wonÃt take too long for a real big one to come nosing around where all the action has been. Other fish that have been coming into the docks recently are mahi mahi, ono, spearfish and ahi. Not a lot of ëem but all really good eating stuff! IÃve been eating plenty of ono lately but what I really have my taste buds set for is some spearfish. IÃve been putting out my best spearfish lure but only seem to be hooking up to ono and small marlin with it. Fun action for my anglers on the stand-up tackle. See `ya on the water, Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Chip Van Mols | Date Posted: | 09-25-2004 | |
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Kona Fish Report, September 24, 2004 Capt. Chip Van Mols reporting from the ROD BENDER Yes, I know itÃs been awhile! My apologies. We had a busy summer season on the Rod Bender but now the charters have slowed down and IÃve got a bit of time to type and catch up. My last report ended around July 7th and IÃll give a brief (hah hah) overview of our summer, which is still in progress, some years itÃs hard to tell when summers over and winters starting! From June 21st thru August 28th we fished a total of 52 full days, 2 æ days and 3 half days. For our efforts we tallied up31 blue marlin all caught on lures and released with the largest estimated at 750lb. 8 yellowfin tuna over the hundred pound mark with the largest weighing in at 188lb. 3 striped marlin, released. 9 spearfish, some released some for BBQ and 1 lonely lost sailfish, released. Not our finest summertime work but there it is for god and everyone to see. Very inconsistent currents and very little skipjack tuna around this July and August making it difficult to get the rhythm thing happening for more than a day or two. But, on the days when it came together we had a blast and most our parties this summer got see at least some good action. The big fish were a bit thin this summer and that may be because of the steady runs of them we had here all winter and spring, their migrations timing may have been a tad off, who knows. Anyway every spot has its ups and downs and so do we. September has been pretty fair so far and the skipjack are really finally starting to show up, Our live bait grounds look great for the first time this summer. Looks like weÃll fish well late probably right thru Oct., hope springs eternal! HereÃs the rundown of our trips from July 12 thru August 28th when my charter well dried up. IÃm scolding myself for the lousy job I did in my logbook as I can see I didnÃt write down all the details I could have but here we go. July12, full day with Nick Cortezi and gang. Tag a 120lb blue. July13, Ω day with Rory Dickens. 1 spearfish July 15, full day with returning friends Vince and Patty Carr. We found them today! We had a double header on blues jumping off an est. 600 pounder and catching and releasing the other est. 350lb. 2 for 5 on blues today also tagging one about 180lb. July 16, full day with Nick Cotezi and gang again. Same spot as the day before and we have a triple header going, the big one fell off again but we tagged 2 in the 180lb range for two sisters, their first blues and they caught them together. 2 from 5 shots for the day. July 17, Full day with Louie Botzac and his daughter age 13. LouieÃs daughter had the honors on releasing her first blue marlin 150lbs but LouieÃs marlin got away. July 18, Nick and friends again for the full day and Nick finally hopped in the chair and caught himself a 250lb blue. July 19th, full day with Richard Trotta and his 15 year old son Clinton. 0 for 4 on small blues today, rubber hooks! July 20th, full day with the Trotta team. ThereÃs a story behind this day. Want to hear it? Ok, weÃre trolling along in the flat water down by the lava flows. WeÃre rigged for bear with four 130Ãs out on the corners and riggers with big marlin lures and a stiff 80 rig with 100lb suffix tritanium down the middle long with a medium bullet, this rig I run from the bridge and off my center rigger if itÃs really flat water. We catch most all our tuna, spearfish and small marlin on this. IÃm in my binoÃs and hear the center rigger let go, when I turn around the center line is flying back at the boat and my bullet is flying 25 feet high thru the air towards the boat. There is a hole in the water back there wider than our whole wake, hummmmm. About the same time the lure hits the water I see her back by the hole she made and sheÃs HUGE! As we come tight on the bullet again she starts heading in for it. As she closed in I wound the bullet away and she followed with earnest, all the way into the middle of my spread of beast killers, YES! All the way in to my long corner and she lungesÖ. on the fricking bulletÖ takes ten feet of line, comes off and I loose sight of her, for good, or for now anyway! SheÃs just a mark on my GPS now, 1000++ for sure, biggest IÃve seen in a couple years. IÃll stand by my decision to tease her into my more appropriate gear and look forward to our next meeting! Hopefully soon. A couple hours later a few miles away one about 4 or 500lb eats our long corner and starts going ballistic all over our spread, runs into our center rigger line and the runs back out of it, starts peeling off nicely then comes off. I was getting annoyed at our poor hookup ratio with these guys, Stevo (our decky) quickly checks the long corner lure and puts it back in the water as I start to crank in the center to check the line for damage, as I do a small marlin grabs the bullet and checks the line for me, immediately breaking off my bullet, NOW I WAS REALLY ANNOYED!!! We did tag a 150lb blue for Richards son Clinton toward the end of the day. ClintonÃs first blue and hopefully the start of new roll. Hummm. July 21st, team Trotta again for the full day. We headed down south as I figured it might not be a bad idea to fish the same tide around the mark I put on GPS the day before. RichardsÃs son tagged his first spearfish on the way down and then about 200 yards from the mark of the huge fish, on the same tide as the day before, off goes the short corner with a nice one! 33 minutes later Richard Trotta hopped out of the chair and had a look at his catch, est. 750lb. blue marlin, nice fish indeed and it swam off nicely after the release! We missed another small one late in the day as well. July 23rd, æ day no hits, no runs, no errors, the current died July 24, full day with Jim Ferace, Zip, Nada, Zero, WhereÃd they all go? July 26, Ω day still canÃt findÃem. July 28th thru August 2nd, 6 full days Jodi Vanbeselear and his Fam. I have nothing written down for the first three days of this trip and think I forgot a few odds and ends, I know we had a few marlin bites but we didnÃt catch any marlin for them yet although it seems we caught a spearfish or two and I think a big mahi mahi for the BBQ if memory serves. Day four I do remember, very well indeed!!! We hooked a spearfish on our long rigger, it didnÃt go far at all on the 130 outfit and we were basically just dragging it to the boat down the center of the spread (which we left out) when a marlin about 800lb blasted it from the side. What a bite! There was a big bloody puff of pink mist, the marlin was doin 90mph and the top æ of her body was out of the water when it collided with the 6 foot bait.. err.. I mean spearfish. The impact broke the spearfish in half and the marlin promptly ate the back end and started looking for the rest. We had about 18 inches of the head and body with guts hanging out the back still on the long rigger single hook and the big fish followed it to the back of the boat where we intended to pull the remains on the boat and put them quickly on a large bait hook which we had readied and give them back to the eager marlin. The remains fell off the lure hook behind the boat and we got to watch the marlin swim leisurely up to them, slurp them down and leave, I think I could even hear it laughing itÃs ass off as it slid out of site into the depths. Funny, just when you thought youÃve seen everythingÖFunny, I wasnÃt laughing, quite a show nonetheless! They werenÃt finished with me yet this day either, trolling our way home a few hours later, very near our mark from last week, a big one piles on our short corner and breaks us off when it comes rocketing out of the water on itÃs first jump with about 300 yards of string buried in the water, we estimated that one about 700 or 800lb. Been at least 10 years since the last time I broke line on 130, hope itÃs at least 10 more! Great day of big marlin watching! Place tail between legs here and go home to regroup. Ouch. Day 5, 1 for 3 on blues today and JodiÃs dad tags his first blue about 140lb. Step in the right direction! IÃll take a win of any kind right now! Day 6, 1 for 2 on blues today and Jodi himself hopped in the chair and did a great job on a blue about 400lb. Wish I had a couple more days for these folks to help them get even for the slow start etcÖ but we had a good time and finished with a bang. August 3 and 4, Gary Furness for two full days. Day one, 1 for 3 on blues today tagging one about 40lb, yep thatÃs right about 40lbs. One of the smallest IÃve ever caught. 0 for 2 on spearfish, darn, I wanted to rig one up and skip it! Day two went without a snap, all zeros. Aug. 5, full day. 1 for 2 on blues tagging a 150lb. Aug. 6, full day. 0 for 1 on blues today. Aug. 7 and 8, returning angler and friends Buddy Robertson, his 2 sons Lyle and Donny and lucky man Al Gaskil for the full days. We found the nest on day one! We started with tagging a 100lb striped marlin for Donny, his first marlin. Next it was Lyles turn on a blue about 150, his first too. Then we missed a small one and shortly after that we jump one off around 300 or so out of a double header, the other a small one, came off right away. Late tide today so we thought it might be prudent to hang in the very small area we had been getting all our shots thru the tide and fish a bit late, ìthereÃs a big female around here IÃll betî. I FEEL ANOTHER STORY COMING ON! About half an hour before the tide here she comes on the long rigger, 500+ and weÃre on with Buddy in the chair. 10 or 15 minutes into it we have her jumping behind the boat just off the double with us steaming in reverse after her and my decky and I both readjust our estimates on the fish to upwards of 700lb maybe bigger but before we can get the leader in hand she makes a power dive about 300 feet down and starts sulking and trying to swim out to sea as they will do. Buddy works her up to about 200 feet, all is going well, weÃre starting to get some good angle and she should pop up to the surface where we can go get her soon for the release then we start getting these violent head shakes, slack and tight, whatÃs up with that? Then a screaming run about 300yards back up to the surface and down sea. We chase that down and get about 50 yards away and back down deep the fish goes again but now the fight starts going all over the place, swimming in every which direction, shaking, rod pumping, going in circles, everything but coming to the surface. Like a whole different fight! This goes on for about 30 minutes, weÃre getting close, the erratic swimming stops very close to the boat and a couple minutes later up comes a foul hooked (and dead) marlin about 275lbs hooked in the flesh just above the anal fin. ThereÃs one for the marlin X-FILES. The male came in and started messing with our big female while weÃre fighting her, she ends up released and he ends up snagged in the OKOLE! (ThatÃs the part of your anatomy that you sit on in Hawaiian) ThatÃs my story and IÃm sticking to it!!!! Great day but weird. Just when you thought youÃve seen it allÖ! Day 2, we take the boys back down to the hole and make short work of a 150lb blue and then a 120lb yellowfin tuna but the area starts getting crowded so we do a bit of hunting the rest of the day and jump off a couple more 150lb blues, another good day! Great 2 days, weÃre on a rollÖI HOPE August 9 thru 13, Hawaiian Intl Billfish Tournament. We went nearly invisible this week, OUR ROLL rolled on down the road and right on to the Foxy Lady run by Capt. Boyd Decoito who wound up top boat with 4 or 5 tags and a weighed 605.5 blue on 50lb tackle, Congratulations to the crew of the Foxy Lady and the teams that fished her this week, well done! We had great teams, good fun, missed 3 or 4 small blues along the way and managed to tag 2 spearfish along the way blah blah blah. Long week for us, would have been nice to have a good showing in what was probably the last HIBT. ThatÃs fishin blah blahÖ Aug. 14 thru 17, Buddy, Al and the gang back to finish up BuddyÃs 6-day trip. Day 1, DonnyÃs wife caught her first spearfish. Day 2, 1 for 2 on blues, we tagged one about 140lbs ending a bit of a Rod Bender drought on the blue marlins. Day 3 Zip! Day 4, we tagged a 140lb blue and whacked a 152lb Yellowfin. The boyÃs 6-day total looks like 6 marlin, 1 spearfish and 2 nice fat Ahi. ThatÃll work! August 19, full day with Dick Martin, 0 for 2 on blues. August 22 thru the 28th, Rod Bender owner, friend and ace angler Henry Potts with wife, photographer and cheerleader Linda. Day 1, 2 for 5 on blue marlin today tagging a150 blue and a blue just a tad under 400lbs that whacked me in the forehead HARD with itÃs bill putting me on my OKOLE while I was trying to unhook the thing! The fish swam away fine after I got the hook out, I had a big goose egg on my head (lucky it hit in my visor strap above the brim or that would have been bloody). We jumped another 400+ off and missed a couple small blues too. 1 for 2 on striped marlins today also, pulling hook on a 100+ Mexican model and tagging a 65lb Hawaii model. Day 2, 0 for 3 on striped marlin, weird things happen in these light El Nino years. These stripeys donÃt belong here for another 3 months. Day 3, 110lb ahi and a 40lb spearfish. Day 4, Zip. Day 5, 188lb ahi. Day 6, tag 170lb blue Day 7, 0 for 4 blues, the biggest looked about 350 maybe 400lb. This is the part where I come up for air, regroup and sleep in a few days. We had a lot of luck this summer, just not as much of it GOOD as IÃm used to! So far anyway. I thought it was over but we picked up a few days on the water this September and hereÃs how they went. Sept.11th. Full Day with Al ìLuckyî Gaskil and his friends Nick and Bob. 2 for 2 on blue marlin today tagging a couple of 150lb models. Nicks first blue marlin. Sept. 12th. Al and Nick today for the full day. 2 for 5 on blues today tagging a 150 and 180 pounders for Al. 1 for 1 on striped marlin tagging a 100 pounder that IÃm pretty sure I heard say ìgracias cabroneî after I unhooked it. Nicks first stripey. Sept. 13th. Full day Kona Coffee Growers tourney. 2 for 2 on spearfish today both released. We had 2 boats hook up with blues right off our bow, one to a double header the other to a single. The boat with the single tagged a small blue and the other boated a 500 pounder. Hummm. They were snapping all around us for the other guys but the blues didnÃt want us today. Sept. 14th. æ day, 1 for 2 on blues tagging one about 160lb. Sept. 18th. ìLuckyî Al, Nick and Johnson for the full Day. We had a little morning mayhem when we connected with a triple-header on blues, tagging a 180 for Johnson and a 150 for Nick but AlÃs fell off after a burning 300 yard run, I never saw that one but IÃll bet it was a nice one. We missed 2 other blues the rest of the day so 2 for 5. Sept. 19, Al and friends again, went 0 for 2 on blues; the ocean looked dead, today big change overnight the whole fleet was whining. AlÃs 4 days here this month got him and his friends 6 blue marlin and one striped marlin, good trip! ThatÃs more like it! I have an empty calendar ahead of me now until I leave for AustraliaÃs GBR for a little fishing with the Boss the first part of November. See what kind of trouble we can get into down there, hopefully BIG and black! When I return in mid Nov. I would expect the beginning of our striped marlin run, spearfish and mahi-mahi not to mention blue marlin all to be biting here, the start of our wintertime variety season. WeÃll be fired up and ready to rock so if your heading this way and looking to go fishing or just want info on what and where theyÃre biting feel free to email bvanmols@rod-bender.com or call me on my cell anytime 808-960-5954, IÃm always happy to help! And if youÃld like a peak at the Rod Bender check out our web page www.konasportfishingcharters.com weÃll both be glad you did! Good fishin, tight lines and Aloha! Capt. Chip Van Mols |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 08-30-2004 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report ñ August `04 This is going to be a reel short ìhear-sayî report because I wasn`t even on the island for most of the month. The Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament was held during the 2nd week of August and produced mostly small marlin that were tagged and released. With a 300 lb. minimum weight to qualify for a weigh-in, only one fish was taken to the scales and weighed in at 605.5 lbs. The next week was the Big Island Invitational Marlin Tournament and the first and second place winners were a mere 8 oz. apart! The first day of the tournament didn`t produce much but the second day was much better. The leading fish were weighed in at 367.5 lbs., 457 lbs. and at 508 lbs. Day 3 of the tournament produced only one marlin that was weighed in and that one took first place at 508.5 lbs. That Ω pound of fish was worth $39,600 to the first place boat vs. a mere $16,830 for 2nd place. Not a bad haul for either team. :^) These figures include tournament and side bet winnings. The yellowfin tuna bite is winding down but it`s been a very good summer for the ahi overall. Most of the ahi action this summer was way South of the Kona harbor on the FAD`s. I didn`t get much ahi action this season because I tend to stay North of the harbor. The ledges there offer a wider variety of fishing opportunities like the best bottom fishing, the most consistent year-round deep water live bait and trolling action and also the best near-shore ono bite within a short distance of the harbor known as ìono laneî. Speaking of ono, summertime is also the peak time for these guys but this year`s run was a bit shy of the normal run. I hear that they are currently biting! I`ll be back in action next week and IÃm looking forward to some fresh fish. You can bet that I`ll eating ono soon! See `ya on the water, Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 07-29-2004 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report ñ July 29, `04 The marlin bite is pretty good but really scattered. There doesnÃt seem to be any particular area that ther`re concentrating in. The fishing grounds to the North have lots of bait size aku and otaru but there`s also been a gang of about 8 bait-stealing bottlenose dolphin (stenos) hanging around and keeping that area limited to trolling only. This same area is the best grounds for bottom fishing and the bottom bite has been good if you can get a bait down. The bottlenose generally don`t go down deep after a meal. With the abundance of bait fish along the ledge, dropping bait has attracted a lot more than your typical trevally, amberjack and almaco jack. Yellowfin tuna have been nailing my baits along with some deep-water ono. There`s also been a fair amount of shark activity in the area. Yellowfin tuna are also doing theyÃre typical summertime ìblind strikesî. Just trolling around, no particular area or bird/bait activity going on and when the reel goes off, it could just as easily be a yellowfin tuna bite as it could be a marlin. Even more yellowfin have been pulled out of a porpoise school that`s been hanging around far to the South of the harbor. We use the term ìporpoise schoolî to avoid confusion with the term ìdolphin fishî but the animals that the tuna are swimming with really aren`t porpoise at all. They`re spotted dolphin (kiko). They won`t steal your bait like the bottlenose will and they put on a great aerial show for the tourists with leaps and spins that just seem to defy gravity. Just a few more fish to add to the bite list. Spearfish and an occasional mahi mahi in the deep. Shibi on the FAD`s and koa`s. Ono lane is producing some fish but you either need to put in your time or just get lucky to score there. See `ya on the water, Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Chip Van Mols | Date Posted: | 07-11-2004 | |
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Kona Fish Report, July 11 2004 and June too. Summer is here and time for the computer is scarce but hereÃs an overview of the whatÃs been happening. News Flash! The first GRANDER blue marlin of the year made it to the scales on July 3rd aboard the charter boat TARA with skipper Shawn Cleaver and mate Mike Shimimoto, official weight 1006 pounds. The fish was foul hooked square in the middle of the back and was dragged sideways from depths, stiff as a board, after a 5-hour battle, OUCH!!! Congrads to the boys and their party!!! KonaÃs biggest fish for the 4th of July World Cup tourney was 701lb blue caught aboard the HoloHolo by Capt. Scott Pruner , nice fish but not big enough to beat the 1189 in Bermuda this year but it did win the Kona Cup and also the Firecracker Open and fetched the boys on Holo Holo over $100,000.00. More congrads! This weekend the Marlin Skins tourney is in progress with day ones Skin taken by a 710 blue aboard the Game Boat and day two taken by a 680 aboard the Anxious. 25 boats still out there today competing for the final skin, 500lb minimum weight to qualify for a skin. Blue marlin and Yellowfin tuna are the mainstay of our summertime fishery here and they are both present fair numbers this year. Also hanging around over the edge have been short nosed spearfish and the odd wahoo. HereÃs how we did on the ROD BENDER since the first of June: June 2nd, half day all zeroÃs June 7th, full day holoholo with my daughter Jada and one of her soccer mates Chelsea Possamonti. A wave of small blues had arrived and were biting right in front the harbor. Chelsea caught her first blue ever tagging one about 150lbs, 1 from 3 shots, and Jada caught a 30lb spearfish from 2 raised. GOOD FUN! June 9th, double half days. We tagged 1 spearfish from 2 bites and went 0 for 3 on small blues. June 10, afternoon half day. They were waiting for us right in front of the harbor, we went 2 for 3 tagging 150 and 200lb blues, only in Kona! June 11th, æ holoholo with Jada. 0 for 1 on blues. June 21st, full day with Dale Ransier and his party. We had the humm today tagging 3 blues from 7 raised, 140-250lb and an est. 30lb spearfish. Funny, I hadnÃt been out in over a week and I had heard it was a bit slow all over but everywhere we went there they were! Ignorance is bliss sometimes. June 23rd, full day with Dale, We went to all the same areas today and no takers for us until 4:00 we scored a 119lb Ahi on the shot gun and backed it up with 125 ahi immediately after that. Talk about a mercy bite! June 24, full day with Dale and co. again. 1 for 2 on blues tagging an 180lber. June 25, full day with Nick Cortezi and his gang. We caught 1 small ono, lost a 150lb blue right behind the boat and also lost a spearfish. The moon and tides are perfect but the current (most important factor) is slack, fish are scattered. June 27-July 4th, Henry Potts and his Party for 8 days of slow fishing, we couldnÃt get rolling on this trip. The marlin and ahi were still scattered and we had 6 or 7 marlin up for the trip only tagging 2 at 180 and 250lb and caught 1 spearfish from 5 raised, a 40lb ono and a 40lb cow mahi mahi. Not what I had in mind for 8 days over the full moon, sorry guys! There were some nice blues to 800+ caught during this period but Ö July5th, full day with the returning Cortezi party. Nick tagged his first blue est. 275lbs after a biteless morning and shortly after we encountered a double header on sailfish releasing one about 50lb. That was my second sailfish in Kona over the last 20 years, yep theyÃre rare here! We went looking for a spearfish to complete the slam but no dice, good day though! July 6th, full day with Daniel Davis and Anna. Anna did great job on her first blue marlin, tagging an est. 250lb and Daniel caught an ahi of 100lb gilled and gutted. 1 for three on blues, we jumped off a couple smaller ones. The Ahi was caught in a huge porpoise school we had all to ourselves, I thought we were going to sink the boat with them but weÃll take the one! July 7th, æ day with another Daniel and Peter who I recognized and we figured out that he went to school with my sister in-law, small world! Peter started out the morning a 160 ahi, his first ever and Dan caught a spearfish, no marlin bites today but a good day all the same! July9th, afternoon half day for no bites. Oops. There was fair bite in the morning and the afternoon bite was a bit out of our half-day range. When we finally get our good current happening this place will go mental!! Still pretty fair fishing except our little 8 day backslide up there and youÃre only one bite away from grander any day you wet a line here! WeÃre due! We have a few days off this week then itÃs straight thru till Sept.3rd. I wonÃt be surprised if this summer the fishing continues right thru September, it was killer last year and after labor day you have all the grounds and fish pretty much to yourself. IÃll bet it really goes off here any day now, should be a good summer! Questions? bvanmols@rod-bender.com, or call 808-960-5954. IÃm always happy to help! Good fishin, tight lines and ALOHA! Capt. Chip Van Mols ROD BENDER Sportfishing |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 06-29-2004 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report ñ June ë04 IÃve grown accustomed to keeping my eye on the fish flags flying in the harbor and looking at the catch report board at the charter desk and keep up on how the Kona bite is doing. I also talk to several guys while IÃm out fishing to see whatÃs going on. Things just werenÃt matching up? Not very many flags have been flying in the harbor and the guys IÃve been talking too havenÃt been having much luck lately either, yet; the charter desk catch board listings have been fairly full with marlin, yellowfin tuna, mahi mahi, ono, spearfish and more. Knowing that it was about the end of the month and time to write the Kona fishing report, I was trying to figure it out. I think I got it. ItÃs summer! ThereÃs a lot more boats going out including a lot of private boaters. Even though the bite is kind of tough out there, the sheer number of boats going out and reporting their catch is keeping the catch board pretty full. Normally when the bite is good, the few of us that stay busy year-round end up flying multiple flags. What I am seeing now is actually a fair amount of flags flying but theyÃre just spread out among more boats. In conclusion, the bite is pretty good. ThereÃs just a lot more competition out there. Most of the marlin coming in this month were under 200 lbs. but lately there have been a few bigger ones. IÃve had a few marlin shots lately but havenÃt been able to get ëem to the boat. The biggest yellowfin of the year was caught last Sunday and topped the scales at 216 lbs. The ono run has been hot this month but has slacked off a little bit lately. I went to the bottom for some action yesterday and got bit quick. An amberjack at about 95 lbs. and a giant trevally at about 35 lbs. Both tagged and released. Summer usually isnÃt the best time for the bottom but, thereÃs a lot less competition for bottom fish. It beats getting skunked! See `ya on the water, Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 05-31-2004 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report - May 2004 The month of May started off kind of slow with the majority of catches being mahi mahi, ono and spearfish and then, WOW! The marlin moved in after the new moon and almost every boat that was out was raising at least one marlin during the day. My best day was on the 27th when we raised 3 marlin. We hooked one of `em and landed it. A 447 pounder. On the 26th we tagged and released a black marlin that would have been the biggest black of the year in Kona at about 275 pounds but we decided to let it go. We did get some nice photos of it though. Still no grander (1000+ lb.) marlin caught this year but it should happen soon. The biggest marlin caught in May was a 960 pounder. That`s a lot of fish but it doesn`t get the prestige that a ìgranderî brings. The ahi (yellowfin tuna) are here with a wide variety of sizes. There`s 3 to 20 pounders on the FAD`s, and there`s 30 to 200 pounders just roaming around. I heard a rumor that a 200 pounder had been caught but it turned out to be false. Just like the ìgranderî is the mark to hit with marlin, 200 lbs. is the mark to hit with yellowfin. Last month I made Kona`s ìBig Fish Listî with an amberjack and a barracuda. This month I made the list again with gray snapper Ö.. twice! Got a bigger one a week later. The bottom bite has been pretty good so IÃll continue to take at least part of my day (on most trips) to see if we can find something bigger off the bottom. Being on the big fish list gets your name in the local paper each week. Had I killed the black marlin mentioned above, I would now have 4 slots on Kona`s big fish list but, IÃm only feeling slightly bad that I didnÃt kill it. The main reason I tagged and released it wasn`t for study, conservation or any reason other than the fish wholesalers are just too loaded up with marlin meat right now. I called them from the boat while we were still fighting the fish and they really didn`t want it. I told them that if the marlin was not seriously wounded that I would let it go but if it was eyeball hooked or otherwise mortally wounded they would be seeing me at the scales. The marlin was very healthy and easily released. The 447 pound blue we caught the next day wasn`t so lucky. See `ya on the water, Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 04-29-2004 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report ñ April 2004 Big blue marlin (500+) were here in the middle of April. Many of us were expecting this years first ìgranderî (1000+) marlin to be caught but, all the granders hooked up (there were a few) were able to win their fights. Just for the record, most big marlin with the fight. I only hooked into one big one about 600 lbs. during the run and broke line on it about an hour into the fight. The big mamaÃs are no longer around and only a few small ones are being caught. The trolling bite overall is still pretty good though. Lots of mahi mahi, ono and spearfish were caught this month. The ono run has stopped but thereÃs still plenty of mahi mahi and spearfish to go around. Both are excellent eating and can be a lot of fun to catch if your captain is running light tackle. The bottom fishing bite is back in full swing. The bite is still mostly amberjack, almaco jacks and sharks but the snapper have been biting too. Gray snapper is pretty abundant right now if you know where the holes are. Last week we got a big amberjack and though we tried to release it, the fish just wouldnÃt swim down and soon died so we took it to the scales. It weighed in at 85 lbs. and has now taken its place as KonaÃs biggest amberjack of the year. Just a few days ago we caught another fish that made KonaÃs ìBig Fish Listî. While dropping bait toward the bottom, a barracuda swimming mid-water grabbed it. The fight was short but what an impressive looking fish. This big toothed critter topped the scales at 43.5 lbs. edging out a 41.5 pounder caught just the week before. Barracuda are generally not an abundant fish here but this year IÃve already heard of several being caught. Both amberjack and barracuda are not consumed in Hawaii due to the high risk of contracting ciguatera poisoning. ThereÃs a good web site about this at www.cigua.com See `ya on the water, Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 03-30-2004 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report ñ March 30, 2004 Spearfish and mahi mahi tops the catch list for March. If you were out looking for food fish instead of sportfish, this was a great month. The marlin bite was very erratic. Blue marlin topped the list this month when itÃs the stripped marlin that should be in season. Very few striped marlin were caught in March and the blue marlin bite was real good about the middle of the month but has since diminished to almost none. I mentioned last month that I had busted out my big tackle again because some big marlin were starting come in but I went back to running mostly light stand-up tackle shortly after writing last months report. Ono (another good eating fish) started biting about a week ago but donÃt get your taste buds excited yet. Small flurries of ono often happen in the off-season and hardly ever last for more than a week or two. The bottom bite has continued to be the excitement of most trips. Amberjacks and almaco jacks in the 20 to 40 pound range (smaller than average) and a load of shark attacks. Mostly weÃve been seeing small (60 ñ 100 lbs.) sandbar sharks but we got a good show from a 500 lb. tiger shark just yesterday when it followed up a big amberjack and bit it in half right behind the boat. We played with it for about 15 minutes, teasing it and taking many photos of it eating the remainder of the meal. I have to admit; playing with the big sharks like this has become the most exciting thing about fishing for me. Huge, beautiful animals, not hooked so they tend to be more bold than scared. Anyone for a swim? :) See `ya on the water, Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 02-28-2004 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report ñ Feb. 28th, 2004 WinterÃs not over but the marlins donÃt know it. The striped marlin are basically gone and the big blue marlin have moved in. A few nice size ones topping the 500 lb. mark and several in the 150 to 250 range have been coming in this month. I got all of my 130 rods back out and sized up my lures but I havenÃt had a whole lot of action from the big ones since IÃve done that. The spearfish bite is still good and the mahi mahi bite, although fluctuating a lot is remaining pretty strong for winter. A few ono are starting to show up out in the deep. Shibi size ahi are being caught in the koaÃs by the handline commercial guys and a few big ahi are coming in by the guys using green sticks in the porpoise schools. The bottom bite is finally good again. It was March of last year that it got real hard to find the bottom fish. I donÃt know where theyÃve been on vacation for the past year but itÃs good to have ëem back. The 30 to 60 lb. jacks are taking the baits as soon as they get near the bottom and yes, sizing down my circle hooks did increased my hook-up ratio. There have also been a lot of sharks around. The sandbar sharks are a good challenge for most anglers with an average of about 75 lbs. and weÃve also had some fights with tiger sharks, dusky sharks and bronze whalers in the 300 to 500 lb. range. If they take just a bite out of a fish weÃre bringing up, then they will usually follow it all the way up to the boat. Then the fun really starts. I tease them right up near boat and let them finish eating. WHAT A SHOW! I hope to get some videos of that up on my web site soon. See `ya on the water, Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 01-30-2004 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report ñ January 30th 2004 The bite remains pretty much as it was in my report from last month. A good mix of striped marlin, blue marlin of all sizes, spearfish and a smattering of mahi mahi but very ìspottyî as far as area goes. I also said last month that ìItÃs only a matter of time `til a big blue eats one of my small luresî and that happened earlier this week. A 211-Ω lb. blue marlin ate a small lure attached to one of my Penn 30 stand-up rigs. Although my angler, Ken Williams had very little saltwater experience he did a great job angling it. Picking your lure size and tackle doesnÃt ensure the fish will cooperate with your choice. Last week I caught a small mahi mahi on the biggest lure I own, attached to 130 tackle. Not much fight there. Still, the average fish being caught now is small (by Kona standards) so IÃll continue to run mostly light stand-up tackle with at least one 130 lb. rig out in hopes that if a grander (1000 lb. +) comes by, it will take the big lure and not one of the peanuts. IÃve been getting a fair amount of action on the bottom lately but not getting good solid hook-ups. I changed circle hook size and style (bigger/fatter) a while back because I got a good price on ëem but IÃm thinking that itÃs contributing to the large number of misses. Cheaper hooks get to be pretty expensive when you find that theyÃre costing you fish. See `ya on the water, Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Chip Van Mols | Date Posted: | 01-29-2004 | |
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Kona Roundup for Jan. 2004 Good wintertime action continues along the Kona coast! We are experiencing the best winter run of blue marlin of all sizes that weÃve had for several years, seems like weÃre catching a blue every other trip or so, which is great for this time of year. They seem to be mostly around the 150 to 250lb range but there have been some big ones around as well with the biggest of the year so far weighing in at 966 lbs caught by a visiting 45à CABO from Honolulu last week. A few days before the 966 one of KonaÃs most seasoned veterans fought a monster estimated way over the 1000lb mark for a few hours before the line parted while trying to plane up the fish, brand new 130lb test. Two blues over 500 were reported caught yesterday and on our last trip this past Sunday we had a 700+ take our long corner for a rather lengthy ride backwards at warp speed before tossing the hooks! More good news is that our striped marlin run this winter is here and while not in best numbers of recent years the average size is way up from 25 to 40lb last year to 65 to 90lb this year, more than makes up for the numbers in my opinion. Short nosed spearfish are here in good numbers and week before last we had a real push of them here where I saw several boats coming in with 3 and 4 tag flags for them. Most my recent trips we seem to raise 2 or 3 spears a day. Add a mahi mahi here and there and you have our typical Kona wintertime variety package that makes for good fun fishing. ItÃs billfish grand slam time. HereÃs how we did on the ROD BENDER this January. Dec. 31st, returning anglers/friends and promoters of the Pompano Beach Fishing Rodeo, Vince and Patti Carr for a full day. My notes arenÃt very clear for this day but I do know we released a spearfish and boated a fat mahi mahi for the BBQ. I also remember that on our way back out over the drop off after catching the mahi we hooked a very nice sized blue marlin estimated 500-600lb which managed to fall off the hooks after about 10 or 15 minutes battle, gave us a great show while it lasted though. I seem to remember some other rubber hooks that day as well. ThatÃs fishin and we werenÃt empty handed. Nice folks, nice day! Jan. 1st, my daughter Jada and I went out for a full day to defend our title in the NYD tourney. Our striped marlin took fourth in the biggest fish category and our mahi mahi missed the biggest in its category by 2lbs. 2 bites 2 fish and you canÃt beat the company! We did have a rather lengthy ride home in 30-40knot south winds and 10 ft seas that appeared out of nowhere around 2:00. I thought it was always flat in Kona! Jan.6th, Full day with Curt Kradoifer and friends. We went 3 for 3 today tagging a 200lb blue marlin and 2 striped marlin est. 80 and 35lbs. CouldnÃt find mister spearfish for the slam, but we tried! Jan.8th, Ω day with Fred (sorry I forgot your last name) and his daughter Morgan. My karma ran over my dogma! 0 for 5 missing 1 blue, 3 spearfish and 1 striped marlin. That one hurt, but Fred used to guide salmon charters in B.C. and was very understanding. It still irks me though! MEMO TO MYSELF: Must switch from rubber to steel hooks, PRONTO! Jan.9th, all I can say about this day is IÃm glad they are few and far between. Four drunk, chain smoking lads in their late forties, smelled like an old, dirty ash trey with a mean hangover, you could tell a couple of them hadnÃt slept and one of the early comments I heard from the bridge was ìThatÃs not the way Pedro does it Cabo!î Never raised a billfish, which is probably a good thing cause with 4 open glass Heineken bottles and 4-lit smokes it could have been a disaster but did manage a mahi mahi without incident. ALOHA OI Sorry for the rant Jan.10th. Fredster came back to get even with the fish he missed the day before the drunks and HE DID! I think we hooked everything that bit today, well we may have missed one or two. In the morning Fred released his first striped marlin est. 80lb. and then boated a nice mahi mahi, then another stripy est. 70lb and later one about 90lb, all on 30lb test. The icing on the cake was an est. 180lb blue marlin on 30lb at the end of the day. We got great photos of Fred standing over all his fish at boat side, which I promise IÃll get to you Fred. Tagged 1 blue, 3 nice stripeys and boated a mahi for BBQ. Fun day! CouldnÃt find the spearfish for the slam though. Jan. 11th, full day with O.D. Soles and we found them again, releasing two spearfish and two striped marlin in the 70 to 80lb range, couldnÃt find the blue for the slam today! Jan. 18th, Ω day with John Klasner and friends, great boat ride but I couldnÃt find the fish, oops. Jan. 20th, holo holo with some friend over for a wedding. It wasnÃt looking good for our wedding party till shortly after seeing a bunch of bananas floating back in our wake around 2:00 we hooked and caught an est. 125lb blue marlin followed shortly after by a spearfish est.40lb, we missed a shot at a stripey and called it great end to good day. Turned around a skunk into a two billfish day in the last hour. Jan. 22nd, full day with Tom and Nancy Rice. Grand slam! Tagged 2 spearfish 30-40lb, tagged 2 striped marlin 70-80lb, tagged 1 blue marlin est.150lb and boated a 20lb mahi for the BBQ. Good action as we missed a few other shots besides the ones we caught. We caught our blue and last striped marlin back to back just before the high tide at 4:30pm while all the other boats were in there slips washing down, it pays to pay attention! Jan.25th, holo holo full day, 0 for 2 on blues, dropping a 150lber at the back of the boat and dropping a 700lb+ after a screamer of a run (hair rises on back of neck now). 0 for 2 on spearfish, damn rubber hooks slipped back out there. Finally on our last pass in a zone out wide I had been pounding we lucked out on an est. 75lb stripey, day saver! Well there you have it, averaging 2 or three billfish per day and IÃve been eating fresh mahi for dinner a lot. February is usually the peak of our wintertime season and itÃs looking real good for this year. We have been getting a few of our wintertime fronts passing thru but for the most part itÃs been sunny days around 80 degrees and calm seas to go along with the good fishing! Some BEEEG buggers getting around too so you better hang on to your knickers when she comes a knockin! Grandeur can and does happen anytime in Kona. Wish I was fishing every day, donÃt you? If you dial 808-960-5954 we can make it happen. Tight lines, good fishin and ALOHA! Chip Capt. Chip Van Mols ROD BENDER Sportfishing bvanmols@rod-bender.com www.konasportfishingcharters.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 12-28-2003 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report ñ December 28th, 2003 Small billfish tops this months report as the most common catch. Striped marlin, spearfish and small blues are all here but the bite is still quite spotty as far as area goes. The water temperature has changed drastically in the last few weeks and there`s been a split current so, keeping up on recent ìhot ì areas is key. Current lines have been productive also even though there has been little debris in them. Mahi mahi are still here (not too cold yet) and the billfish have been following the current lines also. A few big blue marlin have been around but itÃs mostly a light tackle kind of a bite. IÃve been running three Penn 30 stand-up rigs except for a couple of big lures close to the boat on 80`s or 130`s. Luckily all my mahi mahi, stripes, spears and small blues have been on the stand-up rigs. Not much fun hauling in a fish that is severely out-classed by the tackle. I`ve had a couple of shots at bigger blue marlin recently and luckily they hit on the bigger rods. ItÃs only a matter of time `til a big blue eats one of my small lures though so I just hope I have an experienced angler on the boat when it happens. There are a few yellowfin tuna coming out of the porpoise schools but the main source of tuna now is the shibi on the buoys and in the ahi koa`s. Even though it`s not season for `em, there`s been a steady source of otaru on the grounds. The ono bite is reel slow and the ones that have been caught are small. The bottom bite is pretty slow but worth the tryÖ. IMHO, the best way to work the day is try it all! Some of this style, some of that. It makes the day more interesting and most likely one or more of the styles will produce fish. 2003 is nearly over and for the seventh year in a row (no one can catch me now), I`ve out-fished every captain in Kona because I mix up my fishing styles throughout the day. I`ve got some new tricks up my sleeve so I`ll be fishing even more styles and targeting an even wider variety of fish in 2004 along with great non-stop light tackle action for the kids and novices. Happy New Year, See `ya on the water, Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Chip Van Mols | Date Posted: | 12-26-2003 | |
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Kona Fish Report for December and 2003 wrap up for the ROD BENDER Continued fair fishing since my last report. The numbers of striped marlin and spearfish have increased a little but they still arenÃt at full swing. Most boats are getting a few shots a day from both species. Blue marlin are still here in fair numbers which is good to see, 100 to 300 lbs seems to be average the last three weeks or so. Not much floating debris coming through yet to hold schools of mahi mahi but weÃre getting the odd single or double strike in the blind from nice sized mahi to 45lbs. Still a few big yellowfin tuna around in the porpoise school, 100 to 170lbs, the trick is to find a school by yourself and dropping a live skipjack in front of them. Trolling a mixed spread of lures from large to small has been the most productive for all the other species and I have seen a few days this past week where many boats came in with multiple captures of billfish. The Chiripa leads the pack so far this season with the first grand slam of winter, 1 blue, 2 stripeys and 1 spearfish last Friday the19th, they also had a mahi mahi for BBQ. New moon was the 23rd I would expect to see a lot of slams the next few weeks during the building side of the moon. January thru the first half of March are usually the best for the numbers game on billfish here. HereÃs how we did on the Rod Bender for the few times we were out this December. 14th, full day with Dan Perry and his son Justin. No hits, no runs no errors, oops 15th thru the 17th with Roger Trunsdale and his son Mathew. Day 1 we started of with a double strike on striped marlin missing 100lber and tagging a 40lber right in front of the harbor while setting the lures. We went one from three on blue marlin tagging a small one about 50lb, we missed one around 150lb on the strike and pulled hooks on one about 300lb after 5 minutes in the chair. We went 1 for 2 on a double strike of Mahi, boating one about 25lb and losing her boy friend that looked 40+. We missed a few spearfish strikes as well. Not happy with my hookup ratio today but happy we caught the ones we did. Day 2, one strike one fish, tagged a 30lb spearfish. Mercy bite while clearing the lures in front the harbor. Better hookup ratio, not enough strikes though! Day 3, wind 30 knots out of the north! There was a lee south of the harbor but went strikeless there. We caught plenty of salt! 21st, Holo Holo with my daughters for a æ day, we found a 30lb mahi outside our airport for the BBQ, Jada did the honors as her little sister was sleeping. We later happened upon a big porpoise school and the first pass on them confirmed the presence of big Yellowfin tuna as I looked at our recorder and saw numerous marks down below us at 30 to 40 fathoms, then off went the shotgun lure with a the typical scream of a tunas first run. After clearing all the gear I noticed that the line was up on the surface and we had a half a spool out on the 50 rig and it was still going at a fair pace, humm, must be a marlin, could be a big one too! Wrong, 45 minutes later we successfully released a common spotted dolphin that had lassoed itself (hook back around the leader) by the tail. *%#@*%#@!!! Nobody got hurt, although the porpoise was tired, we got our lure back. No sashimi but BBQ Mahi will do. 23rd, full day with Larry Speak and friends. Guess we werenÃt holding our mouths right today as there was a pretty good bite from blues, stripes and spears today. We pulled hook on a stripey, missed a spearfish strike and another mystery bite. Oops 2003 wrap up for the ROD BENDER. We fished 125 days: Half day (aprox. 5 hours) = 15 æ day (7 hours) = 16 Full days (9+ hours) = 94 BLUE MARLIN captures 72, 5 weighed the rest released, 8 est. over 500lbs. Largest est.700lb. Striped Marlin captures 37, 2 taken the rest released. Short Nose Spearfish captures 39, 7 taken for the BBQ the rest released. Ahi ( yellowfin tuna 100lb+) 16, biggest 192.5 Sorry I donÃt keep accurate numbers on Mahi, wahoo, smaller tuna etcÖ A few High points of the year 2003 would include: Jan 1st. My daughter Jada angled and landed to IGFA rules a 514 pound blue marlin. Winning the New Years Day tournament ($4600.000) and earning a Junior Girls IGFA world record! Jan.31st. My owner, Henry Potts and his friend and first time angler, Don Maulsby, teamed up on Rod Bender to tag and release 7 striped marlin and 2 spearfish this day trolling 30, 20, 16 and 12-pound tackle. Most stripeys caught in a day for the fleet. Most billfish released in a day for the state. We also caught few 25lb yellowfin, 20lb mahi and 20lb skipjack. Fishy day! Feb.6th. Another fishy day! Tagged 6 stripeys, tagged 1 spearfish, boated 12 yellowfin 15-25lb and 1 mahi. We had some great blue marlin days this summer! We averaged a fish per day between June and September. August 2nd, Hook Harmling and his Brother John went 3 for 3 on blues est. 700, 200 and 170lbs. Sept. 29th, New Rod Bender Record! Tag and release 5 BLUE MARLIN in one day! 150lb ñ225lbs, 3 were tagged on 30lb test stand-up and 2 on 130lb test, all 5 were caught trolling lures and were released in good condition. 5 strikes for 5 fish tagged and released. My owner and friend Henry Potts and his son Chris had the honors on the rods and I had a blast driving on em! We had a ton of great days, sorry if I didnÃt include yours, but IÃm running out of ink! Blue marlin are wandering around out there with the mahi, spears and stripes! The stripeys should really go off anytime now. The weather is perfect, sunny, 80 degrees, light breeze, water in the high 70Ãs. The only missing ingredient is you. LetÃs Go! bvanmols@rod-bender.com or 808-960-5954 would be a good way to start you in the right direction, AHEM! Hope yÃall had a merry one and do have a happy and safe NEW YEAR! Tight lines, good fishin and ALOHA! Chip Captain Chip Van Mols Rod Bender Sportfishing Kona, Hawaii |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 11-22-2003 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report ñ November 22, 2003 November has averaged a pretty good bite overall for the few boats going out. We had screwy currents during the 2nd week that made ìcatchingî more difficult but the guys who know how to work such conditions did OK. This last week we had high winds and rough seas for a few days that made the ride uncomfortable but the bite seems to be pretty good. I say ìseemsî to be pretty good because I havenÃt been out there much. I havenÃt had this many days off since the terrorist attacks of 2001 but I stay in touch with the few captains that are going out so I know what the conditions are for my upcoming trips. The striped marlin and spearfish have moved in and the big blue marlin are still here. Billfish are the most common fish coming in right now. Mahi mahi bites remain somewhat common and thereÃs shibi (small yellowfin and bigeye tuna) showing up on the ledges and buoys. No ono to speak of. The bottom bite produced a couple of good size amberjack the last time I bottom fished and on another quick bottom drop; sharks bit us off. At least thereÃs some action happening down there and it usually doesnÃt take much time to get bit so it makes sense (in my opinion anyway) to spend at least part of the day trying the bottom for some quick action. See `ya on the water, Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Chip Van Mols | Date Posted: | 11-22-2003 | |
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Kona Fish Report, 11/21/03, Capt. Chip Van Mols reporting from the ROD BENDER Q: When is the best time to fish in Kona? A: Whenever itÃs the best time for you to come to Kona! Aside from a few days right on the full moon this month when it slowed down a bit (which is odd for here but the current went haywire) the fishing has been pretty darn good here all month long. Blue marlin of all sizes from very small to very large have been appearing in the wakes of the all the boats that have been lucky enough to get out fishing. The general consensus among the captains I talk to being they are averaging 2 or 3 bites a day from blue marlin. They are really varied in size from little buggers around 60 or 70lb to rather massive and everything in between the biggest to come to the scales recently in the 700lb range. I just got off the phone with a fellow Capt. whoÃs out today and he already has caught 2 blues, 80lb and 160lb, caught a mahi mahi, missed a mahi mahi and missed a striped marlin, It was only 10:00am and heÃs out till 4:00pm. Makes me feel just great sitting behind a computer! Feeling a bit distracted now. Oh well, this brings me to another point. Late fall thru winter and into spring is our best season for variety fishing. Around this time of year is when our striped marlin show up with short nosed spearfish usually not far behind and itÃs also the start of our mahi mahi season and they are all right on schedule this year and starting to build in numbers. If the blue marlin continue to hang around as they are now itÃs gonna be grand slam city around here! Instead of trolling all day just to catch one measly blue marlin (awe shucks) from now thru March we can often catch several billfish in a day with a mahi or two or twenty thrown in to boot. We averaged 3 billfish per day last winter with our best day 7 stripeys and 2 spearfish (state record last year), all caught on lures and released with the hooks removed. Well also caught 15 yellowfin 15-25lb and 2 mahi that day, Good action fishing, gotta love a mahi or ahi or 2 thrown in almost daily for the BBQ. If blue marlin get scarce during this period then we can really have a ball with their smaller cousins (striped marlin and spearfish) by trolling 30lb, 20lb and 16lb stand-up tackle, great fun and thatÃs how we caught the 9 in one day last year. You just have to make sure you donÃt charter a boat that only carries 130lb gear. 130lb gear in a bucket harness doesnÃt really do a 50lb striped marlin much justice. Which brings me to another point that I forgot to mention. The average striped marlin here is rather small. Right now they are 50 to 100lb and mostly coming up as singles, which is good, and as they increase in numbers the size can go down. Last year when we started raising them in packs on our lures they were very small, averaging 30 to 40lb. IÃm hoping that when they really bust loose this year they are more in their standard 40 to 80lb size with the odd 100+ thrown in, it varies year to year. Spearfish average around 30lb and are also coming up as singles right now but later weÃll start seeing them paired off and at the same time getting some bigger ones 45+. Average mahi mahi right now is on the large side, 25 to 50lb, they usually get smaller as the winter wears on but increase in numbers. I spent a couple weeks in October with the boat out in dry dock replacing our Generator and did a TON of other things on my to do list which carried on another couple weeks. IÃve been out only a couple times since then and hereÃs how we did on the ROD BENDER. Nov. 2, æ day with my daughter Jada and her friend Mercedes. I hadnÃt been out in a month but the fish were right where we left them. We had 4 confirmed blue marlin bites and managed to tag a small one (100lb) for Mercedes, her first blue! We pulled hook on a big one after long run and the others looked 150lbs or so and they jumped off. We also had a couple bites that I didnÃt see, mystery! Nov. 9, æ day I went the wrong way, all zeros. Nov. 16th, æ day with Jada. We caught a spearfish and an ono and jumped off a small blue. Nov. 19, Ω day with Randy and his wife. RandyÃs wife started us off with a blue marlin, tag and release 110lb on 50lb gear. We missed a stripey that looked 50lb or so and then hooked a double mahi mahi. Randy got a 30lb cow in the boat but his wifeÃs 45lb bull narrowly escaped the gaff at boat side. We missed another blue right in front of the harbor just before clearing the gear and calling it a day. Good morning! We havenÃt had a winter that was really good blue marlin fishing in quite awhile and this may be it. Quite possible that weÃll keep receiving wave after wave of them for some time to come, it happens here and weÃre due. Any day now weÃre going to start seeing double, triple and even fipple attacks from striped marlin. Spearfish and mahi are here and getting better. This time of year on the Rod Bender I carry 2 each of 12, 16, 20 and 30lb stand-up trolling gear as well as 2 each of 30lb, 50lb, 80lb and 130lb chair tackle. We adjust daily and on the spot to what weÃre likely to encounter and how you want to encounter it. This is our fun, variety, and numbers season. All species swim in the same areas together here. Keeps it very interesting. Ahem. The more versatile you are this time of year the more fish youÃll catch and youÃll have more fun doing it! LetÃs rock! Tight lines, good fishin and ALOHA! Chip Capt. Chip Van Mols Rod Bender Sportfishing bvanmols@rod-bender.com www.konasportfishingcharters.com 808-960-5954 Kona, Hawaii |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 10-24-2003 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report ñ October 24, 2003 October is usually one of my favorite months to fish because of the variety of fish we can catch while trolling. ItÃs kind of between seasons and usually some of the summer fish are still around and if some of the winter fish start biting early it can be a lot of fun. Unfortunately sometimes the summer fish leave and the winter fish donÃt arrive early. That seems to be where weÃre at right now. A mix of blue and striped marlin, some ahi, some spearfish and some mahi mahi but not much of any one of them. The best bite right now is mahi mahi. They have always been our ìbetween seasonî fish for us. We get a spring run of (generally) small ones and the big ones come in the fall. Mahi mahi are among the most temperature sensitive of fish so the waters here get a little too warm for them in the summer and the winters seem to be just a little too cold. So, whatÃs too warm or too cold? We only get a temperature variance of about 76 to 84 degrees. Picky, picky, picky. The bottom bite should be getting pretty good right now ÖÖ it hasnÃt yet, still waiting. The bottom bite always picks up sometime in the fall and is usually good through summer so I have high hopes for another bountiful season coming up soon. See `ya on the water, Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Chip Van Mols | Date Posted: | 10-07-2003 | |
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AT LONG LAST !! Kona Fish Report for August, September and a tad of October too! Captain Chip Van Mols reporting from the ROD BENDER, finally! Hey folks, sorry for the delay. HereÃs a quick overview of August. The fishing this year in august was pretty slow for what is supposed to be peak season for blue marlin and yellowfin tuna. Unfavorable currents seemed to be the demon for the month but there was some good fishing mixed in with the bad. Here are a few high points of that month! July30th and Aug.1-3 we had traveling angler Hook Harmeling and his brother John on board for 4 days fishing. They both had hopes for their first Pacific Blue Marlin and also were hoping for a shot at catching their first spearfish as well. Luck prevailed for them as they both tagged spearfish and they both caught blues. John tagged a blue estimated 170lb and Hook had the honors for 2 blues 700lb and 200lb, both tagged and released. They also picked up an Ahi of 121lb along the way, good trip! 6th and 7th with Jason Drisco we had a few shots but nothing to the boat, sorry. 9th with John Lee, 125lb Ahi and 43lb ono. 10,11, 13 and 14 with Dick Jeffries, his son tagged a 175lb blue on day one and we went to rubber hooks after that. 12th, we had returning angler Kristina Montero along with her brother and nephew and they brought their luck with them. The nephew had the honors tagging both a spearfish and a 175lb blue, brother tagged a 200lb blue and Kristina waged a pretty impressive battle on a nice Ahi that weighed in at 189lbs. They were all biting today and the trailer boat Sashimi Kai brought in a Grander blue. 15th with Paco Saca and his two sons, all zeroÃs, darn. 18-22 HIBT, 5 days fishing and we managed to tag only one blue, 300lb on 50lb test on the last day. Sure wish the current would turn. 23 with David Brackman and his family, jumped off a small one and missed another. Currents starting to improve now and so is the fishing! From August 24 to September 4th we fished my Owner, Henry Potts, his son Chris and daughter Amy who rode along a day or two. I didnÃt write down my strikes for this period but hereÃs how the catching went 24, all zeroÃs 25, tag 125 and 250lb blues 26, tag 500lb+ and 200lb blues for Henry, now weÃre rolling! 27, 28 and 29, all zeros 30th, tagged a 150 blue 31, tagged 3 blues today from 4 strikes. 130lb, 150lb and 300lb SEPTEMBER 1, we were supposed to get hit by a hurricane today but it missed. I called Henry at 7:30am from the harbor where there wasnÃt a breath of wind and he appeared at the boat about 8:30, 1 for 3 on blues tagging a 150lber. Overcast skies, light rain off and on and an absolutely flat sea. ThatÃs my second marlin on the day of a hurricane! 2, HenryÃs daughter Amy tagged her first blue marlin, 150lb. half-day trip. 3, tagged a 170 4, tagged 2 blues for Henry today, 150 and 170lb. TRIP TOTAL, tagged 13 blues in 11.5 days fishing, timing is everything! Sept. 5th, returning angler Al Gaskill and his daughter Laura for æ day. Laura tagged her first blue marlin 150lbs and Al tagged a 130lb blue too. 2 for 2. Sept. 6-9, Jack Gilliam 6th, tagged a 150 blue, 1 for 2 7th, all zeroÃs 8th, the current switched a bit so we switched areaÃs and it worked, tagged 2 blues from 3 strikes, one nice one 450-500lb and one about 150lb. 9th. Jack tagged a 200lb blue, 1 for 1. Sept. 10, 11, 12, 13 and 16 with returning angler Buddy Robertson and friends. 10th, Bud brought his son Bob along and Bob tagged his first blue marlin, 170lb. Then Bud followed up tagging a 200lb blue and Bob finished the day tagging his first spearfish. 3 for 3. 11th, all zeroÃs 12th, tagged one spearfish 13thtagged 200lb blue and a spearfish 16th tagged two blues, 150 and 140lb, tagged a spearfish and boated a mahi mahi. Summer round up, from June 15 to Sept. 16 the Rod Bender fished 61 days for 53 blue marlin, 51 were tagged and released, 1was taken by the request of the clients the other was unrevivable. We also boated 6 Ahi to 191.5lbs and I didnÃt count the spearfish ,wahoo and mahi. Looks like 5 of the marlin were 500 or better. Sept. continued 23rd, first day of fall, Al Gaskill for a full day all zeros. Sept. 26-30, Henry Potts dropped in on his way back from Japan and his son Chris flew in from the mainland to join him. Henry wanted me to share this with you! 26th, we left the dock about 11:00am and made the short run up to the live bait grounds. The plan was to catch frigate mackerel and slow troll them live on 30lb stand-up gear, 200lb leader and 14/0 mustad circle hook for the smaller blues that IÃd heard were hanging with the bait schools. Our first set of frigate macks got chopped by toothy critters and our next bait was a 4 or 5lb skipjack. That got bit right away and we jumped off a nice blue that looked around 400lb after 5 minutes of hot pursuit, I saw the bait come flying out of the marlin about 150yards back and the line went slack, I also saw a couple sharks lurking off to the left between our dislodged bait and the boat and I thought I also saw a smaller marlin feed off to the right of us. ì Wind that in fast please thereÃs a couple sharks right over here to the left and one looks bigger than we want to tangle with on 30lb, you might get bit on the way in so be ready to feed cause I think thereÃs a few marlin around here too.î As Henry wound the bait closer I see him get bit and gives a feed but comes tight on just the bait so he continues reeling the bait in. I can see it now 60yards back, sharks see it too 50 yards to the left then a blue about 200lb appears right behind the bait but splits as the bigger of the 2 sharks comes to join him. ì Freaken looks like sea world around here!î Henry got the bait to the boat without getting shark bit but his bite earlier on the way in was a shark also, the bigger shark followed his bait (what was left) to the boat and was a whaler about 400lb. Bait didnÃt want to bite so we through out the lures and missed one on the short rigger right away and hooked the next one on the long corner, right as I was telling the boys to clear em so we could go home. We raced back on the fish into the sun and golden glare on the surface, I figured weÃd just get quick tag in it and run home. Fish heading into glare and us overtaking it in reverse I see what I thought was my rigger loop come out of the water right off the transom and then I realize itÃs my three foot double, the marlin was as shocked as I was and made perfect fast 180 up the side of the boat then under and screwed me good, I moved the levers around a bit (franticly), the boat went no where and the line went right in the wheels, to late. My favorite long corner lure, $%#@#$%&*, then the marlin almost jumps in the boat, yes weÃre still attached! I grab my mask and open the transom door and just before hopping over the side with the pissed off marlin I see my lure come ark out from under the boat about 4 feet down. I grabbed a stick gaff and fished around for the line, nothing. Then out comes the lure again, just as I was going to dive in again, and I take another stab with the gaff and get the line then the swivel, couple wraps on the leader and IÃve got my lure back! ìCut my lure free, QUICK!î HereÃs where it gets good. My decky cuts the leader behind my hands and lays the lure and on the deck still toothpicked onto the leader (WHICH I DIDNÃT REALISE), the door is still open, IÃm leadering with a dead boat and bare hands which my decky thinks is stupid so he takes over in front of me and the fish goes a little nuts up the side of the boat. In all my wisdom (and adrenaline) I put the boat in gear to help him out and WHOOSH my lure goes flying out the door (I thought it just slid out on itÃs own) with me right behind it to save it from the depths. No mask and I cant see it, I missed right, wrong itÃs still connected to the boat/ wheels, what an IDIOT. I was feeling pretty special treading water in 100 fathoms on the top corner of the grounds where we had seen 2 or 3 big sharks earlier, giant school of frigate macks under me, watching my boat idle away from me with a 200lb marlin thrashing along side! I yelled to please take the boat out of gear and let the fish go, at least I think I said please! As I swam back to the now stopped boat I see my decky jump over the side and damned if he didnÃt hop back in the boat with my prized lure in his hand, YES! I had the honors of lingering in the water cutting out the 30 yards of 130lb mono wrapped on both shafts between the strut and prop, you drive you dive! A bit of an emotional roller coaster that one was! Anyway, we went 1 for three tagging a 200lb blue marlin AND my boss thinks IÃm a certified nut case! Suppose heÃs right! Got my lure back though! Oh yeah, IÃd like to thank AMALON monofilament! 27th, we pulled hook on 2 marlin in the morning doing the live bait and circle hook thing, went one for three trolling in the afternoon tagging a 150lb blue on 30lb test. 1 for 5. 28th, all zeros 29th, went straight to trolling today, 130s on the corners, 80 on the short rigger and 30s on the long rigger and center. 5 for 5 on blues today! 3 on 30lb test and 2 on 130 (same lucky lure). All fish were tagged and released, 150 to 225lbs, Chris caught the three on 30lb and Henry put on the leader gloves for his first three blue marlin on the wire! Henry angled the two on the lucky lure. We may have created a monster. 30th, Henry had to leave but Chris stuck around for another poke at em. Conditions started changing the day before and we decided to stick the big guns out and look for a big one to the south of the harbor today. 10 minutes out we had screamer on that got about 300 yards lickity split before jumping off, hummm. We jumped off a small one later and when we returned to the area of the first bite off went the long corner, 20 minutes later we had 686lb blue in the boat, ChrisÃs personal best! We went back out after weighing the 686 and missed 2 more marlin, 1 for 5! August came in September this year and it seams to be cranking right into October, we went 0 for 4 on blues on the 1st and itÃs been biting almost everyday since for those lucky enough to fishing right now. Only a handful of boats out right now and there has been a 500lb or bigger blue everyday and plenty of smaller ones. Another late run of ahi too. IÃm up to dry dock next week to replace gensets but IÃll keep you all posted. If these waves of blue marlin keep coming could be an outstanding winter for grand slams with blues, stripies and spearfish all here together and Mahi Mahi season is right around the corner too. Lets go! Tight lines, good fishin and Aloha! Chip Captain Chip Van Mols ROD BENDER sportfishing 808-960-5954 bvanmols@rod-bender.com www.konasportfishingcharters.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 09-20-2003 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report ñ September 20, 2003 The trolling bite has picked up lately with a mixed bag of billfish, tuna and mahi mahi. The spearfish are back along with some striped marlin but the main billfish bite is Pacific blue marlin in the 150 to 200 lb range with some occasional 400 to 500 pounders in the mix. The ìblind strikeî yellowfin tuna bite has pretty much stopped and even the yellowfin bite in the porpoise schools is slow. The big skipjack tuna (otado) that usually come in late August are here but in small numbers. Even if you do find some, the bite is slow to nonexistent. While I havenÃt landed any mahi mahi myself lately, I see plenty of mahi mahi fish flags flying in the harbor and the ones I see guys filleting up are pretty good size. The bottom fishing bite took another turn for the worse. Finicky currents and some big sharks in the best fishing areas have sent the giant trevally, amberjack and almaco jacks running for safer waters. There were two big tiger sharks hanging right in front of the harbor. One of them, over a thousand pounds was hooked inside the harbor entrance, landed and killed. The remaining one (just a little smaller) has been spotted several times just outside of the harbor entrance, a favorite spot for snorkelers and scuba divers. No one has been snacked on yet but you wouldnÃt catch me swimminà out there. See `ya on the water, not in it :o , Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 08-20-2003 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report ñ August 20, 2003 KonaÃs reputation for BIG blue marlin continues. Another ìGranderî (3rd this year) was caught last week and another one just shy of 1000 lbs. was landed the week before. You might be wishing you were on the charter that caught one of these beasts but neither one was caught by a charter boat. The first beast weighing in at 983 lbs. was hooked up by a small boat with just one guy on board. He had been commercial fishing all night for Yellowfin tuna and was on his way home in the morning when the marlin struck. Realizing it was too big to handle alone, he called for help and another commercial fisherman jumped on board to help out. They landed the fish in just under an hour. The next Kona beast weighed in at 1065 lbs. and was also caught by small boat commercial fishermen on their way home from an all night tuna trip. This one took 3 hours and 20 minutes to land. The big blues (over 500 lbs.) are coming in at a rate of about 1 per day. Most of the blues are running in the 150 to 250 lb. range. The summer yellowfin tuna bite seems a little slow compared to last year with the daytime catch totals staying at about 4 per day. The nighttime commercial catch of yellowfin and albacore has been pretty good lately. The spearfish bite is back on and is the most common catch while trolling lately. Most are tagged and released but if youÃre looking for some food fish, spearfish is your best shot. They are delicious! The ono are supposed to be in peak season right now but they seem to be the most rare catch lately. The catch rate for those trolling all day remains well below 50% but the bottom fishing bite has finally picked up with amberjack to over 100 lbs, almaco jack, giant trevally, gray snapper and a wide variety of sharks hitting the baits without much waiting time for a bite. This is by far the hottest fishery for those wanting action instead of a boat ride. See `ya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Chip Van Mols | Date Posted: | 07-27-2003 | |
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Kona Fish Report, July 27, 2003, Capt. Chip Van Mols reporting from the bridge of the ROD BENDER. SUMMERTIME BLUES and TUNAÃS TOO ItÃs been good, itÃs been spotty, and itÃs been a blur! I would have to say the highlight of the month would have to be 1258 pound blue marlin that was taken aboard the ON THE FLY by Capt. Bomboy Llanas on July 5th, the biggest blue here in about 8 years and the second grander for Kona so far this year. A day late for the big money in the World Cup but it did get Bomboy and his lucky angler second place in the Fire Cracker Open blue marlin tournament, tough crowd when a 1258 only gets second place in a total points tourney but a fish of a life time none the less. This monster was caught on a mini locknut lure of Bomboys own making and the battle went 10 hours, still jumping around in the dark right up to the end! Congratulations boys! I mentioned spotty fishing above, thatÃs because our current has been very inconsistent and unsettled. This moves the fish all over the place and one day can be totally different from the next but the fish are here and weÃve all been catching plenty. This past week or so has been particular slow for this time of year with the passing of a low pressure shutting off our trades and the wane of moon both being my scapegoats. There isnÃt as much bait around as usual either but weÃre just going to peak a little late this year, which is fine by me. Blue marlin 150lb to 650 pounds seems to be the range with a few 700 to 850 pounders working their way into the mix, tag and release has been the out come for an ever growing majority of the fish. Big yellowfin tuna are rolling all over the place now and an occasional blind strike from one of these 150 to 250lb models is always welcome. It looks like someone dropped a wrecking ball on one of your lures when the big ones strike! Still a few spearfish around and make sure you donÃt troll by anything floating unless you want to get your lures hair trimmed by deep-water ono. HereÃs how we did on the Rod Bender since my last report. June 29th, 1/2 day with Bill and Mark Lynath. Tagged a 350lb blue marlin, 1 for 1 June 30th, 1/2 day with Bob Collier. Tagged a 140lb blue marlin, 1 for 1 July 1, full day with Dean and Cindy. All zeroÃs, oops. July 8, full day, 0-2 on blues, they both jumped off. July 9, æ day holo holo with my daughter Jada, just the two of us today. Jada tagged a 250lb blue, 1 for 3 bites. July11, æ day charter. Tagged a 110lb blue marlin, 1 for 1. July12, full day with Eric Keating and his friends. First strike of the morning looked about 500lbs and indeed 15 minutes later just out of reach of the leader it still looked just about 500, I asked one of the party to grab the tag stick and back up my deck hand and then two of the party (local residents) said they wanted it for their smoke house. A little while later we caught a 193.5 yellowfin, then a 20lb ono and finished up the day with 120lb tag and release marlin. Actual weight of the big one went 490lb. July 13th, full day, tagged 150lb blue, 1 for 1 July 15, Ω day, boated a 155lb yellowfin tuna and went 0 for 3 on blues. July 16, 17 and 18, with Judd Ball, Day one, 0 for 3 on blues and 2 for 2 on spearfish, released. Day two, missed a big YFT and caught a small ono, no blues today, hummmm. Day three, all zeroÃs. A bit of hard luck here, fishing wasnÃt great during this time but it wasnÃt that bad either. Sorry Judd. July19, half day with Philip Hinds and his kids. 1 for 2 on blues, tagging one that looked a tad under 600lb after a 15 minute fight and missing a smaller one. Also pulled the hook on a spearfish. Good half day! July 26, HuggoÃs Na Pua O Ke Kai Wahine Tournament. My usually lucky daughter Jada was our angler for todayÃs tourney, she missed one marlin on the strike, raised one that wouldnÃt eat and caught a 15-pound ono. Better luck next year baby! ìThatÃs what you said last year dad!î August looks like itÃs gonna be a barn burner, stay tuned. We have 24 days booked so far and weÃll probably fill some of the open days as well. If the current comes right, north and in, look out! Questions anyone? Email: bvanmols@rod-bender.com and check out the Rod Bender at www.konasportfishingcharters.com. Tight lines, good fishing and ALOHA Capt. Chip Van Mols |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 06-27-2003 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report ñJune 3002- Summer is the season when more blue marlin show up in Kona. The bite is definitely picking up with most of the marlin weighing between 100 and 200 lbs. That`s small for an average but catching small marlin is better than no marlin at all. The spearfish bite has really taken off in the last week after almost disappearing for about a month. The yellowfin tuna are doing their summer thing here too. This is the time of year when you get ìblind strikesî while trolling. Any other time of year, you need to be working a porpoise school to find the big yellowfin but in the summer when your reel starts screamin` out line, it might just be a big tuna. All of the FAD`s are holding bait size yellowfin and skipjack tuna. The ono bite is as good offshore (if not better) than it is nearshore. Lots of guys (including me) complaining that their big marlin lures are getting shredded by ono in the deep. If you have a marlin lure that`s hot, changing the skirts because they got shredded could easily turn your lure from a good one to a dud. While ono is one of the best eating fish we have, it`s just not worth the value of a good marlin magnet lure. The bottom fishing bite is still very slow but itÃs still worth the attempt just to get the excitement of stand-up tackle fishing. While the most common catch from the bottom is amberjack, a big shark on the line will give even a seasoned angler a fight they wonÃt soon forget. See `ya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Chip Van Mols | Date Posted: | 06-24-2003 | |
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Kona Fish Report, June 24, 2003, Capt. Chip Van Mols reporting from the ROD BENDER. SUMMERTIME BLUES and tuna too! Things are heating up along the Kona coast! This past week we received a nice wave of smaller (100-200lb) blue marlin with most boats seeing 3 blues per day up in their spreads. Tag and release has been dominating and itÃs nice to look down the marina at all the tag flags under the marlin flags. Not to many big ones at the moment but there are still a few of them around and we should see a wave of the big girls any day now following their male counterparts. June is traditionally a big fish month not a numbers month and the first half of the month of June did have good numbers of 500lb+ blues but not as many blues in general, the biggest for June so far went 975lb caught by a visiting Maui boat ìTAI PAN IIî followed by an 839 on board the HOOKELE. Yellowfin tuna are here and building in numbers steadily, not only in our porpoise schools now but also being seen busting on the surface and several being caught in the blind, 243lb the biggest so far this year. Wahoo are still moving into the island and those trolling in shallow for them are all being rewarded, for those of us fishing out wide our marlin lures are receiving regular hair cuts from the razor gang, keeps fresh fish in the fridge though. To round things out there has also been a smattering of spearfish around. Despite the fact that our current has been rather inconsistent the fishing has been very consistent so itÃs looking good for July thru Sept. Loads of skipjack are starting to pile up along the edges and things are looking very bright indeed. BRINGÃEM ON!!!! HereÃs how we did on the Rod Bender the last couple weeks: June 9th, holo holo full day with my daughter Jada and my friends from down under Jarad Boshammer and David Casso. Jada no showed (wouldnÃt get out of bed) so the boys and me went out wide to find the porpoise and try our hand at yellowfin tuna. We missed a small blue marlin in the porpoise and went 1 for 2 on yellowfin with David catching his biggest ever at 121lb. HEY JADA, you snooze you lose! June 11th, Jada got out of bed today but I think her Karma ran over her Dogma. 0 for 1 on blue marlin and we trolled all day in the porpoise school for zero tuna bites. June 13th, I promised Jada weÃd go marlin fishing today and she sprang out bed. Jada had the angling honors on two estimated 250lb blue marlin today 2 for 3. Tag and release. SheÃs off to the mainland for a month now with her karma intact! June 17th, full day with Kevin Veal. 1 for 2 on blues, Kevin tagged one about 180lb on a legend lures Andomeda. 0 for 2 on spearfish and 1 for 2 on wahoo for the BBQ. June 20th, full day with Bill and Suzanne Gooch from Virginia Beach. We trolled up to OTEK buoy, accidentally catching SuzanneÃs first Pacific blue marlin, tag and release 175lbs. After catching a few baits at OTEK we switched over to a fly-fishing arrangement to see what kind of trouble we could get into but unfortunately could find none. 1 for 1 on blues today. June 21, æ day golf superintendents tourney. 1 for 3 on blues today, pulling the hook on one about 200 right behind the boat and tagging one about 140, the other jumped off right away. Third place from 15 boats. June 22, full day with Bill, Suzanne and her younger brother ìGî. G caught his first wahoo, about 20lbs and we raised three blues today trolling, jumping off one about 150lb, Tagging one about 110lb for Bill and we had a follower on the long corner that never bit but looked like a bigger fish, maybe 400lb. June 23, full day with the Gooch and G gang again. Trolling again today and we went 1 for 4 on blues with G tagging his first pacific blue marlin estimated at 140lb. We also jumped off a couple others about the same size and just before pulling the gear in at the end of the day we had a screamer on the short outrigger, 250yds of 130lb line in 5 seconds and then it came off. Never saw it but I think it may have had potential to make them miss their flight to Honolulu, weÃll never know. 0 for 2 on spearfish also, good action today! A marlin a day works for me! And weÃre just getting started! Unfortunately for us bookings are a bit slow for the fleet (and me) this next month, but thatÃs good for folks that are coming, theyÃll have the hot spots all to themselves. July and August should be good fun and we still have plenty of open time on the Rod Bender. Any Questions? Email bvanmols@rod-bender.com and check out the Rod Bender at www.konasportfishingcharters.com . WeÃll both be glad you did!!! Good fishin, tight lines and ALOHA! Chip |
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Posted By: | Chip Van Mols | Date Posted: | 05-21-2003 | |
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Kona Fish Report, May 21 2003, from the helm of the ROD BENDER. Good springtime fishing continues along the Kona coast! Blue marlin of all sizes are here and good percentage of them are of the large variety. The first grander of the year ( 1014 lbs.) was brought to the scales a couple weeks ago by Capt. Robert Hudson on his charter boat CAMELOT, Congratulations! This fish was caught while trolling for wahoo in 40 fathoms of water about a mile from our harbor! This just after I read an article by some professional that marlin arenÃt found that shallow in Kona, you never know. Next on the big fish list was 948lb blue caught on board the Sea Strike four or five days after the 1014. Every day there has been at least one 500lb plus blue tagged or captured and pretty much all the boats fishing are seeing two or three blues a day on average, sometimes more. All the other usual suspects are here as well with 100lb plus yellowfin tuna starting to stack up nicely in the porpoise schools, wahoo (ono) being found out in the deep as well as inshore (all my marlin lures get reskirted this time of year and we all eat well), a couple bites from spearfish a day is common and there are some nice sized mahi mahi around too. HereÃs how we did on the Rod Bender since my last report, I know, itÃs been awhile! April 21, full day with Don Wies. We tagged a 200lb blue marlin (had an old long line hook in the corner of itÃs mouth and now it has a yellow tag in itÃs shoulder) and lost a big ahi out in the porpoise school. April 23, full day with Walter Woods. We pulled the hook on a 400+ blue marlin and tagged a spearfish. April 30, half day with forgot to write down your names. Action packed five hours; we went 2 for 3 on striped marlin, tagging 2 in the 70 to 80 pound range. Missed a small blue and missed 2 spearfish. May 1, full day with Perry and Martha, We missed a spearfish and a couple other mystery bites and Perry caught a deep-water ono around 30lbs, yum yum. May 2, Full Day with James Riviera. We tagged a 180lb blue marlin and a 45lb spearfish in the morning and got the ìletÃs go inî call at 2:00 while we were waiting for our Ahi bite in a very juicy looking porpoise school. May 5, full day with Ed and Paula Wies. Ed was looking for a big marlin but instead got a pretty nice pile of smaller fish, 8 mahi mahi 22 to 37 lbs., 5 ono 20-40lbs and a half dozen little yellowfin and skipjack tuna. We found something submerged that was holding a huge school of mahi , ono and a ton of bait. We could have filled the boat with mahi and ono but we worked wide looking the marlin that should be in the area and still caught 13 pieces of smaller stuff. My whole first string of marlin lures got shredded and I watched another charter boat troll by at the end of the day and hook a huge marlin, they broke 130lb test after 3 Ω hours, right where we had been working all day, go figure. May 7, full day with Ed and Paula. Today we had 2 spearfish bites, tagging one them, no marlin though. May 8, full day with Kevin Beck. Kevin wanted some fish to eat and hopefully a shot at a big marlin. 35lb mahi mahi filled the food order and a shot was all we got when we missed a 400+ blue marlin. May15, half day with Berry Barber and friends. Tagged a 100lb blue marlin from a double header. Missed 2 spearfish from anther double-header and boated a 45lb ono for the BBQ. May 17, half day with Berry Barber group. Berry came back again looking for the big one and found it! After a 50 minute fight we had an estimated 600lb blue along side the boat that came up with its mouth pinned almost shut by the hooks. It took my deck hand 5 minutes on the leader to get the digging fish up till she rolled over, tried to revive with no success. Weight at the dock, 593lbs. Trade winds are blowing, the current is going north, marlin and bait fish are moving into the ledge, we should start seeing the yellowfin tuna busting around on the surface any day now too. Summer is here! A quick look at my tide chart for June and DAMN, looking real good! ItÃs already good and weÃre just getting started. Bet we see another grander here before the third week of June is out. My calendar has a bunch of openings in it. Where are you? Any questions? Email bvanmols@rod-bender.com or give me a buzz at 808-960-5954. IÃm always happy to help. And check out the Rod Bender at www.konasportfishingcharters.com. Good fishing, tight lines and ALOHA! Chip Capt. Chip Van Mols ROD BENDER Sportfishing Kona, Hawaii |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 05-17-2003 | |
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KONA IS GOINà OFF!! Ono tops the list as the easiest to catch. ThereÃs so many being brought in that the fish wholesalers are flooded with `em and donÃt even want `em anymore. This is one of the best eating fish you can get so if youÃre looking for some fish to take back to your condo or back home with you, you need to know a few things. Check out my FAQ page (Can I keep my fish?) at http://fishinkona.com/FAQ.htm . . Another great eating fish thatÃs a really hot bite right now is spearfish. Many prefer the taste of spearfish over ono or mahi mahi. These fish love to play with your lures, theyÃre stealthy and hard to hook so youÃll miss most of the ones that come to play. They take line fast and then the fight is basically over. They come to the boat so easy that sometimes itÃs hard to even tell the fish is still on the line. If you donÃt plan on eating them (and your crew doesnÃt), do the right thing. Take your photo and let ëem go. . Both blue marlin and striped marlin are being caught now. Just when we thought the striped marlin bite was over, they came back! No complaints here. The blue marlin are ranging in size from just 25 lbs. to over 1000 lbs! KonaÃs first ìgranderî (1000+) was caught May 2nd and weighed in at 1014 lbs. Another blue caught earlier this week came just shy of the grander mark and weighted in at 946 lbs. Most of the real big blueÃs win their fights and the ones that donÃt usually die trying. The hook or the battle mortally wounds many others. If youÃre one of those who gets their heart broken because a marlin was killed, I got a piece of advice for you. DonÃt fish for `em. . The early summer porpoise schools have arrived and with them are the yellowfin tuna. Most of the ones being caught are right around the 100 lb. mark. The first guys in the school are having good luck but as soon as the boat traffic gets heavy, the bite turns off. All of the FADÃs (fish aggregation deviceÃs) are holding small yellowfin, bigeye and skipjack tuna. . The bottom fishing bite has been very slow but if you know where to go, you can usually find some action. On May 3rd my angler was bringing in an amberjack from the bottom when a tiger shark cruised in and ate it. I quickly rigged bait for the shark and hooked it with a circle hook. When I first saw the shark down in the water I figured it was about 400 lbs. I found that I had really underestimated the size of this fish :o She weighs about 700 lbs! We got the photo and release along with some good digital movie footage of it. ItÃs a very impressive sight! I hope to somehow add the movie to my web site. . See `ya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Chip Van Mols | Date Posted: | 04-15-2003 | |
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Kona Fish Report, April 15, 2003. Capt. Chip Van Mols reporting from the ROD BENDER. Firstly we pass along our condolences to the families, loved ones and friends of those lost in Iraq and prey for the safety of all our armed forces. Keep up the good work! Now on with the show Spring has sprung here in Kona! The small striped marlin and spearfish of winter here have taken their leave and big blue marlin are moving in. The last three weeks, starting strong the last week of March with a bit of a lull the first week of April but coming on strong again now, there has been at least one blue over 400 pounds caught every day and some days half the boats out are catching big ones. Unfortunately this is a slow time for charters with only 8 to 12 boats going out daily. Biggest so far this run and for the year to date went 868lb and was brought to the scales by the crew on the Makalei the last week of March. Two fish estimated at 700+ were released by the crews on the Huntress and the Sea Genie respectively week before last and the list is just to long to go down from there. It is a little more of a gamble this time of year cause the numbers arenÃt really there but the payoff can be BIG as this time of year usually produces some monsters of grand proportions. Spring here has produced four fish over the magic 1000 pound mark the last two years and I expect the first 2003 grander to pop up any day now. Fishing for the big ones this time of year does take some patience as there arenÃt usually great numbers of smaller blues mixed in to wet your appetite while you wait but have no fear there has still been some fair action on mahi mahi on floaters and a few spearfish and striped marlin around to keep your riggers rattling while you wait your turn on the big one. In fact this spring so far hasnÃt been an all or nothing for the big one at all with most boats coming in with mahi, ono, spearfish, stripeys and/or smaller tuna etcÖ very few skunks and plenty of table fare. The yellowfin tuna bite has been off for a couple weeks, we thought the porpoise schools were going to keep on holding 100lb+ fish for ever, but that usually comes on strong again starting in May or June with our summer run blue marlin of all sizes right behind. ItÃs been a while since my last report, I was gone most of March, but hereÃs how we did on the Rod Bender since my last update. Feb. 25, full day with Jack Butler. We tagged two striped marlin 35 and 55lb, boated a 25lb mahi mahi and six yellowfin tuna 10-20lb. Feb. 26, full day with Willie Stark and friends, tagged a 45lb stripey and boated a 104-pound yellowfin tuna. We had rubber hooks this day going 1 for 8 or something like that on the stripeys and pulling into a porpoise school on our way home immediately lost a big tuna, I was steaming so we went into overtime and got lucky with the 104 shortly after. March 1st, holo holo with my old friend Mathew the Leatherman and his friends from the mainland. Hooks were made of steel again tagging 3 stripeys 40- 85lb and 1 spearfish 40lb not to mention a half dozen yellowfin 15-25lb. March 5, full day. Tagged a 40lb stripey from about 3 shots and boated 2 by 20lb skipjack and 2 by 15-20lb yellowfin. March 6, full day, forgot to write youÃre name down, sorry but I did write down this. We went wide today and missed 2 spearfish out by OTEK buoy in the morning then we spotted a porpoise school in the distance and on our third pass we hooked a double of big yellowfin tuna on 50lb test, caught one 120 pounder and pulled hook on the other on the leader looked about 150lb. Not bad for one angler. We set back up and headed in the direction the school was going but couldnÃt find them, damn. We then decided to go into ledge and see if we could find a stripey or two and just as we were arriving in the zone we spot another porpoise school and first pass bang we catch another 105lb yellowfin tuna. We get going again, get into position and bang, mahi mahi 25lb, get going again and another 20lb mahi mahi slows us down. By now there is ten boats trying to work the school with us and I look back at the ledge and itÃs empty, exit stage left and back into the ledge to try and catch this guy his first marlin and bingo tag and release a 40lb striped marlin! Wait, it gets better, we head down the ledge on the way home and catch a couple small yellowfin and weÃre just about to pull the plug and we get another double strike. I figure itÃs more small tuna but one of the 50Ãs starts screaming on nice long run, another 100lb yellowfin tuna in the boat! Wish I could remember your name single angler guy. You sure are lucky! 3 yellowfin 100-120lb, 3 yellowfin 15-25lb, tag and release 1 stripey 40lb and boat 2 mahi 20 and 25lb. Road trip 3/7 to 3/21, Bermagui, Australia. Fished 7 days for tag and release of 15 striped marlin 200lb average and 2 black marlin 250lb and 350lb. Road trip, 3/26 to 3/30. Honolulu for my older daughterÃs soccer tournament, she makes it to the semiÃs and winds up third from 20 teams. JUST HAD TO THROW THAT IN THERE! April 3, full day with Mike Sandlin and his Kids. Trolling the big gear for big fish now but the bite has slowed so we break up the day and let the kids catch skipjack and small yellowfin around one of our fad buoy's (C ) until there arms are to sore to catch any more and back to trolling the big guns. TodayÃs day saver came the in the form of a cargo net we found a couple skiffs working in the afternoon. Skipping fresh belly strips on our little stand up rods proved effective for 3 nice mahi mahi to 25lb and a small ono. Whew, April 5, half day, NFL players association charity tourney, we didnÃt have any players on board so I guess these guys were association? We won this tourney last year but no cigar this year, 0-0-0. April 6th, full day with Vince and Patti Carr who bid on this trip on Rod Bender at the IGFA auction. Still slow on the trolling front but we did get lucky on another floater and they both caught a couple mahi mahi each 15-25lb each in the after noon. We set up the lures for the troll home and jumped off a 200lb blue. April 7th, full day with Bob Brundermattson, another single angler, lookout! Bob just wanted to catch fish of any kind we decided to give OTEK buoy a look. After an uneventful troll up to the can we found the buoy loaded with skipjack and small yellowfin. We worked the area with lures for a while and raised nothing but I was getting some suspicious marks on the recorder near the can (mahi mahi?). We live baited most the day around the can for one mahi mahi about 25lb. Every time I drug our baits near the can they got nervous but I never saw any more mahi, humm. We switched back to lures for the troll home at 2:00 and once the pattern was out we made one last swing by the buoy and looking at my recorder I see the same suspicious marks down at 20-35 fathoms and two of our rods start making noise, nice holes left behind where the fish bit too. Our single angler brings in first one and then a second 50 to 60 pound Big Eye tuna! We make another pass and get another single, another pass and get a triple but the one on our teaser is just for show! One more pass for good measure and we get another single but pull hook on the leader. 5 big eye 55lb to 69lb is the total and one 25lb mahi. I havenÃt seen big eye like that in 6 or 7 years, good fun! Some yoyo said there was lots of big blue marlin around and the stripeys had all gone north or wherever they go, whatÃs up with this! April 13,Sunday full day holoholo with my two daughters. Friday and Saturday went off with big blues, 50% of boats out caught nice ones 400- 675 pounds so we figured we would go out and see what kind of trouble we could get into without a decky. Nothing in the morning for us, no good reports from the other boats I spoke to in our area and my faithful crew both went to sleep. Not pleased with area out front of the harbor I pounded my way for an hour and a half north up thousand fathom curve, trades were smoking so the further I went the bigger and steeper the seas got but the speed of the current also increased and we started seeing birds. Got as far north as I wanted to be and started making my first trough run into the top corner of the grounds from the 1000 and we hooked a stripey, 8 year old Kari made short work of that and soon had her first striped marlin estimated 50lb. She was stoked until her sister caught one about 125lbs while I was putting the lures back out, sibling rivalry, ha. After JadaÃs fish we continued in to the ledge where we missed another stripey and back out the thousand where we missed a spearfish and a small blue on the way. I heard of three blues this day 180 to 485 pounds for about 10 boats out. I mentioned the trade winds are smoking right now well itÃs getting the current well situated for some good fishing and more and more bait is showing up. This next week or ten days should be good. I saw a skiff come in with a 500 pounder Monday morning and about half the boats out again caught blues. You never know until you go! So LETÃS GO! We have tons of open time including most of July and the first week of August (tournament season) still available. Rod Bender is a showroom floor condition 1999 35à CABO flybridge, air-conditioned, comfortable, fast and rigged to the teeth with all the finest everything. Competitively priced with a bunch of older boats that have less. And we support tag and release of billfish. And we work hard for you, no bus rides! AndÖ ANY QUESTIONS? EMAIL: bvanmols@rod-bender.com OR CALL: 808-960-5954 Good fishing, tight lines and ALOHA! Chip Capt. Chip Van Mols ROD BENDER Sportfishing www.konasportfishingcharters.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 03-15-2003 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report 3/15/03 The striped marlin and spearfish bite has slowed down just a bit. ItÃs been an afternoon bite so the people that only booked morning Ω day charters have been missing out. It seems to be getting harder to hook the billfish that are hitting the lures also. Spearfish have always been harder to hook than marlin but now even the marlin seem to be getting less aggressive and lure shy. The full moon is coming soon. The bite should pick up then. The spring mahi mahi run is starting to kick in. We were lucky enough to have a decent mahi mahi bite all winter long and now that the mahi season is starting, it looks like this spring will be a good one. WeÃre also having a good ono run right now. Hardly anyone is working the ono lane but those that are putting in some time working the lane are finding success. ThereÃs been plenty of ono caught in the deep too. The yellowfin and skipjack tuna bite remains good also. Overall, the trolling bite has been great! Those of you that have fished with me before know that IÃm always probing the deep ledges for ìsea monstersî. All these small stripies, spears, mahi, ono and small tunas running around are fun but the only place you have a good shot at catching a fish that weighs more than you do is the bottom. The bottom bite has been slow overall but plenty of big sharks to tangle with. See `ya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Chip Van Mols | Date Posted: | 02-25-2003 | |
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Kona Fish Report, Feb. 23 2003, Capt. Chip Van Mols reporting from the ROD BENDER. Classic winter variety fishing continues along the Kona coast since my last report! While the blue marlin bite has been extremely slow our smaller wintertime residents have really been picking up the slack. Small striped marlin, spearfish, mahi mahi, great numbers of 10 to 25 yellowfin tuna and skipjack tuna have all been in the mix making for some pretty fast action and a lot of happy anglers. Our run of striped marlin really took off for a couple weeks at the end of Jan. and first part of Feb. when raising multiples became a common occurrence. Spearfish numbers have been fair with a few on the larger side showing up, the menÃs 16lb world record getting pushed up a few pounds last week by the crew on the Vixen and the previously vacant 8lb tippet record being potentially filled by the crew on the Sea Genie II. Mahi mahi havenÃt been here in great numbers but a couple blind strikes from singles daily has been common, yum yum, average size 12 to 25 pounds. HereÃs something we havenÃt seen around here in a long time, large numbers of yellowfin tuna in the 10 to 25lb range have been all over the place from the ledges to way out wide, SASHIMI! Big skipjack tuna, 10 to 30 pounds round out the package, POKI! Along with these larger tuna there has been plenty of smaller bait along our drop off and out wide which has us all scratching our heads wondering where all the blue marlin are. My daughters pending junior world record 514 pound blue marlin still holds on as biggest of the year so far which is very unusual but just this past week a few blues have just started showing up so it wonÃt be long now before itÃs beaten. We hooked an estimated 600 pounder on the Rod Bender yesterday but pulled the hook after 30 minutes or so, almost. Speaking of the Rod Bender, hereÃs how we did since my last report! Jan. 14, full day with David Goode. Tag and release 2 striped marlin, 2 spearfish and boated 3-mahi mahi to 22lbs. Jan.18, full day with David Goode. Tagged 1 stripey and boated 1-20lb mahi. Jan. 30 to Feb. 4, Owner of the Rod Bender and angler extraordinaire Henry Potts and his friend Don Maulsby for Dons first experience in offshore fishing. We decided to troll light tackle standup from 12 to 30 pound test since the average size of fish around was also light. Don was here for three days and Henry for 6 days. Day one Jan. 30, The captain made a wrong turn today and all we found were 1 20lb mahi mahi and missed 1 striped marlin on a æ day. Day two Jan. 31, The captain made a right turn and Don got some quick schooling, we had the hum. Tag and release 7 striped marlin and 2 spearfish as well as boating 2 yellowfin, 1 skipjack and 1 mahi mahi all in the 20lb range. ThatÃs the best single day billfish total for any boat in the fleet in many years and we didnÃt even leave the dock till 10:00am. Day three Feb. 1, I made the same turn but a few less strikes today tagging 2 stripeys and 1 spearfish and boating 1 yellowfin and 2 skipjack in the 20lb range. We also jumped off a 100lb blue marlin on 16lb tackle, almost got the grand slam! Day four Feb. 2, We decided to bait and switch today for a change of pace and raised 4 stripeys and 2 spearfish on the teasers only tagging one spearfish from three bites. CanÃt catch tuna or mahi on teasers either! Day five Feb. 3, The billfish bite started slowing down, tagged 1 stripey, missed a spearfish then we found a broken off FAD buoy and caught 12 yellowfin tuna 15 to 25lbs in about 45 minutes skipping Ballyhoo around the FAD. On our way home we managed a mahi mahi and 2 big skipjack. Day six Feb. 4, the honey hole dried up forcing us into a wider search pattern which led us to a spearfish that got away, a stripey that got away and then a double strike on little blue marlin from which we tagged 1 estimated 50lbs, cute little bugger! We also had a double header on some of the biggest skipjack IÃve seen in a while, one weighing 26 and the other 28 pounds, they make a 16lb rig smoke on the bite! 15 billfish tagged for the 6 day trip from 3 different species and plenty of good eating fish along the way as well. Feb.6, full day, somebody put the honey back in the hole, tag and release 6 striped marlin, 1 spearfish and boated 13 yellowfin 10 to 25lbs and 1 mahi mahi. Sorry I forgot my charters name, no wait, they were the Smith family, thatÃs it! oops Feb. 19, 20 and 21, we had Thomas Irizarry for three days of fly-fishing. This guy is on a world wide roll right now having caught a grander blue in Ascension Island last month and coming to Kona to catch a short nosed spearfish to complete his royal slam of billfish species. He fished the 18th on the Hookele and quickly accomplished his goal tagging a 40lb spearfish on conventional trolling gear. Now to work on his royal slam on the fly. Day one we raised 1 spearfish and 1 striped marlin to the teasers, the spearfish didnÃt cooperate but the stripey did and Thomas made short work of a 40 pounder that we tagged and released, his first striped marlin on the fly. Day two we raised one of each again but neither teased into casting distance. Day three I changed areas hoping for better numbers and immediately raised a spearfish to the long teaser and bingo Thomas caught his first spearfish on the fly! Estimated 30lbs. Then the skies turned black and down came the rain so we headed in for the barn and an early lunch. 2 Ω days, 2 fish teased into casting range for 2 fish caught. Thomas has caught hundreds of sails on the fly, both Atlantic and Pacific, it was an absolute pleasure to watch him work the rod. I learned plenty from him and he is also one of the most fun people you could ever fish with, an honor. Wish I had a few more days to find him a small blue too! Feb. 22, half day with Jeff Glideman and a few friends. Back to trolling 50 and 30lb gear who shows up to the party? A 500+ blue marlin thatÃs who! Unfortunately the hooks pulled after 30 or 40 minutes. We were getting close on 50lb tackle too, oh well, fun while it lasted! WeÃll get the next one Jeff! Since January 1st weÃve fished 17 days of which three or four were half days and two were æ day and have a total of 32 billfish. A tad slower this year than some of our recent years but wintertime is our light tackle season here and we usually average 2 to 3 billfish per full day and as you can see above we do have some great days, timing is everything but January and February are consistently good producers and great light tackle fun. Depending on the year it can start as early as mid November and last right thru spring. A good wave of blue marlin of all sizes can come anytime and add to the excitement and we usually get a run of monster blues in the spring, 4 spring granders here in the last 2 years. After mid March it can get a bit risky trolling around with 16, 20 and 30-pound test out but it sure makes it fun on the smaller species while the blues arenÃt here in numbers, I just adjust to the fish. You just have to pick a boat that has the selection of gear and the experience to use it and just add water, cause you sure canÃt beat the weather! Any questions? Call or email, IÃm happy to help. Good fishing, tight lines and ALOHA! Capt. Chip Van Mols NEWS FLASH!! Just after writing this report I went down to the harbor to find Thomas Irizarry weighing in a 37.5 pound spearfish caught on 12 pound tippet fly gear aboard the Northern Lights with Capt. Kevin Nakamaru! A new potential world record! Told you Thomas was on a roll!!!! Congrats to all!! Capt.Chip Van Mols ROD BENDER Sportfishing bvanmols@rod-bender.com www.konaspoertfishingcharters.com 808-960-5954 |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 02-22-2003 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report 2/22/03 The striped marlin and spearfish bite remains good overall but itÃs more of a ìright place, right timeî thing now. They are no longer scattered everywhere but seem to be grouping in spots. WhereÃs the spot? Hmmmm. Some days only a few boats get lucky and find ëem. On other days, everyone fishing a particular area is hooking up. Few blue marlin are around right now but a few big beasts have been raised. I had a monster blue hit one of my lures just 2 days ago but didnÃt get a hook in it. IÃve heard from other captains about their hits and misses with big blues also. Mahi mahi, ono and small (10 to 25lb.) yellowfin tuna are fairly common catches right now. The mahi mahi are running kind of small but still good eating. Not too many guys are targeting the nearshore ono because the offshore bite has been so promising but the guys that have been fishing one are having good success. The yellowfin are hanging in the koa near red hill and along the front side and top corner of ìthe groundsî. The current has been strong North so the bottom has been hard to fish. In last months fishing report I mentioned that I had replaced a broken stand-up fishing rod and was anxious to see how the new one performed on a big fish. Sometimes you need to be careful of what you wish for. During a 4 Ω hour battle with a shark weighing over 1000 lbs. my new rod didnÃt break (though it looked like it would). The shark finally won the fight when the hook pulled out and we ended up being skunked (no fish) for the day. It ruined my chances for a 100% catch rate year on full day charters. I wonder if the shark would have been easier on us if he knew that all we wanted was a photo of him for my fish photos page? See `ya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 01-23-2003 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report 1/23/03 Storms and rough seas tops the news for this months fishing report. Storm season in Hawaii is January-February and the storms seem to be coming back-to-back. The seas have been rough for over a week. This is the time of year you find out which captains are hungry. What I mean is that some captains will take their clients out for a `Bronc` bustin` puke-fest for the sake of making a few bucks. Some people can take the rough seas but most cannot. I`ve been talking the sea conditions over with my clients and discussing our options. As a result, all of my charters lately have either been canceled or cut short. The trolling bite has been very good. Lots of bites but hard to get a hook in `em. All the captains are talking about how many ìhitsî they`ve had and they are plenty. Mostly it`s the mahi mahi in the 20 to 40 lb. range that are acting aggressive enough to get hooked but the striped marlin and spearfish (both running in the 20 to 50 lb. range) have been a bit shy about committing to the kill. They`re just playing with the lures like a cat chasing a string but it won`t extend it`s claws. There`s so many out there though that if you can take the pounding for a whole day trip, you`ll probably catch. The bottom drops have been very productive with a wide variety of catches. If you`re looking to catch something of size, the bottom is the best way to do it right now. We even snapped a stand-up fishing rod in two a couple of weeks ago fighting a big fish. I already bought a replacement rod but haven`t had the chance to test it out yet. I`m anxious to see how it performs on a big fish. That will come this Saturday ÖÖ. If the weather cooperates. See `ya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Chip Van Mols | Date Posted: | 01-12-2003 | |
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Kona Fish Report, January 12, 2003, Capt. Chip Van Mols reporting from the ROD BENDER. Not much has changed since my last report and fair to good variety fishing continues along the Kona coast. Short nose spearfish, small striped marlin and mahi mahi are all making daily appearances behind the boats fishing now with the odd big blue marlin thrown in for good measure. IÃve fished a bit in the porpoise schools lately and the amount of tuna showing up on my sounder is mind boggling but they donÃt want to bite, at least not by sportfishing methods unless you get lucky and find a school by yourself. Striped marlin so far this year are running small, 25 to 40lb, and were showing up mostly in singles behind the boats a couple times a day until the last week or so. Now IÃm starting to hear more guys raising multiple strikes on them, a good sign that theyÃll really take off soon! Hopefully their size increases with their numbers too! Spearfish also seem to be slowly increasing in numbers but are not up to their full potential yet. Still most guys are encountering a couple visits from them daily and some have been up to 50lbs and they should keep on increasing in numbers for the next few months. Nice sized mahi mahi are another daily occurrence, 20 to 40 pounds, mostly singles in the blind and you can expect their numbers to increase and size to decrease in the near future when we start finding schools of them on floating debris. This past week there has been a rash of big blue marlin bites for the fleet but none of them resulted in a capture that I know of except for the Tara who tagged an estimated 450lb. Capt. Randy Parker on the Huntress told me they missed a possible grander on their long rigger last Thursday. The biggest blue weighed so far this year was caught by some little girl on some 35à Cabo on New Years Day and I heard it went 514 pounds, took first place in the New Years Day tournament and could be a new junior world record, hummmmm! NEWS FLASH !!! Hey All, My 11 year old daughter, Jada, and I took out the Rod Bender yesterday, just the 2 of us for a little New Years Day fishing. We put in our $200.00 and entered the first tourney of the year hoping for a little luck. What we got was a LOT of luck! 15 minutes after the start fishing gun, Jada watching the wheel and me just finishing setting the lures out and whoosh, off goes the short rigger with a rather large hole in the water left behind. "Nice one Jada, that looks like the one you've been waiting for" and Jada raced to cockpit, pulled the screaming 80lb outfit and harnessed up in the chair while I cleared the other lures. Long story short, one and half hours and 3 or 4 miles later we were very close but the fish still was to strong for me to leave the controls and leader up myself, my little anglers legs were starting to get a bit shaky holding 35 pounds of drag and I was starting to worry if she would be able to last long enough to finish by herself. Then a welcome call came from Bill Hoey on the LADY who was nearby and he offered to lend us his Captain, Rob McGuckin to the rescue! Rob hopped on, slid on his leader gloves and 10 minutes, lot's of black smoke and reversing later (not to mention one of the more difficult leader jobs I've seen in a while) we had Jada's prize secured and we slid it into the cockpit. Blue marlin 514 pounds. New potential IGFA female junior WORLD RECORD! 2003 NEW YEARS DAY TOURNAMENT 1ST PLACE WINNER! (40 boats entered) And The happiest angler in the world!!! The proudest papa in the world!!! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! I write this report I can brag a little canÃt I? Jada also caught a 40lb spearfish and 2 est. 20lb skipjack on New Years Day. I recieved a green light from the IGFA to send in Jada's junior world record application, the current record is 422lb with nothing larger submitted since their last print. I'll let you all know upon the Igfa's approval. Jada is still on cloud nine and I should make an instructional video of her using the Aussie stiff legged technique in the chair, it'ld blow your minds! HereÃs how weÃve done on the ROD BENDER since the 1st. Jan.3 for a half day, 1 for 3 on striped marlin tagging a 30 pounder. Jan. 4, full day, 0 for 2 on spearfish and 1 for 3 (triple header) on striped marlin, tagging a 35lb. Jan.8, full day, 0 for 2 on stripey (double header), landed 4 mahi mahi 18 to 26 Ω lb. and 1 for 1 on spearfish, est. 35lb. We donÃt have Skunks here in Kona but we sure seem to be avoiding the black and white cat! Good fun fishing here this time of year and you canÃt beat the weather, sunny, 80 to 82 degrees almost everyday, calm seas, plenty of fish and you always have a shot at catching a big one too! Should just keep getting better and itÃs already pretty good. Questions? email bvanmols@rod-bender.com Good fishin, tight lines and ALOHA! Chip Capt. Chip Van Mols Rod Bender Sportfishing www.konasportfishingcharters.com |
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Posted By: | Chip Van Mols | Date Posted: | 12-21-2002 | |
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Kona Fish Report, Dec. 21 02, Capt. Chip Van Mols reporting from the ROD BENDER After a pretty lack luster fall season the fishing seems to be starting to pick up for our wintertime tourist season. While weÃre still not in full swing the fishing has definetly picked up considerably this past week and it should just keep getting better. Our wintertime run of small striped marlin has started making their presence known with several of the boats out this week seeing 2 or more a day. When they really get going weÃll start running into them in packs and the action can get pretty good. Short nosed spearfish are also becoming a daily occurrence and are on the increase. Mahi mahi (dolphin fish) are scattered all over the place and we should start getting some big numbers of them around floating debris soon, for now picking up one here and there while trolling seems to be the norm. Large yellowfin tuna (100 to 180 pounds) are still hanging around our porpoise schools and are available to those lucky enough to fool the finicky things, most being caught on a variation of a commercial greenstick rig but a few have been taken trolling small lures as well which is a bonus this time of year. Skipjack tuna in the 15 to 25 pound range (we call the big ones otado here in Hawaii) have also been in the mix striking on smaller lures in the blind. As a bonus this week there has also been a fair showing of blue marlin of all sizes. A few them on the rather large side that probably followed in the otado. Marlin of the week award goes to the Hookele and crew as they brought an 808lb blue to the scales last Wednesday. Just about all the boats out that day encountered a blue or two and half of them caught them. HowÃs that for variety!!!? How does one deal with such a variety of species when your next strike could be 10 or 1000 pounds? You go trolling and run a variety package of lures and hope to make the most of species available. Little lures long to big marlin lures short and then pray the big marlin, when she shows, are on one of your bigger outfits. Sure keeps you on your toes around here and I found myself staring at my tackle hanging in the salon for about 15 minutes trying to decide what size gear to run where the day after the 800 was caught. HereÃs what I ended up with from the veritable tackle store full of gear I have to choose from. SC 130lb test w/large purple/silver/ black/blue marlin lure, like a big Coggins. Otado around and big marlin eat them, match the hatch. LC 130lb test purple/ black tube in the morning and a blue green smokey joe in the afternoon after seeing small yftÃs in some of the current slicks. SR Heavy 80lb rig strung with 100lb test, senior wide range blue/silver w/black inner. LR Light 80lb rig, usually run 50 on these but I didnÃt want to let my guard to low so 80lb today with infant blue jet, 7 Ω inch blue/silver over orange/white over pink. SG 50lb test run from the bridge. Purple AP, 71/2inch blackpurple/silver outer over pink w/blue flake inner. HereÃs what happened on a æ day charter: First fish up was a small striped marlin on the SG, gave several shots but missed the hooks. Next was a small blue that also struck the SG but stopped in its tracks and shook it off. Next was a 20lb mahi mahi on the LR, got dinner, we found this in a current slick about 1300 fathoms. Continued down the slick and started seeing schools of small skipjack and had a double strike LR and SG on 8lb yftÃs, when I slowed down they were all over our swivels and the squids dangling from my bridge teaser, lot of life around here, switched to blue green LC now. Continued down slick 5 minutes and thereÃs a big hole on the SR, just knocked it out of the clip and I see nothing following but my decky says it looked over 500, thatÃs what the hole looked like to me. Got the SR back up in the rigger, waiting for it to come back but nothing, go a little further still nothing, take it off auto pilot getting ready to go back and just before I start our turn here she comes on the LC, whoosh, weÃre off to the races, looking good for a while but pull the hook after 10 or 15 minutes, fun while it lasted, 600+ easy. Set back up and back through the area for another pass and off goes the SG, blue marlin under 100lb tag and release. Worked the area some more for no additional strikes. Running out of time so we aim for the barn and start clearing lines one at a time while trolling, got everything in the boat except the SG, I wanted to restack the top shot so I dumped it back a couple hundred yards, pulled the throttles back and cranked the lure all the way to the transom, swivel at the tip, pulled the rod out the holder and held the tip down so my decky could grab the leader and retrieve the lure from the water and a spearfish grabbed it right there! Tag and release 1 spearfish. First day I fished in almost a month, I had fun! I enjoy the variety especially when that includes blue marlin of the larger kind, had a shot at a billfish slam too not mention some good fillets for the BBQ for my client and us. Should just get better from here on out and if the blues thin out then you can go light tackle for stripeys, spearfish and mahi with good numbers usually available right thru March. Questions anyone? email: bvanmols@rod-bender.com and check out the ROD BENDER at www.konasportfishingcharters.com Tight lines, good fishin and Merry Xmas!! Chip |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 12-16-2002 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report 12/16/02 IÃm doing the monthly fishing report a little early this month. My booking calendar is full ëtil the end of the year and if I donÃt get the report out now, it just might not get done. To type a report and post it all over the fishing web sites takes a few hours. I started posting the Kona fishing report on the web in Ã98 and in all these years, I only missed one month. Letters (emails) I get throughout the year thanking me for the reports is the only reason IÃm still doing it today. So, hereÃs the latest scoop on Kona fishing. Mahi mahi tops the most common catch for this month. Nice sizes too. Common Kona fishing charter tackle consists of 80 and 130 pound test set-ups but this is the time of the year I like to live dangerously. Trolling and live baiting with some of my 30-pound test stand-up tackle when I have clients on board that look like they can handle it. Mahi mahi and striped marlin (also common this time of year) are much more fun on stand-up than with a huge 130 lb. test wench. If you do hook up with a big blue marlin though, chances arenÃt too good that youÃll get it in. Earlier this year, Steve Broderick caught a 186 pound striped marlin with me on stand-up and it remains as the biggest striped marlin caught in Kona since the Hawaii state record was set in Ã96. Other big fish caught with me this year on stand-up tackle also made KonaÃs ìbig fish listî. As I wrap-up the fish counts for the year, itÃs obvious that I made it as the top sportfish catching captain in Kona now for the 6th year in a row. OK, enough patting myself on the back : ) back to fish reporting. The spearfish are starting to move in. Good eatinà stuff! Striped marlin bites are still slow for this time of year but since the past two years have been good for the stripies, letÃs just hope theyÃre running a little late this year. The winter blue marlin bite was pretty good last year and itÃs the same this year. The bigeye tuna bite has been poor for the past two years. It looks like a repeat of that again this winter. A few small ones here and there but not the run it should be. Snapper and grouper catches are slow for this time of year too. No big deal! Get out of the snow and cold and warm your bones in the Kona sunshine. As the fishing seasons and water conditions change, a good captain knows where to find the fish. Sunshine and screaminà reels! What are you waiting for? See ëya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 11-28-2002 | |
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November is typically a slow month for both fish and fishermen. Tourism has been slower than normal so thereÃs less charter boats out fishing. Daily catch totals have been sporadic, not so much because of fish abundance but because of a lack of fishing effort. Blue marlin is the most common billfish right now. The striped marlin and spear fish are starting to show up but itÃs still too early in their season for large numbers to show up. The most common catch right now is mahi mahi. The fall mahi mahi run is a blast compared to the spring run because the average fish size is doubled. Common catches in the 25 to 35 pound range with some reaching 50+. We had a nice ono (wahoo) run this month too. It slowed down recently but I wonder if itÃs also just due to a lack of ono fishing effort. Another fish biting now, though out of season is otado. WhatÃs an otado? Many years ago someone in Kona mispronounced a Japanese name for skipjack tuna (otaru) and the name stuck. The term otado is used to distinguish large (over 10 lb.) skipjack tuna. Try using this term on another Hawaiian island and youÃll probably get a (huh?) blank stare. Even funnier is that many Kona fishermen donÃt even know thereÃs such a thing as otaru (huh?). The bottom bite has been real slow. ThereÃs usually some kind of action but not the norm. IÃve been spending a small portion of my fishing day testing some of the holes. ThereÃs usually at least one fish hanging around. See ëya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Chip Van Mols | Date Posted: | 10-22-2002 | |
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Kona fish report from the ROD BENDER, 10-22-02. A TRANSITIONAL TIME We're starting to get into our fall fishing pattern here now. We still have some blue marlin around in 125 to 500 pound range although they aren't as consistent as they could be, one day half the boats out catch blues and the next none. We get waves of them all year round here so you never know from day to day with them and it can go off anytime, you just need a little luck. This time of year we start getting our first waves of mahi mahi and they are usually the bigger ones (20-40+ pounds) than we get in the winter, they have started to show right on skedual and we can expect there numbers to increase over the next few weeks. The first few striped marlin and spearfish have started to show up as well and if all goes to plan one day in the next two to four weeks we'll be slammed with them. After a pretty mediocre blue marlin season I think we're all looking forward to our fall/winter variety package fishing. Once that gets going (mid November last year) then you can expect multiple attacks daily from stripeys, spearfish and mahi as well as the occasional blue marlin ripper and if you hit it right there can be lot's of blues around but you get good action from the smaller stuff while you wait to get lucky on a blue. All of my billfish grand slams (blue, stripey and spearfish the same day) have come between the months Nov. and March here. We fish a lot of 30 and 50 pound test (and lighter by request) this time of year instead of the heavy gear but we're always ready for the big ones, not IF but WHEN they show up. We're always waiting for the big one here but we get to catch a bunch of the smaller guys while we wait, it's fun fishing! My daughter and I went looking for some of those bigger mahi mahi on Saturday and found three of them in the 25 pound range that fell for tiny live skipjack fished at one of our fad bouys, fished a few larger liveys looking for a marlin for her with no takers. Sunday we had Steve and Mary Wise for a full day, we trolled back out to Otek bouy where I had luck with the mahi the day before and found they had left so we trolled back into the live bait grounds to spend the afternoon tide. we arrived just in time to watch the Kona Spirit catch a blue about 150lb and the Happy Times hooked one that looked 500+ right next to us. So close in fact I had to run our boat full speed out of the fishes path, killing our own baits, lovely! Nothing for us but we put up the "eye ball flag" cause we SAW one! Missed jumping in our boat by 20 yards and I'm not sure how it didn't get tangled in our lines! We did luck into an est. 550lb blue and 30lb spearfish for angler Chris Potts earlier this month, so we're not always spectators, every dog has his day around here! I leave for an annual sabbatical to the Great Barrier Reef in a couple weeks, be back the last week of Nov. I'll let you know how we fair with the big black marlin down there next report. Until then good fishin, tight lines and Aloha! Chip Capt. Chip Van Mols ROD BENDER Sportfishing email: bvanmols@rod-bender.com www.konasportfishingcharters.com cell: 808-960-5954 home: 808-325-2155 |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 10-22-2002 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report 10/22/02 The current has settled down, the bait fish are thick and the marlin bite is starting to pick up again. While the bite is far from hot, the steady current and the presence of bait fish will eventually bring in the numbers of blue marlin, mahi mahi and bigeye tuna. IÃm also looking forward to the arrival of the winter striped marlin. The first of the winter run was caught last week and weighed in at 84 lbs. The winter striped marlin run has been real good the past couple of years. Although the average size was small, the abundance made for lots of action. IÃm hoping the 84 pounder is just a taste of what weÃll be seeing this season. Yellowfin tuna continue to be caught in the porpoise schools but most of the catch is by commercial fishermen using hand lines and green sticks. The ono bite has been slow but thereÃs a few coming in. Bottom fishing remains the best way to get into some action. Amberjack, almaco jack and giant trevally make for a good fight on stand-up tackle. WeÃve also had fights with several sharks lately. With the abundance of the bait fish lately, IÃve been letting the size of the bait we catch determine what fish weÃll target next. With big baits, I like to target the marlin for a while, small bait, target the bottom fish for a quick hook-up. IÃve had some recent marlin encounters but not any luck getting them in. My last trip, not even one marlin bite but one of our fish, a thresher shark, wiped out 3 anglers before we got the photo and release. It doesnÃt need a long nose to put up a good fight. Sometimes a long tail can be tougher. See ëya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 09-28-2002 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report 9/28/02 Too bad I didnÃt write this months report a week ago. The bite was really hot then. The marlin bite was good for both the small and the big ones, lots of yellowfin tuna, plenty of mahi mahi and a fair amount of ono too. The bottom fishing bite was picking up also with some nice size sharks and jacks being caught and released. Then the current changed. North, South, in, out, none. Like a faucet, the bite just turned off. So, for this months report, since thereÃs not much to talk about fish wise, IÃm going to give you a brief education on how the Kona currents are produced. The current is produced by a predominate East wind that drives the water and hits the East side (windward side) of the islands. As the water wraps around the island of Hawaii, it creates 2 eddies (whorl pools). One wraps around South Point and creates a large clockwise rotating whorl pool. The water to the North is being squeezed between the islands of Hawaii and Maui and creates a counter-clockwise rotating whorl pool. With me so far? The angle of the current hitting the East side of the island (usually from the E, NE, NNE) determines where the ìsplitî in the Kona current will be. As the 2 eddies rotate, they create a near shore South current to the South and a near shore North current to the North. Because the predominate current hits the island from a North East angle, the predominate current on the Kona (West) side is usually North. When the current hits the island directly from the East, we get the ìsplitî right near the harbor on the Kona side of the island. Add a weak or constantly shifting current to the mix and you get messed up Kona currents and messed up Kona fishing. IÃve got just a couple of charters to do Monday and Tuesday and then IÃm going to take a week off. When I start fishing again, hopefully, the current (and the bite) will be back to normal. See ëya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Chip Van Mols | Date Posted: | 09-17-2002 | |
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Kona Fish Report, Sept.17 02, Capt. Chip Van Mols reporting from the ROD BENDER. " POST LABOR DAY BLUES " Well, After a very lackluster August here in Kona all the Tourist and traveling fisho's have gone. Must be some awfully busy flights out of here right after labor day! Only a handful of charter boats going of our harbor now and guess what! The blue marlin have arrived and we've also gotten another wave of big yellowfin tuna as well. To bad marlin aren't schooling fish, maybe we could teach them to come when all our anglers are here but that's fishin! Anyway, September has long been one of my favorite months to fish here as the summertime run of fish is usually still strong but very few boats are out to fish them, leaving the best spots all to yourself. Three of my four largest blue marlin were caught in Sept., all over 900lbs. The hardest part of fishing in Sept. is getting the charters to get out there. A quick glance at the list of granders weighed here over the years and it's amazing how many times Sept. pops up, one of the biggest months, and very few boats are fishing during that time. Hummmmm. Blue marlin seem to be ranging from 150lbs to 700lbs, and most boats are getting 2 to 4 shots a day lately, sometimes more. Yellowfin tuna have been biting well in the porpoise schools out wide and it definitely helps if you're there early. Average size has been big, 150 to 200lbs. One charter boat came in yesterday with 3, 120lb, 185lb and a 207 pounder. Right place right time! We are experiencing a more favorable current now than we did all summer so marlin are being found closer to the ledge where they belong, 500 fathoms in to 100 fathoms right on the drop off. Plenty of bait and marlin on the Grounds north of our harbor if live bait is your preference and the trolling bite has been strong all up and down the coast. The fishing just seems to be getting better and better and hopefully will continue right thru October and on and on and on! It's not uncommon here to have the best month of fishing in any particular year be a month other than the considered "peak months" of July and August. Anyway, I've got them old "POST LABOR DAY BLUES" cause my boats tied up to the dock and I'm sitting in front of my #*^%#*@ computer. There's only one cure and that is for you to come over and catch a few post labor day blues with me. They're here now, where are you? Sept. thru Oct. rates on flights and accommodation are a lot easier on your pocket book too. Any questions, Give me a buzz, I'll be happy to help. Good Fishin, tight lines and ALOHA! Chip Capt. Chip Van Mols Rod Bender Sportfishing www.konasportfishingcharters.com 73-4180 Malino Place Kailua-Kona, Hawaii 96740 home: 808-325-2155 cell: 808-960-5954 fax: 808-325-1713 email: bvanmols@rod-bender.com |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 08-22-2002 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report 8/22/02 August is tournament time in Kona. Big names like the Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament, Pro Am, Hawaiian Invitational and many other one-day, cheap entry fee tournaments. August is supposed to be the height of the marlin season in Kona too but I remember (about 6 or 7 years ago) when August was pretty much a bust! Rumors started circulating around the worlds best fishing spots that ìKona is fished outî. Well, Ö. Here we go again. Poor marlin showings for the August tournaments this year have anglers from around the world murmuring the old ìno fish there Ö la la laî tune. For the record, Kona is far from ìfished outî. Big marlin catches in Kona have increased over the past few years. ItÃs only the 8th month of the year and thereÃs been more than 200 marlin over 500 lbs. caught in Kona. ThatÃs more than last years total, the year before, the year before that Ö.. IÃm not sure what the totals were before 1999 but, you get the idea. Another thing about that ìbustî some years back was that right after August was over, the marlin bite went wild! One of the best marlin runs ever. You could just about guarantee a marlin even on a Ω day trip. I know I sound like a skipping record sometimes but IÃll say it again. ìFish donÃt know how to read calendarsî. The fish are out there. The question is, when are they coming to Kona. Next week? Next month? The sure thing is, they WILL come. Other fish that are having a hard time reading a calendar are the spearfish and mahi mahi. The spearfish run just didnÃt happen this year. This follows a run last year that was awesome. The mahi mahi are making up for it though. They stayed with us all winter and are doing the same this summer. Good fun catching on light tackle and good eating too. Yellowfin tuna, albacore and ono bites have been slow this year compared to last year. The bottom fishing bite is typical for this time of year. ItÃs a bit slow but should (got a calendar?) pick up next month. IÃm already starting to pick up some snapper and grouper. Interesting thing with the (adult) amberjack and almaco jack tagging. Around 20% of them caught now already have one of my tags in them. Nearly all the jacks tagged were tagged by me. I just finished my 7th series of 100 tags. Data would suggest that they circle the island counter clockwise with no incidence of them traveling between islands. Is it possible that the total adult population around the Big Island of Hawaii is around 3500? Simple math but are there other variables? Just some food for thought. See ëya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Chip Van Mols | Date Posted: | 08-20-2002 | |
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Kona Fish Report, august 20 02, Capt. Chip Van Mols reporting from the ROD BENDER Continued mediocre fishing along the Kona coast this August. Slow or no current, switching direction or stopping almost daily has had all us Kona skippers pulling our hair out trying to find a pattern to the fishing but just when we think it's going to get started the next day the current has changed again. This spreads the fish all over the place so you just have to put out your favorite spread of lures and patiently go hunting. We've been averaging 1 or 2 strikes per day on blue marlin, mostly smaller fish ( 125 - 200 pounds) with a few 400 to 600 pounders thrown in. The odd yellowfin tuna explosion in your spread is always welcome but also only sporadic. We just fished 13 days with our owner on the Rod Bender for a total of 14 marlin bites, tagging 4 in the 150lb range and 1 in the 500lb range. Pretty average for most the fleet right now but not the action we're used to for this time of year. There is some light at the end of the tunnel now as our trade winds have settled back in the past few days and the current has started to hopefully get situated. Lot's of bait starting to hold on the north grounds and a fair bite up there on sunday and monday, reports from a few of the guys out fishing today were favorable and I was told the current was spliting in front of Kailua at about a 1/2 knot today which should perk up the bite on both our north and south grounds and bring the fish in on our drop offs where they are easier to find for everyone. Fingers crossed as we start a 4 day charter this friday and I'ld like to end the summer season with a bang! Bookings are very light in Sept. but it won't surprize me at all if that's when the bite goes off here, you never know about this place, it can go off anytime! Good fishing, tight lines and ALOHA! Chip Capt. Chip Van Mols Rod Bender Sportfishing email: bvanmols@rod-bender.com www.konasportfishingcharters.com 73-4180 Malino Place Kailua-Kona, Hawaii 96740 home: 808-325-2155 cell: 808-960-5954 fax: 808-325-1713 |
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Posted By: | Chip Van Mols | Date Posted: | 07-31-2002 | |
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July wrap up from Kona, capt. Chip Van Mols reporting. Not one of our better July's of late but it's had it's moments! Big blues have been making their way to the top of the tournament leader boards all month but the overall numbers of our average blues (150-350) seems to be down a bit from last year. I suppose the slower than average fishing this month could be attributed to our current, which has either been racing strait up the coast and offshore at 2 knots or not moving at all or maybe it's because Jupiter is in the seventh house of Uranus. When you do luck into one of the big ones they seem to be in the 700lb range, nothing over 800lb lately that I can think of, but we had a close encounter with one over the 1000lb mark last week so I know there are a few of them around. Plenty of big yellowfin tuna rolling about but they are also proving very finicky, this week the average size seems to be in the 150lb to 190lb range, biggest this summer so far 226lb. Here's a few highlites from the second half of July on the Rod Bender: July 17, full day with returning angler and friend Jim Gregory, no bites all day untill about 2:30pm when we had one that looked 700lb pile on the short rigger, lasted about ten minutes till the hooks pulled. missed a small one shortly after that. July 18, full day with light tackle lady angler Janet Martic. Looking for ladies 20lb blue marlin record (404lb +), Jan tagged an estimated 250lb blue in ten minutes, nice work! July 21, holo holo with my daughter Jada, she catches two blues both by IGFA rules, est. 240lb and 140lb. July 26, the Edelbrock clan was aboard for a full day, Tagged a 150lb blue 5 minutes out the gate and hooked a monster around 3:00pm, luck went in the fishes direction and we parted the leader after an hour and 15 minutes battle, easy over the 1000 mark and we all got a great show, NEXT. July 28, Full day with Jan Martic again, after a few biteless trips with her since her 250lb marlin we got lucky again today with a 181lb. Yellowfin Tuna, 31 minute fight on 20lb test! Surprised me! Nice going Jan! Here comes August! booked almost every day, should have plenty of interesting stuff to write about as soon as I can find the time during this buzy season. Untill then... Godd fishin, tight lines and ALOHA! Chip Capt. Chip Van Mols Rod Bender Sportfishing www.konasportfishingcharters.com 73-4180 Malino Place Kailua-Kona, Hawaii 96740 home: 808-325-2155 cell: 808-960-5954 fax: 808-325-1713 |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 07-24-2002 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report 7/24/02 Once again Kona proves the claim as the ìblue marlin capital of the worldî. The World Cup tournament pits anglers from around the world for a one day, biggest blue marlin (500 lb. minimum), winner take all event. Kona boats have won this event more than any other place in the world. Congratulations go to the ìMarlin Magicî. Winner of this years World Cup with their 617 lb. pacific blue marlin and for winning the $250,000 prize (spare a dime?). A little over a week later in the ìskinsî tournament the ìIhu Nuiî looked like they had the winning fish at 705 lbs. only to be beat out near the end of the day (OUCH by 8 pounds) when the ìChiripaî landed a 713 pounder. The Kona fishery is one more of size than of quantity. For reference, there were 35 boats from Kona entered in the ìWorld Cupî. Only one qualifying fish was caught, most caught nothing. You could get lucky and bag a marlin your first time out but if you serious about getting one, plan on fishing 3 to 4 days. The yellowfin tuna (ahi) bite is good this year. Some days the tuna bite has been better than the marlin bite. KonaÃs biggest ahi was landed June 30th and weighed in at 212.5 lbs. ThereÃs been lots of other fish added to KonaÃs big fish list since my last report. A broadbill swordfish weighing in at 210.5 lbs., a black marlin weighing in at 279.5 lbs., a sailfish weighing in at 67 lbs. and a barracuda weighing in at 70 lbs. The biggest seen in Kona in a long time. Some big mahi mahi were landed this month also. 50+ pounders! Here again, the quantity of fish hasnÃt been so hot but the sizes are good. The bottom fishing bite has followed suite with a bite of size rather than quantity. I released another 100 lb. amberjack last week. ItÃs my 5th 100 pounder of the year. Prior to this year, my biggest was 77 lbs. Last week we released a 700 + lb. tiger shark. Also the biggest ever for me. We also tagged and released a giant trevally estimated at 80 lbs. 10 lbs. lighter than KonaÃs biggest of the year caught wile fishing with me last January. See ëya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Chip Van Mols | Date Posted: | 07-12-2002 | |
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Kona Fish Report, July 12 02, Capt. Chip Van Mols reporting from the ROD BENDER. Summertime is here! And so are the blue marlin and yellowfin tuna, right on skedual. As is normal for us this first part of summer we got a wave of spastic small blues that started the last week of June, seems like it takes them a week or so to settle down and learn how to feed near an island. They bill whack lures and fumble live baits constantly but you get enough shots that most guys were catching one or two a day in the 150lb range with a few in 500 to 700 pound range thrown in amongst the fleet, great action! The first tounament of the season, the Kona Classic, was held on June 29 and 30 and and the radio was ablaze with hookup after hookup, lot's of tags and when the dust settled after day two DOJO was first runner up with a 581lb blue and the HOLIDAY took home all the marbles with a 630lb blue. Next on the tournament trail was the World Cup on July 4th with 109 boats competing world wide for the biggest blue marlin, 30 in Kona. Most the world has already finished up fishing in thier time zone when we're getting started in Kona and the word was that a 585lb blue had been wieghed in Madiera. This time it was the crew aboard the MARLIN MAGIC right here in Kona coming home with a 612lb blue to take all the marbles, $240,000.00, and bring the cup back to Kona, where it belongs! The Fire Cracker Open, July 6 and 7, saw plenty of action as well with lots of tag and releases of smaller blues, plenty of big yellowfin tuna and a couple of big blues to boot. Again it was the team aboard Capt. Doug Pattengills HOLIDAY bringing home top honors and a $78,000.00 paycheck with a 698lb blue, when your hot your hot! The best is yet to come, we're starting to see more marlin of all sizes instead of so many 150lb males only, should be wide open for the next couple months! I wonder who's going to catch the next grander? It could be you! It could be me! It could be you with me! Tight lines, good fishin and ALOHA! Capt. Chip Van Mols Rod Bender Sportfishing www.konasportfishingcharters.com 73-4180 Malino Place Kailua-Kona, Hawaii 96740 home: 808-325-2155 cell: 808-960-5954 fax: 808-325-1713 |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 06-22-2002 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report 6/22/02 Shortly after my last fishing report the marlin bite went crazy! The smaller males moved in to join the big females kicking off KonaÃs summer marlin season. By Kona standards, any time nearly 50% of the boats out fishing catch marlin, the bite is ON. This bite was short lived though. Within a few days it came to a screeching halt. The good news is, itÃs back ON again! ThereÃs been about 4 days in a row of blue marlin catches in the 50% range. Males, females, large and small. For those of you keeping an eye on the moon phases, give it up. The fish donÃt care! These last runs and slow periods prove it. Along with the summer marlin runs, Kona is famous for itÃs summer yellowfin tuna bite. TheyÃve showed up too. Porpoise schools are where most of them are being caught but weather trolling around the ledges, out in the deep or live baiting, that fish screaming out your drag just might be a 100+ lb. tuna! Other bites since my last report included a very good ono run that lasted for about 2 weeks. ItÃs slow right now but if this years summer ono run even comes close to last years (best in nearly 30 years), there will be lots of ìcatch-of-the-day specialsî at the stores and restaurants. The otado have moved in get your sashimi bowls ready. The mahi mahi are still biting pretty good too but the spearfish bite remains slow. The bottom fishing bite has picked up pretty good. Lots of BIG amberjack. Shortly after my last report one of my anglers caught a 109 pounder that now tops KonaÃs ìbig fishî list in that category. The state record is only 119 lbs. Just last week we caught another 100+ pound class amberjack that actually measured longer than the 109 pounder but it looked kind of skinny so we decided to tag and released it. We also caught and released the biggest almaco jack IÃve ever seen earlier this month. There is no state record for almaco jack yet. Remember my fishing report last April? IÃll soon be writing an article for Hawaii Fishing News on how to easily tell an almaco jack from an amberjack. Funny that no one ever identified almacoÃs in Hawaii before. There are a couple of very distinct differences. See ëya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Chip Van Mols | Date Posted: | 05-30-2002 | |
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Kona Fish Report, May 30 02, Capt. Chip Van Mols reporting from the ROD BENDER. The big blue marlin keep rolling thru in good numbers with at least 1 and as many as 4 over 500lb and as large as 825lb mark being caught every day. The numbers of smaller blue marlin are also on the increase making for some pretty good early season blue marlin fishing. Charters have been very slow for the fleet this spring but the catching has been great for those lucky enough to get out on a regular basis. To round things out and keep your riggers rattleing there has also been a fair peck of mahi mahi, wahoo and spearfish to boot. The big yellowfin tuna keep increasing in number in the porpoise schools outside and we should start seeing them busting around on the inside anytime now. Summer is almost here and it looks like it may be another LULU! With the good numbers of big females around now it won't be long before we get a wave her smaller boy friends around to join in on the fun, everything seems to be right on skedual so any time now! I've been out of town for a couple weeks but did make it out for a couple days over the memorial day weekend with my ten year old daughter Jada, in search of the smallfry blue marlin record for her. We need to find Jada a blue over 250lbs and she has to catch it acording to IGFA rules. We found plenty of good bait on the grounds off the airport here so we live baited the two days and went 1 for 2 on blues with one about 120lb( not big enough) and boated a 33lb mahi mahi and she also caught a 100lb shark. We watched a handfull of really big blues get hooked by other boats trolling lures in the area the two days and trolling lures seems to be the go right now but is a little to difficult for our Pee Wee sized angler, she'll get'em next time! Want to catch a big Pacific Blue Marlin? They're here right now and things should just keep getting better! Shame to have our Shinny 35' CABO just sitting in the slip with the big girls on hunt right ouside our harbor! We're running out of things to pollish so let's go fishing! Any questions? email: bvanmols@rod-bender.com or give me a call, I'll be happy to help! Good fishin, tight lines and ALOHA! Capt. Chip Van Mols Rod Bender Sportfishing www.konasportfishingcharters.com 73-4180 Malino Place Kailua-Kona, Hawaii 96740 home: 808-325-2155 cell: 808-960-5954 fax: 808-325-1713 |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 05-24-2002 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report 5/24/02 The marlin bite has been a bit slow for Kona but the fish sizes have been BIG! The largest since my last report was a 848 pounder caught on the Ihu Nui. There have been several caught in the 300 to 600 pound range in the past month. Also many rumors of ìgrandersî that have fought and won their battles. I still remain in 4th place for KonaÃs biggest marlin of the year but I donÃt think IÃll stay there long. There have been 2 fish recently that were real close. The striped marlin have moved out of Kona for the year so my ìbiggest of the yearî striped marlin record appears to be safe. ThereÃs an article about it in this months issue of Sport Fishing Magazine. The spearfish are here! So much for my prediction last month about them not showing this year. The fishing seasons are a bit messed up. CanÃt these fish learn how to read the calendar? The ìshibiî that were supposed to show up at the beginning of winter are just showing up now. Lots of action on the FADÃs. The mahi mahi are biting like theyÃre supposed to, the ono are starting to show up along with some yellowfin tuna bites here and there. Most of whatÃs being caught in Kona right now is mahi mahi and ono. The bottom fishing bite has slowed down a bunch. Not because theyÃre not down there but because theyÃre being real picky about what theyÃll eat. Sea conditions and bait availability is changing on a day-to-day basis. It makes it hard to plan a course of action. IÃve been switching style, target species and gear several times a day to make sure my anglers donÃt get skunked. I still maintain the highest sportfish catch rate in Kona. See ëya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Chip Van Mols | Date Posted: | 05-01-2002 | |
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Kona Fish Report, May 1 01, capt. Chip Van Mols reporting from the ROD BENDER. Big Blue Marlin are here again!! Things went pretty quiet around here for about two weeks after my last report on the April 10th, with very few marlin being seen, the odd spearfish or striped marlin and only a few floaters with mahi mahi, wahoo and small tuna around to pick up the slack. But starting April 23rd HERE THEY COME AGAIN! The big girls are here and every day at least one of the handful of boats lucky enough to be out fishing gets slammed by a nice one, 500 to 750 pounds.Every day since the 23rd has seen at least one over 500 caught. The hard part is getting out since there are very few charters here at the moment but for the few that were out regularly they all caught big ones. Huntress weighed a 728 and the next day a 586 then released a 260 on their next trip. Lady Dee had a steady run of trips this past week and weighed 2 over 600. Been a few close encounters of the Grander Kind and there is a good chance we'll see one come to the scales this week! The water has warmed up a couple degrees peaking at about 80 and a lot of bait is moving into the area on the ledges and at the FAD buoy's, LOOKING GOOD!! The presence of big yellowfin tuna in our porpoise schools continues to build and that fishery is looking good for this summer too. A quick look at my tide calendar shows me that the last run of big ones started late in march 5 or 6 days before the full moon and continued another 9 or 10 days past it, same deal with the run now so far, so hopefully we have another week or so on this run if you believe in that stuff. I believe current is the most important factor here in Kona, good current = good fishing regardless of the moon phase. The bite last month peaked and ended on the 8th after which a low moved over the islands killing our trades and stalling the current for a couple weeks stalling the fishing as well. Trade winds return, current returns, FISH RETURN! Now if my tide chart could just tell me what the weather and current was going to do this fishing stuff would be a snap and I could charge double. Here's how we did on the ROD BENDER since my last report: April 19, Half day, all zero's April 21, full day, 7 mahi mahi to 25lbs, tag and release 1 spearfish 1/1, tag and release 1 striped marlin 1/2. April 23, 24, 25, convention group morning half days ( 4 hours) 1 spearfish for the lot. April 28, I took out my wife and ten year old daughter for a 3/4 day and we lost a mahi, missed a spearfish and my daughter caught an estimated 140lb striped marlin. That worked out well with no deck hand, I was tempting fate with the big ones around and a ten year old angler, although she is quite good for her age and size, great technique! We did get a great show from an 800+ blue marlin that one of the single handed charter boats hooked near us about 3:45. 2 hours later the anglers were complaining about being late for the LUAU so they broke it off!! WANKERS!!!!!!!!!! A quick look at the numbers above and you can see that it pays in "fish caught" to keep your line wet as long as possible. We have a 3 day charter starting the 3rd, I can't wait, fingers crossed, it's an exciting feeling out on the water right now knowing that she's here! Sunday with my daughter Jada at my side I got onto a few areas where the hair was standing on the back of my neck, Shearwaters milling about, flat water, lures humming, scattered bait and flying fish. "Look out Jada" I said. "We could get ourselves into some big trouble around here!" It's not if, it's when and how big!! Great boat, great crew and the best heavy tackle. Just add water and you (a little luck never hurt either). Let's get connected!! Any questions? Call or email bvanmols@rod-bender.com , we'll both be glad you did! Good fishin, tight lines and ALOHA! Chip Capt. Chip Van Mols Rod Bender Sportfishing www.konasportfishingcharters.com 73-4180 Malino Place Kailua-Kona, Hawaii 96740 home: 808-325-2155 cell: 808-960-5954 fax: 808-325-1713 |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 04-25-2002 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report 4/25/02 ....... The striped marlin have moved out and the BIG blueÃs have moved in. The last week of March was particularly good. 4 marlin at 300+, 5 at 400+, one at 534.5 and one at 851.5. OK, this gets even better. The 534 was caught on the ìImpulseî. Capt. Erik runs the boat single handed (no deckhand) and the 851 was caught on the ìCarnivoreî. ThatÃs my boat and guess what, I run that boat single handed too! This marlin was the 2nd largest in Kona for the year but my fame was short lived. Hold on to your socks, The first week of April had 3 marlin at 300+, 2 at 500+, 2 at 600+ and KonaÃs first ìGranderî of the year caught on the ìCatchem Iî with Capt. Chuck. Guess what? Yep. Chuck runs his boat single handed also. In this particular instance though he radioed to another boat for help and borrowed a deck hand to help with the beast because they were going for the womanÃs 80 lb. test world record. With the leader just out of reach and a very valiant attempt, she gave up on the IGFA rules and just wanted the fish. The deck hand grabbed the main line so they could take the fish. It weighed in at 1,036 lbs. Ready for the 2nd week of April? Not too many fish but there was a 600+, 3 at 700+ and another ìGranderî! This one caught on the ìHuntressî with Capt. Randy and weighed in at 1,174 lbs. Does Randy run his boat single handed? ÖÖ No, that would be just TOO cool. Last week, the marlin bite took a big downward turn. Only 3 marlin reported for the week and none of any size. The biggest fish of the week was a 500+ lb. dusky shark caught and released on the ìCarnivoreî. Remember who the captain of the ìCarnivoreî is? ......... Last week seems to be the start of a good summer time ahi (yellowfin tuna) run. There were 12 weighed in and only one of them was under 100 lbs. The bite should kick into high gear by late May and early June. ......... The mahi mahi bite is on! Great action for stand-up light tackle and casting fly or plugs. The ono have moved in too. Last years summer ono run was the best weÃve seen in a long time. This year should be good too. The spearfish run looks like itÃs just not going to happen this year. ....... The bottom fishing bite has been great. Lots of amberjack, almaco jack and shark action. It was recently discovered that there are actually four similar kinds of amberjack here in Hawaii. Most people think thereÃs only the greater amberjack here. Point of fact, a few yellowtail amberjack have been caught in the Northern island chain and recently a Japanese amberjack was caught there too. Here on the Southern most island, after a long battle of trying to prove it to the Hawaii Dept. of Aquatic Resources, they now officially recognize the almaco jack as being here in Hawaii too. IÃve know that for a long time but trying to prove it to the bureaucrats was much more difficult than I had expected. Last year I proved that there were dusky shark here in Hawaii after my daughters IGFA world record was finally approved. Bureaucrats seem to be tougher to fight than the fish : ) ....... See ëya on the water , ....... Capt. Jeff Rogers , ........ http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Chip Van Mols | Date Posted: | 04-10-2002 | |
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Kona Fish Report, April 10th 02, Capt. Chip Van Mols reporting from the ROD BENDER. HANG ON TO YOUR 130's THE BIG ONES HAVE ARRIVED! And GRANDER # 2 hits the docks! A nice spring wave of large blue marlin continues to push and shove it's way down our coast! To bad there is only handful of boats going out daily right now to enjoy there presence. One week after the April fools day 1036lb blue on the "Catchem I", Capt. Randy Parker on board the "HUNTRESS" with his crewman Boyd Decoito and angler Jeff Russel of Fairbanks, Alaska brought in a monster tipping the scales at 1,174.5 pounds, Kona's second grander of the year, April 8th!! The fish fell for a 9 inch jet while trolling off the town of Kailua (700 fathoms outside VV bouy)and was subdued by Jeff in just 30 minutes on 130lb tackle. CONGRADS!!! to the team on the HUNTRESS!! This day was the best one day snap since this run started and also caught on the 8th were a 706 by Capt. Scott Pruner on the DECIEVER, 702 by Capt. Kevin Nakamaru on the Northern lights and the tag and release of a 400+ by Capt. Jeff Faye on the HUMDINGER. Kevin has been on fire this past week also boating a 520 on the 7th and tagging a 525 on the 6th. A few other fish of note this last week were a 619 on the FIVE STAR, 602 on the HANAMANA and a 656 on the ANXIOUS. There were several others missed, lost, released and boated. With the arrival of this big fish wave the small fish have tapered way off, only a very occasional spearfish or stripey, and there isn't loads of bait schools or anything to look at, it's a patience game trolling but when it happens LOOK OUT! For those of you without much patience the Ono bite is picking up inshore and a few mahi mahi are being caught in the Ono lane as well. The big Yellowfin tuna are steadily increasing in number in the porpoise schools but still pretty tough to get by traditional sportfishing methods. Last week we had several floaters pass thru in the current that were holding good numbers of mahi mahi but that ended on friday the 5th but can and often will start back up as fast as it dissapeared. We also have a low pressure trough sitting above our state right now holding back our trade winds so it me be a few days before trades return and our current gets moving again and we start seeing a little more variety. We're usually looking pretty good here but here's how we didn't do on the ROD BENDER this past week: April 5th, p.m. half day, missed one mahi mahi April 6th, full day, missed one spearfish April 7th a.m. half day, didn't miss anything April 8th 6 hour 3/4 day, all zero's. This one hurt the most, the water was perfect, My pattern was humming and one of my friends caught a 700lb blue right off the bat. High tide was 1:55p.m. and we had to go in at 1:00. A grander, a 700 and a 400 were all hooked and caught in the next hour and a half and they were the only guys out. I didn't have any bites in my slip while washing the boat, damn! THAT'S FISHIN! And no one can say I only report my good days! Good things come to those who are patient right now and put thier time in. There is nothing new about getting runs of big ones this time of year, it happens quite a bit, some years better than others. During this next week or two as we pass the new moon and return to our normal trade wind weather I'll bet we see some more world class marlin fishing and I won't be surprised if grander # three is amongst the bunch, in my humble opinion, of course! It could be you, it could be me, it could be you with me! Any Questions? Drop me a line: bvanmols@rod-bender.com . Good fishing, tight lines and ALOHA! Capt. Chip Van Mols Rod Bender Sportfishing www.konasportfishingcharters.com 73-4180 Malino Place Kailua-Kona, Hawaii 96740 home: 808-325-2155 cell: 808-960-5954 fax: 808-325-1713 |
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Posted By: | Chip Van Mols | Date Posted: | 04-02-2002 | |
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KONA NEWS FLASH!! The first grander of the year was boated yesterday, April fools day, and when it was hoisted out of the water and up on the scales we all knew it was no april fools day joke, 1036 pounds! The lucky skipper was Capt. Chuck Haupert on board his 30' charter vessel CATCHEM I !! The fish fell for the old purple/black senior wide range soft head (probably the most towed lure in Kona)and took three hours to land on 130lb tackle. I'll post more details as I get them but rumor has it the big girl was subdued by a Lady angler! Congradulations to Chuck and his lucky party! here's the report I wrote yesterday before I went down to the harbor and saw Chucks TOAD hanging. Kona fish report, April 1 2002, Capt. Chip Van Mols reporting from the ROD BENDER. THE WORLDS FIRST TONNER BLUE MARLIN! Ah, never mind, was just going to be another lame April Fools Day thing. No tonners lately but the fishing has been fair for big blues with a 400+ or two being caught almost daily and a handfull of bigger ones too. Last week Capt. Jeff Rogers on the Carnivor weighed an impressive 851 pound blue, second largest of the year so far! The funny thing about this (ha ha) is that Jeff primarily does deep water jigging for amberjack and only really trolls for palagics on his way to and from the grounds, so if you hear the evil rumor (that I started) that he caught this big one by switch baiting it a live kahala, don't believe it, he caught it trolling! Much to the shagrinn of the highliners targeting billfish full time! Nice going Jeff! You should have seen the look on some of the other captains faces when I told them the switch bait kahala story, PRICELESS! Best hookup ratio I've had in years! Back to fishing for fish. Spring has sprung and our winter striped marlin are thinning out, spearfish made an attempt at a run in the middle of march but it never amounted to much, one here and one there. A bit of a run on mahi mahi this past couple weeks but still sporadic and the big yellowfin tuna are in the porpoise schools but not always willing to bite, timing is everything with these finicky tuna, first boat in the porpoise usually scores and the rest watch. Oh yeah, the skirt munching wahoo(ono) are starting to show up and it won't be long before they are trashing our marlin lures in the deep while they try and figure out where the 50 fathom curve is, at least they're good eating. Spring is a transitional time here in Kona, big fish on the increase small fish on the decrease, we usually get some good runs of blue marlin with a fair amount of them being 500lb+ ( April 30th 1990 being the best bite I've ever seen )and before you know it, it's summer! Here's how we did on the ROD BENDER since my last report: March 9th, half day, NFL Players Association charity tourney. 26 boats 5 hours fishing, 150lb minimum weight. We landed a 160lb blue and tagged a 40lb spearfish, WE WIN!! We also raised a blue about 400lb that followed us for about ten minutes giving one lure a half hearted swat but just wouldn't leave (window shopper), I told a friend of mine where we raised it and he went there the next day and caught it? 485lbs. it followed him his first pass through the GPS mark for about 5 mins. and no strike, he went back thru an hour later and whoosh! March 11th, 3/4 day, trolling the grounds. Tag one spearfish 1/1. Then we had a 200lb blue pounce on the short rigger and come off, while getting the lure back in the rigger we hooked a 25lb mahi on the long rigger, we caught the mahi but never saw the blue again. March 13, half day, 1 spearfish on the grounds. March 19, full day w/Steve Oenbrink, Gusting trade winds and large seas forced us to look south today and we didn't find much, 1 mystery bite. oops! March 20-25, Friend and owner of the ROD BENDER, Henry Potts, came to play. the 20th was still too rough to go up north, we left at 9:30 and trolled down south and back, NADA! 21st, after 5 or 6 days of howling northerly we were finally able to get up to the grounds and we promptly tagged the biggest stripey I've ever caught in Kona, est. 170lb. 22nd, back to the grounds, we made a few attempts at live baiting but the porpoise said NO. It was also so crowded with boats that I renamed the place the PROZAC ZONE. Late in the day when most the smoke had cleared, we snuck out a live bait and promptly raised a blue that swirled, stabbed, killed and did everything but eat our bait, we slid back a fresh bait out of our tuna tubes back to the marlin and a freaking porpoise came in and broke up our little party! More PROZAC please! 23rd, being fresh out of prozac and having taken note of a dying current up north we decided to head way down south to milolii and beyond, we ran about 35 miles down, put out the lures and started checking the holes. Nothing on B bouy, nothing in milolii koa and no current, so on to TT bouy where we greeted by clouds of birds, huge schools of skipjack and a nice south current, yes! And a bunch of bait steeling porpoise, sh@#t!! We pounded the area with lures for a few hours with no strikes, keeping an eye on the porpoise (hoping they might leave and let us live bait) when here she comes, 700+ blue, roaring in on our short outrigger!! But no strike, just follow and roar in and back off, 3 times, *%#$@!! After another hour or so trolling the area with the hair standing up on the back of my neck it was time to troll north, we ended up catching a 40lb spearfish in front of milolii and tagging a 170lb blue off the 3rd lava flow, yeah!. 24th, We know where a big one is and why would it go anywhere else? I just hoped we could present it with what it's feeding on, so back down to TT bouy. The south wind line was a couple miles north of the bouy so we had to troll in to the zone and find it in the 4-8 foot seas with 25 Knots of breeze, first pass no porpoise, yes! We cleared the gear and quickly caught 2 x 5lb skipjack, rigged one at put him out the 80lb stand up rig and in no more than three minutes we were hooked and three minutes after that a 200lb blue spat our bait back in our faces right behind the boat, we quickly rig the other skippy and put him out and graciously feed it to one of a dozen porpoise who have now shown up,@#$%&*!! We pounded the area with lures with no bites untill it was time to start heading north, back up the same depth as the day before and bang there's a mahi in front of milolii and bang there's a blue 400-500 on the long corner that comes off and bang we miss a 150lb blue off the second lava flow. 2 mahi mahi and 0/3 on blues. 25th, we trolled the magic depth all the way down and back, ZIP! Not one of our more productive trips but we had our moments, and a good time! March 27th, full day w/ Dick and Chrissy Russell, Back down we run to TT bouy, porpoise are there to greet us, so out go the lures and after a couple hours we caught a 270lb blue inside the bouy about 300-400yds right in my magic depth from the prior days. We trolled the magic depth (around 600 fathoms) all the way back with no more strikes, but we finally got one off the bouy and Richard got his first Pacific Blue, one bite one fish, great show too! With the passing of spring break our tourism slows until summer, For the next 2 1/2 months you can have the fishing grounds and the town all to yourself. It's a great time to come and catch a big blue marlin, not watch the boat next to you catch it! Any Questions? I'll be happy to help! And don't forget to check out the ROD BENDER on our web page. Good fishing, tight lines and ALOHA! Capt. Chip Van Mols Rod Bender Sportfishing www.konasportfishingcharters.com 73-4180 Malino Place Kailua-Kona, Hawaii 96740 home: 808-325-2155 cell: 808-960-5954 |
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Posted By: | Jeff Rogers | Date Posted: | 03-16-2002 | |
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Kona Hawaii fishing report 3/16/02 The striped marlin bite has slowed down a bunch since last months report. The blue marlin bite is picking up though. It seems to be about a 50/50 mix right now. The blues are running in the 200 to 500 lb. range. The spearfish are finally starting to show up. A bit late in the season for ëem but if youÃre looking for some good eating fish, many prefer spearfish over mahi mahi or ono. WeÃre having a pretty good off season bite of yellowfin tuna. Not the little ìshibiî kind either. IÃm talkinà 100+ lbs. TheyÃre running with the porpoise schools and the first boat of the day to find the school is usually the one making the score. The ìpot lickersî coming in later arenÃt having much luck. Spurts of mahi mahi bites are still happening. The bite should be getting even better as their spring run starts. The ono bite is real slow. A bunch of dusky and bronze whaler sharks have moved in. TheyÃre in the 200 to 500 lb. range and will really put an angler to the test. Unlike marlin, sharks donÃt seem to ever wear down or get tired of fighting. You can usually expect the hardest part of the fight to be right near the boat. The amberjack and almaco jack bite has slowed as a result of the big sharks being in town. Most of the jacks hooked up instantly become shark bait. See ëya on the water , Capt. Jeff Rogers , http://FISHinKONA.com |
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Posted By: | Chip Van Mols | Date Posted: | 03-04-2002 | |
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Kona Fish Report, march 4, 2002, Capt. chip Van Mols reporting from the ROD BENDER Good winter season fishing continues along the Kona coast! We've had a fairly steady peck of blue marlin of all sizes, mostly 100lb-250lb but every other day or so someone lucks into a big one over 500lbs. The biggest blue so far this year is a 942lb beast that was captured aboard the Lehualani by Capt. Kenny Llanas and his son Bomboy. Striped marlin are still here in fair numbers but seem to be a bit on the decline, hard to say though, we may still get a few more waves of them right through spring. Mahi mahi are a little slow this winter, there are still enough around to spice things up a bit but we haven't been getting many floaters passing through which is where we usually cash in on big numbers of them. Our usuall wintertime resident the short nosed spearfish is late but the signs that they may be here soon are happening. That sign is there have been a few very large ones caught lately, 40 TO 60lb, and that's how the run usually starts but you never know. The Sea Genie II found one of these bigger models and pushed the 30lb record up to 48lbs last week! A few big yellowfin tuna around too. Here's how we did on the Rod Bender since my last report: Feb.12th, afternoon half day, dr.Chuck Prichard. 0 for 2 on the striped marlin trolling the Grounds, Rubber hooks! Feb.13 full day with Mark Klimiuk. we stated with a nice 35lb mahi mahi and then went 3 for 7 on the striped marlin, tag and release 2 and kept one that my Deckhand needed for a party. Hooks not so rubberlike today! Feb.14 Mark for another full day, we were spoiled by the action the day before, we caught 1 mahi about 25lb and went 0 for 1 on blue marlin and 0 for 3 on stripeys, back to rubber hooks on the trolling lures. Feb.15 marks last day, After missing a stripey on the lures we switched to live bait on circle hook and caught a stripe marlin, tag and release. three days,4 stripeys and 2 mahi mahi, OK! Feb.16 thru 19, we had ace angler and owner of the Rod Bender, Mr. Henry Potts . We trolled most of the first day and I was hoping we would start raising fish so we could switch to teasers and do some fly fishing but the fish weren't responding to lure so we swithched to live bait on 30lb. standup tackle and promptly had a stripey spazz out and run into the leader and then tagged one shortly after that on a cicle hook, est. 60lbs. Day two we again tried the trolling thing in the morning and no raises so back to live bait, this time 20lb. stand up tackle was Henry's choice and along came mister blue marlin, 150lbs 1 hour 45 minute fight, circle hook in the corner of the mouth and Tag & release! Day three, we ran straight to the grounds and straight to live bait fishing, 16lb. today! After several donations to our resident bottle nose dolphin aka Bentfin and a wahoo chop off we got on the right track and tagged 70lb stripe marlin on 16lb in about ten minutes, good fun! Day four, I thought the 12lb was going to come out today, we seemed to heading in that direction but out came the heavy tackle, 30lb, Live bait , circle hooks, tagged a 120lb blue and 60lb stripey, both hooked right in the corner. I love it! Good trip, 4 days 5 marlin. Feb.21 full day with Ed Bezgembluk. we tried the lure thing and promptly tagged a stripey then pulled hook on a 200lb blue alongside the boat and then the rubber hooks took over so we stuck out a live bait on a circle hook on 50lb and Ed caught another stripey, right in the corner, tag and release. 0 for 1 on blues 2 for 5 on striped marlin. Feb. 23rd full day with Dan I forgot your last name. We decided to go south to the land of the giants for a change of scenery and the calm water. We didn't find any giants but I did get to watch a 400 pounder feeding on the surface and we had three blue marlin shots tagging 2, 135 and 180 pounds as well as missing a stripey too. I really enjoyed this change of scenery, Dan did too! Feb.24 Full day with my daughter Jada in search of the smallfry girls junior world record blue marlin. we ran down to the same spot that we caught the two marlin the day before and poked around on the ledge awhile until we came up with a 5 pound skipjack for live bait, no takers though. We have until july 1st, when she turns 11, to work on some of these smallfry records, look out! We had a pretty good run at them there, so did most the rest of the guys who worked at it. Quite often in March we get a good run of big blues, I'll bet it's not long before I'm telling you about the first grander of the year. It could be you! Good fishin, tight lines and Aloha! Chip Capt.Chip Van Mols Rod Bender Sportfishing bvanmols@rod-bender.com www.konasportfishingcharters.com 73-4180 Malino Place Kailua-Kona, Hawaii 96740 home: 808-325-2155 cell: 808-960-5954 fax: 808-325-1713 |
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