December 1999
Week of 12/20 - 12/26
| My fearless prediction
about a giant coming home on Oahu's South Shore before the end of the year almost came
true this past week as the Wild Bunch lost an estimated 700 pound Blue off the back of
their boat on Christmas Eve. About 10 miles straight outside Pearl Harbor, Captain Timmy
and the group tied into a great fish that fought for two and a half hours, then broke free
at the leader just before they were able to harness it. The fish swam away aggressively,
leading Timmy and the crew glad the fish will survive but somewhat dejected they didn't
get the Christmas present they were hoping for. The day before, Wild Bunch found two nice Mahimahi (41 and 38 pounds) outside HH buoy for a Sportfish Hawaii customer while Sea Verse managed to land three Mahimahi all over 30 pounds on the 21st. Magic had a stellar day on the 22nd with a nice 105 lb Striped Marlin, a Spearfish, and three Mahimahi from 25-35 pounds. They also lost a great Blue (estimated at 350 pounds) after a pretty good fight that same day. Other Mahi and Striped Marlin catches have been coming in for the week as well. Keep in mind a great number of people foolishly believe the winter is not a good time for fishing in Hawaii, so the boats aren't getting out there every day. All that bait out there in the past couple of weeks was in fact a precursor to some big fish, and on those days when the skippers are running, the fish are coming home. Skippers are taking advantage of some of the down time to spruce up their boats, and of course, the Kuu and Kamome are still repowering and drydocked, respectively. Stay tuned......with Wild Bunch just missing on a big one, we're still hoping for a giant to finish out the year. BO, HH and the Waianae Coast at the 1000 fathom line seem to be good bets. Best wishes for a Happy New Year. |
Week of 12/13 - 12/19
| Striped Marlin and Mahimahi top the list this
week here off Oahu South, and the Mahis remain large. The Stripes haven't been too big,
and many skippers are releasing them (especially on multiple hook-ups) for another day's
fun. We've been hearing reports of the Spearfish over in Kona as well, but haven't heard
of any Spears off this island in the past week. No doubt they are around, we just didn't
hear of them from the regular crew we check in with. So with Spears and Stripes around, plus the Aku is still pretty thick, I'm still convinced a couple of big Blues are around waiting for the right lure dragged in front of their face. And if the big Marlin doesn't come to play, there's still a pretty good shot at hitting a big Mahi for an arial display. Some of the Aku and Mahimahi were caught out in the Molokai (Kaiwi) Channel near the Banks, but mostly in open schools. BO Buoy and the surrounding area has been pretty good as well. Some success has come off the deep ledges at Kaena Point all the way past Waianae, but that's tough to reach on a day trip. We're still looking for the grand finale for the Millennium.......need a granddaddy to finish it off! |
Week of 12/6 - 12/12
| The Marlin bite seems to be picking up a
little here and there, with several boats hitting both Stripes and Blues over the past
week. The Aku are definitely increasing as well, which is good news for probable increased
activity into the next couple of weeks. Kamome is almost ready to launch with her new paint job, and the Kuu's new engines are en route to the islands. Magic, Wild Bunch and Sea Verse are all looking great with a few little odds and ends spruced up over the past few weeks. Magic and Wild Bunch have been catching, too, but Sea Verse was in the harbor for most of the week with Captain Lee a little under the weather (speaking of which........it's been real windy making for trips of any kind difficult to plan out). Magic has seen most of the Marlin activity, and they've also been hitting the Mahimahi pretty regularly. Friday was one their highlight days over the past week, with a good sized Blue, 4 Mahi and 7 Aku around 10 pounds. Three of the past four full-day trips Wild Bunch has run has also produced a Marlin (mostly smaller Stripes), as well. We also got a report from a recreational boat that ran on the weekend and had four Stripes on, landing one at about 120 pounds. At one point, he had a triple hookup, but lost two of them. Action has been good from Pearl Harbor and out towards BO, around the FAD, and up to R and S buoys, mostly within 5 miles of the coast. There are still plenty of Mahi to be had in the open schools, and they remain large for the most part, although they aren't up into the high 40's or 50's as often. The prediction still remains as it did last week......there will be another very big one caught before the year is out. The presence of the Aku is just too tantalizing for these fatties to pass up. |
Week of 11/29 - 12/5
| Sorry, Fish fans, for the delay on this
week's report. Got a little behind from a sudden case of the stomach flu that knocked me
out for a couple days. Well, it's been much the same here on Oahu. Kamome is still in drydock (boy she is going to look good!!) and the Kuu is awaiting her new powerplants, so the fleet is a little smaller than usual. The Marlin bite has still been very slow, with Wild Bunch reporting just one for the week. The Mahimahi remain strong with catches still being reported in the 35 to 50 pound range, and many boats have been keeping their anglers happy with just those greenbacks. The weather has been pretty windy the past week, but Sea Verse still managed to take a seasoned angler out to P buoy for 4 nice big Mahimahi where they also caught an Oceanic White Tip Shark. Rougher than heck that day, but our angler commended Sea Verse on its ability to handle it. There is good news for the billfish fans though. I got some reports from Kauai, Waianae and Kona skippers that are all talking about some tunas that have been around. Kona skippers say there have been some Aku coming around.....small, but present. Spearfish and Stripes have begun to show as well. In Waianae and Kauai, Aku have also been spotted in higher numbers, so with the three locations reporting the Marlin's favorite food, it looks like we might have a good chance to repeat last year's end of December and January Billfish runs. Stay tuned, watch the weather, and get out there when you can. Be the last person of the century to catch a grander! |