2001 Maui Jim Marlin Tournament Series Championship
| Kailua-Kona, HI - Some guys
just got it. James "The Moose" Karamouzis did it again, and some still aren't
sure how he did it the first time! What he did was win the Maui Jim Hawaii Marlin
Tournament Series Championship for the second straight year. Not only were these back to
back wins, but the Maui Jim Series has only held a championship for the past two years! The Moose started fishing big game tournaments in Kona, Hawaii kind of on a lark. Hawaii is like that. There are so many things to do, and the local folks are so good at helping malihini (new comers), that visitors often end up surfing, or scuba diving or winning jackpot tournaments when - before they got on the plane – they never in their wildest dreams saw themselves trying it. Being from Arizona, big game fishing for marlin is not real high up on the local favorite list for The Moose and his buddies on any given Saturday. However, on a trip to Kona last year The Moose got hooked when he ambled over to Capt. Brian Wargo after a morning snorkel trip and enquired about catching a marlin from Wargo's "Bite Me". |
| His catch statistics since
that day have been one of the biggest snowballs in Hawaiian history, but then again that
is a small category….The uncanny thing is that he pulled off this year's win in
almost the exact same fashion and sequence as last year. Last year Bob Struwe and Steve Keinath of Colorado started off the tournament with the first marlin tag and release, and backed it up with a few ono (wahoo). This year they qualified with 3 tagged striped marlin the first day and two the second. Theirs were the only marlin tagged through the third day of fishing Last year The Moose didn't catch much until he qualified a mahi mahi on the last day. This year he didn't catch much until he qualified a mahi mahi on the third day. |
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| Both year Struwe and Keinath
held the lead until the final day. Last year The Moose tagged a blue marlin to add to his
mahi and edged out the other guys on the final day of fishing. This year, The Moose tagged
a blue marlin to add to his blue marlin to edge out the other guys on the final day. Who'd
a thunk it? The Maui Jim Series Championship is the final tournament after a six month, three island tour with seven qualifying events. Over the course of the summer more than 150 marlin were caught, with about 90% being tagged and released. The best results came from the Okoe Bay Rendezvous where seventeen teams caught thirty three marlin with the largest coming in being a world class 875 pound blue. The Maui Jim Series was featured by coverage from ESPN 2, FOX Sports Net, The Outdoor Life Network and a regional show called Fishermen's Heaven from the Pacific Northwest. On hand for the Maui Jim Championship was "Americana Outdoors" which airs on both FOX nationwide and OLN, as well as the new Hawaii based adventure TV show "Pacific Expeditions". Print media coverage included the 700,000 circulation "Men's Journal" based in New York and distributed world wide. The Maui Jim Hawaii Marlin Tournament Series awarded more than $600,000.00 in cash and prizes during the course of 2001. The Series returns in 2002 with the same slate of tournaments as in the past, and as evidenced by the stellar rise of once novice angler James Karamouzis – the competitions are open to the public and no experience is necessary. For more information check out www.konatournaments.com, or tune in every Tuesday morning at 7:00 AM nation wide to "Pacific Expeditions" for tournament action on your television set. Every episode of "Pacific Expeditions" can also be viewed in its entirety via streaming video on the web at www.outdooraction.com starting in January 2002. All "Americana Outdoors" episodes to date, including two filmed in Kona in May 2001 are viewable now. The Maui Jim Series Championship Tournament should air on "Americana Outdoors" on both FOX nationwide as well as OLN before the end of December. The Maui Jim Series Championship is scheduled to air on "Pacific Expeditions" in the final week of January. The Maui Jim Hawaii Marlin Tournament Series is made possible through the support of The Maui Jim Sunglass Company and the Hawaii Tourist Authority, with special thanks to Caterpillar Machinery, Kimura of Hawaii, Bud Light and Coors Light beers. Report courtesy of Tropidilla Productions, LLC Feature Story: Pamela Top Maui Jim Marlin Series Boat |
