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Early Beginnings and Career Path

Captain Carlton Taniyama knows the waters off Kona, Hawaii, like the back of his hand. He began angling at age six with his dad on a canal near his hometown of Kailua-Kona. Then he fished commercially during high school and planned to continue after graduation. “My parents both told me, ‘No, you’ve got to go to school,’” Taniyama says. “So I went to college, returned, and worked for three years in aquaculture. I didn’t want to be in the lab all the time, so I quit and went fishing.”

Taniyama started mating for charter Captain Marlin Parker on the 43-foot Allied Marine, Marlin Magic, in the mid-1990s. It was a job that included competing in all the Kona tournaments. Charter client Warren Keinath bought the Marlin Magic in 1996. The two stayed in touch, and when Keinath bought his first Five Star, a 43 Merritt, in 2000, Taniyama took the helm. Today, the Five Star is a custom 53-foot Spencer.

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Tournament Achievements: – Five Star // 2,950 pts.

• Rock n Reel Tournament: 1st Place – 500 pts.
• Firecracker Open: 2nd Place – 300 pts.
• Kona Throw Down: 1st Place – 500 pts.
• Skins Marlin Derby: 2nd Place Heaviest Marlin, 609.5 lbs. – 300 pts.
• Skins Marlin Derby: 3rd Place Heaviest Marlin, 562.5 lbs. – 100 pts.
• Skins Marlin Derby: 1st Place – 500 pts.
• Hawaii Lure Maker Challenge: 1st Place – 500 pts.
• Hawaii Marlin Tournament Series: Champion – 250 pts.

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The Road to Victory

In his 40-plus-year career, Taniyama fished the Hawaii Billfish Championship Series tournaments many times. Although he’s come close, even finishing as a runner-up on the Five Star years ago, he had never won the Hawaii Marlin Tournament Series Champion title, until 2024. The catches to earn this title, plus podium finishes in other key tournaments, landed Taniyama the title of Captain of the Year (COTY) in the 2024 Release Ruler Hawaii Division. Bronson Cablay and Kama De Silva were his mates for the season.

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Tournament Highlights

The points started adding up at the Hawaii Big Game Fishing Club’s Rock n Reel Tournament, June 7-9. Team Five Star took third with four blues, an ahi tuna, and a spearfish, and first place in the COTY standings. The event isn’t part of the Hawaii Marlin Tournament Series but proved a great warm-up.

Less than a month later, Team Five Star finished second in Kona’s Firecracker Open, a Series event held on the 4th and 5th of July. Keinath caught the first day’s two Pacific blue marlin, with fellow anglers Tommy Goodman releasing an estimated 375-pounder and Keith Stehle’s two smaller fish on the second day.

Taniyama next helmed the team to first place in the Kona Throw Down, July 7-9, with 10 blue marlin, with Keinath, Goodman, and Stehle all taking turns on the releases.

Keinath and his friends returned home, with Bono Hauanio taking over angler duties in Five Star’s fighting chair for the Skins Marlin Derby, July 11-13. Hauanio pulled his weight, releasing seven and boating 609.5 and 562.5 blues on the second and third days, respectively, to win the overall.

“We tallied 2327 points in the Skins,” said Taniyama. “That’s a lot of points for a three-day tournament. If that isn’t a record, it must be close. That was the stretch we were getting lucky. What made it all come together is our team, of course, but we also put an Omni Sonar on the boat three years ago and are through the learning curve. It’s a game-changer, but you still have to know where the fish are.”

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Securing the Title

Five Star sat as Top Boat in the Series going into the Hawaii Lure Maker Challenge, July 19-21. Taniyama made sure the team remained in the lead by positioning Hauanio to catch and release eight blues. The last day proved a nailbiter. The 40-foot Gamefisherman, Last Chance, with Capt. Tracy Epstein at the helm, tied with Five Star’s Taniyama on count with five releases. Five Star led on time. Hauanio took the team further in front with a sixth fish caught mid-morning, only to have Last Chance come back with two just after noon to take the lead. Not to be undone, Taniyama took Hauanio to two blues he released mid-afternoon, thus winning on time, topping the Series, and securing enough points for the season to earn COTY points.

“The Series and Championship is all about accumulating points,” said Taniyama. “Keinath always books us for every tournament, even if he can’t fish them all. We were in the top three or four boats in every tournament, always catching fish, and winning three. That’s what did it.”

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Beyond Hawaii

Taniyama helms Five Star in his home waters each summer, then fishes on Keinath’s 78-foot Garlington, Dreamin’ On, in global fishing hot spots like Australia, New Zealand, Cabo Verde, Costa Rica, Panama, Mexico, Nova Scotia, and the Azores. No matter where he is or what boat he’s on, COTY Taniyama is always catching fish.

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