Kona Hawaii Fishing Report – January 2020 wrap-up.
I said in last months report that the striped marlin bite was pretty good and that the peak season starts in January so the striped marlin bite should pick up and it did. So you might be thinking, Duh.... no brainer because it's the season. But, it doesn't always work out that way. If you're a regular reader of my monthly reports you know that sometimes the season for ahi, mahi mahi, ono and other fish can start off like it's going to be a good and then it dies a sudden death early in the season. In the past decade we've have more bad striped marlin winters than good ones. It's a big ocean and there are many places they can be other than the tiny dot that makes up the Kona coast. I'm going to make a prediction that this winter will remain a good one for striped marlin.
The blue marlin bite has been doing well too. Not too many big ones are being caught but the quantity is pretty good. It's a new year and more years than not, Hawaii brings in the first "grander" (1000 +) marlin of the year so Happy New Year....Game On! Spearfish season is just starting with the peak season starting right now. I can't remember ever have a "bad" spearfish season, only ones that weren't as good as others.
Last winter we were catching mahi mahi even though it wasn't the season for them. This winter they are vacationing somewhere else. Ono is another rare winter catch for the most part but not always. Currently they are also a rare catch. Even the small ahi and bigeye tunas are pretty sparse so far this winter so all of these really good eating fish are hard to come by right now. Good thing there's a spearfish bite.
I usually finish up my reports with the bottom bite but last month I didn't. It was quite depressing to have such little bottom fish action even though I was putting a lot of effort into it. This month the bite was only slightly better. Winter is supposed to be the top season for bottom fishing but Duh..... It doesn't always work out that way.
