Beiträge von Capt. Jeff Rogers

    Kona Hawaii fishing report – April wrap-up.


    As the striped marlin season is ending, the biggest striped marlin of the year was weighed in this month and weighed in at 114.5 lbs. One thing to consider is even though the peak season is nearly over, that doesn’t mean that there won’t be any more striped marlin around. Case in point, it’s supposed to be the peak mahi mahi season right now but there are hardly any being caught. It’s not ono season but we kept having spurts of good ono bites throughout the month. Here in Kona, “any fishy, any season” is more the norm rather than the exception. “Seasonal” fishing here in Hawaii is a loose term because our “seasons” on the ocean don’t change much. The water temperature here is 79 degrees year-round, plus or minus only three degrees. Even the air temperature on our ocean doesn’t change much. Once you head up one of our massive mountains though, the changes are drastic. Of 13 climate classifications in the world, the Big Island has 11 of them. We’re only missing the two extremes on either end.


    Blue marlin were somewhat scarce this month but the spearfish bite was pretty good.


    Several months ago, a fish farm operation moored a boat and fish cage just a little over 3 miles off shore just a little South of the harbor and because there is so much structure; several buoys, a WWII landing craft and a large fish cage, there’s tuna hanging around it all the time. Yellowfin, bigeye, albacore and skipjack. Those tunas are eating the massive amounts of even smaller fish hanging around the structures and the fat content on the tunas is off the charts! I’ve been making that my first place to go in the morning to make sure that my people have some fish to eat and to also get some extras to use for bottom bait later. This summer, I expect to see a lot of boats pulling live baits nearby looking for those big blues.


    High winds and rough water kept me from the bottom fishing grounds for the first half of April but once the winds died down and I was able to go there, the bottom bite was good. I weighed in a 100+ lb. giant trevally (GT) this month, not really by choice though. I would have let it go but it died during the battle. The GT made Kona’s “Big Fish List” so that’s my 2nd time making the list this year. The amberjack slot is vacant and even though I catch them pretty regularly, I tag and release them. Just like with some of the big GT’s, the big amberjacks sometimes don’t survive the fight either so if that happens …... I caught and released a hammerhead shark the same day as the GT. If you’re a regular reader of my reports, in last month’s report I mentioned that the State of Hawaii was proposing a new law to make it illegal to “intentionally” kill, capture, harm or harass (or even attempt to kill, capture, harm or harass) a shark. I definitely “intentionally” harassed, captured and released that hammerhead. Good news, that bill has been killed! The reason was that the scope and language in the bill was too broad. Also, State waters only extend to 3 miles from shore so determining if a shark was caught inside or outside of State waters also posed a problem. Back to the fish farm. It’s just outside of the State’s 3 mile jurisdiction. That’s why they put it there. Any sharks there? You bet! It was April. Tax collector time.


    See ‘ya on the water soon,
    Capt. Jeff Rogers ,
    http://FISHinKONA.com

    Kona Hawaii fishing report - March wrap-up.

    I mentioned in my January report did Kona has had the distinction for the past several years in a row of being the first place in the world where a "grander" (1000 pound +) marlin is caught each year. While there were some Grander fought here in Kona since the beginning of the year, most of the really big ones win the fight Because many things have to go just right to get the really big ones in. March Has always been known as a good grander month here and Kona's first grander of the year what caught this month on the 27th but this time it was not the first in the world. We got beat out by Kenya. Who wouldda thunk. It's only the 2nd time a grander HAS BEEN landed in Kenya and the last one was a decade ago but congrats to Kenya on a fine 1062 lb. fish. The Kona grander thing caught on the "Nasty Habit" by Robert Steffens angler with Capt.. Dave Unger at the helm and Kai Hoover running the deck and Weighed in at 1211 lbs. Capt. Dave Unger comes from a long line of Kona captains and the Unger family what so one of the first to produce the popular resin head trolling lures did are Commonly used worldwide today. Capt. Dave is no different than his elders and handmade the lure did caught the grander from a mold did HAS BEEN handed down through the family line.


    The striped marlin bite Remained pretty good falling on March but definitely shows signs of slowing down lately while the blue marlin bite is picking up Spearfish season is at its peak but the bite on Those HAS BEEN somewhat spotty this month. Mahi mahi season is just starting but if you're one of the many did read my monthly reports, you already knowthat the mahi mahi bite was good all winter. It Should only get better from here. Ono (wahoo) and big ahi (yellowfin tuna) have been showing up in spurts for the past few months.


    High winds and rough water have kept me away from the good bottom fishing grounds several times this month but the times did it HAS BEEN calm, I've been doing OK dropping to the bottom. The catch HAS BEEN mostly sharks with a couple of jacks ALMACO thrown in. Almaco jacks make great "grander" baits. Not grander marlin but if you're hunting for a 1000 + tiger shark, that's the bait de jour. Oooops, maybe I shouldn't say that. The Hawaii politicians are now debating a law (HB2380) making it illegal to "intentionally" kill, capture, harass or harm (or even attempt to kill, capture, harass or harm) a shark. I'm sure this is in retaliation of what Those stupid kids did to a tiger shark in Honokohau harbor load-August. On YouTube, use the extension / watch? V = fhAWTzjG5RU and you'll see it. These punks probably do not know this but as a result of whatthey did, did tiger shark is now blind in one eye. It was a stupid thing to do but does there really need to be a new law? And, if I'm bottom fishing with bait, could it be said that I am "intentionally" targeting sharks? What a mess Those punks created. I catch some of the same sharks over and over. Some of them even get to sport a fashionable circle hook lip ring for a little while but what I do Certainly does not need to be made illegally. Does it? Let's hear your comments.


    See 'ya on the water soon,
    Capt. Jeff Rogers,
    http://FISHinKONA.com



    Capt. Dave & Kai

    Kona Hawaii fishing report Jan. wrap-up.


    It’s surprising that the mahi mahi bite is still going strong. Mahi mahi are known as the most temperature sensitive of fish so when the water in Kona gets just a couple of degrees higher or lower than our average 79 degree water temperature, the mahi mahi usually leave. If we’re lucky, they might stay on into their spring run that starts in March. The spearfish run is going strong also and is the most common fish being caught right now. As I said in last month’s report, most of the spearfish caught in Kona are released even though they are a very good eating fish. They’re a long skinny fish and only average about 35 lbs. average so taking some for the dinner table is no big deal.


    Blue marlin are somewhat rare in the winter here but blues are caught every month of the year here and the biggest caught this year so far is a 752 pounder. Kona has had the prestige of being the first fishery in the world to weigh in the first 1000+ pound “grander” marlin of the year for the past several years in a row so if you’re looking for that monster blue, Kona is still the best place in the world to do it. The striped marlin bite has kicked in so they now, and should be a fairly common catch for the next few months. Like spearfish, striped marlin are a good eating fish, especially raw as sashimi.


    This month I caught more almaco jacks than sharks. The main reason is fishing technique. Dropping live and dead bait more often produces a shark catch than anything else but dropping bait hasn’t been working so I’ve been throwing more jigs to the bottom to get a bite. The most common fish I catch while jigging is almaco jacks.


    Every year I get approached by production companies looking to film one of the many fishing shows out there. I’ve done a few shows over the years but I usually turn the production companies down after researching the kind of fishing show they’re looking to do. Most of the fishing show formats are boring but this time I said yes. A show called “Fishing Adventurer” with Cyril Chauquet and Cyril seemed like the kind of fishing nut job that I could have some fun with. I was right! He’s a very entertaining crazy man and we had lots of fun jigging up fish after fish after fish. Almost all were almaco jacks but we also caught an amberjack and a barracuda on the jigs. Cyril also caught a mahi mahi on his spinning rod so all in all, it should make for a good fishing show. Underwater shots too. Doing a show is more about having fun doing it rather than gaining business from it even though it will make a nice addition to the videos page on my web site.


    See ‘ya on the water soon,
    Capt. Jeff Rogers ,
    http://FISHinKONA.com

    Kona Hawaii fishing report – 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. hasn’t 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 “recreational” 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! It’s 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 “foot in the door” 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 ‘ya on the water ,


    Capt. Jeff Rogers ,
    FISHinHAWAII.com

    Kona Hawaii fishing report – Jan. wrap-up .



    January has been a good month overall for trolling. The spearfish are still in abundance and if you’re looking for some good fish to eat, it doesn’t get much better than fresh spearfish. The mahi mahi bite was good all month too and that’s a bit unusual for January but I don’t 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, they’re 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 “green stick” method but just trolling lures through the school hasn’t been getting too many bites.



    Normally I open my monthly reports talking about the marlin bite but there’s 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 “beast” (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 haven’t even grown their noses yet. Some people who don’t know how to tell the difference between a blue and a striped (many don’t) 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 it’s 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, it’s not.



    I always like to wrap up the wrap-up with the bottom fishing report. It’s usually where most of the action and unusual catches are. Winter is a peak time for bottom fishing but it’s 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 wasn’t 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 you’re grabbing at it trying to see if it’s first dorsal fin bone is bendable.



    See ‘ya on the water ,

    Capt. Jeff Rogers ,
    FISHinKONA.com

    Kona Hawaii fishing report – 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 haven’t 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. I’ve 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. I’m 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 “fish” 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 ‘ya on the water,
    Capt. Jeff Rogers ,
    FISHinKONA.com

    Kona Hawaii fishing report – 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 didn’t 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 don’t think it`s worth the risk to eat any fish that might have the toxin. There are several people who get “hit” here every month. If you don’t 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 ‘ya on the water,
    Capt. Jeff Rogers ,
    FISHinKONA.com

    Kona Hawaii fishing report – October wrap-up .

    I’ve said before that it’s 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 it’s finally over! The current has stabilized to its typical North direction and although it’s 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 “schoolie dolphin” or “smurfs” (little blue guys) and are typically about 5 to 20 lbs. but it’s 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 ’87 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 hadn’t 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 don’t think anyone would have guessed. There were indeed a bunch of boats fishing the Kona snapper grounds the first week. Many that I’ve 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. They’re 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 won’t make any difference in their plans anyway. That bites!

    See ‘ya on the water,
    Capt. Jeff Rogers ,
    <A href="http://fishinkona.com"> Kona Hawaii Sport Fishing</A>

    Kona Hawaii fishing report – June wrap-up.


    The big female marlin are still around but the big question for most of the month was, “where are all the males”? 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. There’s 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 “Wee Guys” 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 it’s trolling that gets the best bite in the ahi schools but lately it’s the stop-n-drop technique that the ahi are going for.


    Shark, sharks and more sharks. There sure is a bunch of ‘em 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 there’s 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 “grander” tiger for this year a couple of weeks ago. It beat the 1000 lb. mark by more than 100 lbs. Since I release them, it’s just an estimate but I’ve 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 it’s tail unwrapped because I didn’t want to hurt it, then made a discovery. Unlike the old saying “don’t grab a tiger by the tail” (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 couldn’t. It was after I got the tail unwrapped that things went nuts. That was one P.O.’d tiger! Real scary but I made the release OK. Lesson learned, next time, (if I can) I’m keepin’ control of the end without the teeth!



    See ‘ya on the water,
    Capt. Jeff Rogers ,
    <A href="http://fishinhawaii.com"> Kona Hawaii Sport Fishing</A>

    Kona Hawaii fishing report – May wrap-up


    May started off pretty slow but it ended with many nice catches. Several “Beast” 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 “blind strikes” and that’s 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 don’t 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 “break” is usually less than one degree and hardly a factor when fishing. The reason I’m 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. I’ll 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, I’m 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, I’ve 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 let’s catch some big ones.


    See ‘ya on the water,
    Capt. Jeff Rogers ,
    <A href="http://fishinhawaii.com"> Kona Hawaii Sport Fishing</A>

    Kona Hawaii fishing report – March wrap-up.


    March has been BIG marlin month in Kona. This year’s first “grander” marlin (weighing 1000 + lbs.) was caught this month and just barely squeaked in at 1011 lbs. A “beast” 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 “grander” 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! It’s 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 there’s 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 it’s 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. It’s 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 couldn’t take his little Zodiac out that far but also made the claim that he was sure that the larvae weren’t out there. That’s opinion and not science! The problem is, guys like this will most likely get their way if the fishermen don’t 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 ‘ya on the water,
    Capt. Jeff Rogers ,
    <A href="http://fishinkona.com"> Kona Hawaii Sport Fishing</A>

    Kona Hawaii fishing report – October ’06 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. I’m glad to see that it’s back to normal this year. The blue marlin bite has been pretty good this month! Probably out doing the so-called “peak season” of the summer months. I use the word “probably” 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. It’s late in the season for spearfish and early for Striped marlin. That’s one of the things that makes October so interesting. Yesterday a boat caught a sailfish. That’s a rare catch in Hawaii and I’m sure glad he boated it. Luckily he’s 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. It’s 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 they’re 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), they’re 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. I’ll stop short of agreeing to give the fish disaster relief funds though.


    See `ya on the water,
    Capt. Jeff Rogers ,
    <A href="http://fishinhawaii.com">Kona Hawaii fishing</A>

    Kona Hawaii fishing report – Sept. ’06 wrap-up.


    For those loyal readers of the Kona Hawaii fishing report, Sorry that there was no August ’06 wrap-up. I was on vacation for most of August. The beginning of the month wasn’t looking too good anyway and although I did keep in contact with a few of the captains during my vacation, it doesn’t appear that I missed much of a bite during August. Many people ask me “where do you go on vacation if you live in Hawaii”? 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 you’re not catching big fish in Hawaii, it’s 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. I’m 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 it’s the same as this year. Here’s a quote from the ’05 report: “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 ’04. What I saw prompted me to go ahead and look at my ’03 and ’02 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. I’m 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.”
    And so the “pattern” 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 it’s 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. They’re fast, smart, have excellent eye site and are picky eaters. That’s 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, I’ve 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. I’m also testing some new jigging equipment. I’ve had some good catches with the jigs including a couple of ono recently, the biggest kawakawa I’ve ever seen (made Kona’s “Big Fish List”) 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 don’t get big for nothin’.


    See `ya on the water,
    Capt. Jeff Rogers ,
    <A href="http://fishinkona.com">Kona Hawaii fishing</A>

    Kona Hawaii fishing report – July wrap-up –


    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 “grander” blue marlin (1027 lbs.) caught this week but not by a boat that was in the tournament. I’m not sure how many granders that makes for the year so far but I know of at least five. That’s a big improvement over the past few years.
    .
    The ono were biting pretty good until the current switched. They’ve 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 I’ve 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 it’s mouth. I figure any fish head butting a 12oz. jig at high speed would probably be knocked out cold. I’ll never know what it was but I can imagine it would have been a pretty funny thing to see.
    .
    See ‘ya on the water,
    Capt. Jeff Rogers ,
    <A href="http://fishinhawaii.com"> Kona Hawaii Sport Fishing</A>

    Kona Hawaii fishing report – June wrap-up -


    The marlin have arrived. Blue marlin of all sizes – 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 “grander” status. I congratulated the guys that did land that 1075 pounder this month and asked my long time friend Steve “How long did it take you to get it?” His answer “22 years Jeff.” A lot has to go right to subdue an animal that big. Most of the time it just can’t be done and the fish wins. Sometimes the boat wins and on rare occasion, they both loose. Personally, I’ve never even had a decent shot at getting one. I’ll 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 “blind strike” 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 “blind strike” 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 isn’t 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, I’ve 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 ‘ya on the water or maybe the tackle shop,
    Capt. Jeff Rogers ,
    <A href="http://fishinkona.com"> Kona Hawaii Sport Fishing</A>

    Kona Hawaii fishing report – May wrap-up –


    The most common billfish being caught right now is spearfish. While good eating, they’re 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 “blind strike” 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 haven’t been devoting much time to bottom fishing. On days that I have done it though, it’s 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 you’re 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 I’ll 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 I’m not violating this forums vulgarity policy. If a moderator thinks it is, please insert “very very very very angry” where that other word is :)


    See ‘ya on the water,
    Capt. Jeff Rogers ,
    <A href="http://fishinhawaii.com"> Kona Hawaii Sport Fishing</A>

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