Kona got its third “grander” marlin of 2012 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…..
