Hawaii - anyone been there?

[toerag]

Right, I have to go to Hawaii in the summer for a friend's wedding, what's the fishing like? I'm not interested in trolling round all day and catching sod-all, nor am I interested in their equivalent of mackerel feathering, but something in between would be cool.
Any ideas?

[DaveIrving]

Hi Toerag

Just fished there a few weeks ago in Kona on the Big Island...like you I am not keen on trolling around catching nothing...the alternative is jigging.

Jigging caught us plenty of Amberjacks and Almaco Jacks, although the biggest weighing approx 100lb, was caught on a livebait.

Jigging also produced 2 small thresher sharks...they hit the jigs with their tails...these fish are not easy to pull in backwards!!

We also lost an 800lb class tiger shark that took an 8Kg amberjack livebait!!

Apart from that we landed a couple of GTs to 20Kg+, one small Hawaiian Grouper and one small yellowfin tuna.

Have some more pics posted on this website if you are interested...

http://www.fishingkaki.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13429

Cheers

Dave

[toerag]

That sounds very promising!!! I can't look at that other site from work, but will try it from home tonight. Which boat did you go on?

[DaveIrving]

We fished on the "Mega Bites" with Capt. Jeff Rogers...you can contact him at this website:

http://fishinkona.com/boats.htm

There are lots of good skippers in Kona but he is definitely the best all rounder.

Only problem is you will need to bring your own gear for this kind of fishing...jigging gear is not provided

Cheers

Dave

[PanamaJack]

Hi Toerag
Or should I have said, to get you into the local Hawaiian parlance - Aloha?

I guess one of the first questions is which island are you visiting? I know far from all of them are inhabited, but there are some 132 islands in the archipelago. There're charter boats on all the 'tourist' islands but the main fleets are based on Oahu (shades of Waikiki Beach) and Hawaii itself - the 'Big Island'. Here most are based at Honokohau Harbor, just 10 minutes outside the main tourist resort of Kona - coffee and not a 'million miles' from the spot that Captain Cook was 'transfixed' to the beach.

Dave had an excellent trip and has caught some tremendous fish jigging (and also popper fishing). And his report is well worth reading. But I guess most of our other members (and me) that have fished there have been tournament fishing - normally during the summer months and normally that 'dreaded' style trolling. Also occasionally livebaiting, but again that's effectively slow trolling. Here we're targeting, and catching, mainly Blue Marlin, but also Yellowfin Tuna - which the locals call 'Ahi'. All Hawaiian words seem full of vowels!

During the summer months you'll find that most of the 'better' boats would be tournament fishing. Although, particularly in Kona, they're lots available and charter rates, compared to other game fisheries, tend to be reasonable.

Other things that tend to show up offshore (trolling) are Dorado (Mahi Mahi in Hawaiian), Wahoo, Spearfish and, for bait - although they're great fighters - Skipjack Tuna. And I remember once we did catch a solitary Barracuda over deep water. BigEye Tuna also show, but that tends to be very specialised fishing at night.

Inshore the locals do target Giant Trevally from the rocks, casting into deep water, again normally at night. But there they're fishing with heavy beach casting gear with a 'rotten bottom' and periodically sliding weighed fresh baits - normally octopus - down the main line.

They also occasionally catch some quite big Bonefish on conventional bait gear on the bottom in 30 or so foot of water.

You made clear trolling wasn't your favoured method, but what about fly fishing? Obviously you can catch the Skipjack, Dorado and, in the summer months, occasional Spearfish offshore. But I'm aware that on Oahu there is a guide who fished for Bonefish on the coral flats. Here's the link to an article on it - http://globalflyfisher.com/reports/hawaii2004/index.php. I gather as well some of the lakes contain freshwater gamefish.

Well food for thought?
Best of luck.
Dave

[PanamaJack]

Hi toerag
Just back to Dave's point about jigging. During the summer months some, particularly Japanese anglers, do specifically target Yellowfin Tuna jigging offshore in deep water. (That said the islands are volcanic so the water gets deep very, very quickly.) The tuna, unless they're targeting the Skipjack or small fish shoals, travel along just about the thermocline, the crews pick them up on the depth sounders. They're then targeted with short jigging rods, loads of power in the butt, and often upgraded fixed spool reels - Shimano Stellas are popular - and braid.

Alternatively they'll bait, usually a circle hook fished free-line, then wrap it in a 'parcel' made of a leaf complete with some chopped fish and a lump of volcanic lava. The parcel's dropped over the side and dropped down until it reaches the level of the fish. Then the crewman yanks the line, freeing the knot and distributing the chum.

Just imagine what a 100 to 200lb mackerel would fight like, that's what you'd be in for!
Enjoy!
Dave

[toerag]

Wow, thanks for the help guys! Having done a quick search I think I may have trouble finding a trip if everyone's booked up for tournaments, but I'll see how it goes. Jigging and tunabashing look very promising, plenty enough fish to keep me occupied! Any other recommended boats & skippers? I doubt I'll take any gear, and I don't fly fish so I'm pretty much going to need to be on a decent boat.

[PanamaJack]

Hi Toerag
Certainly prestigious tournaments, like the Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament (HIBT) held at Kona in July, can attract up to 80 plus boats. And whilst the Kona fleet is big it also attracts - necessarily - boats from the other islands. They tend to travel across in the lee of the big inter-island barges and coasters.

However you will find, certainly in Kona, a booking office for the fleet. It used to be opposite the King Kamehameha hotel. (More of those Hawaiian vowels. You'll get used to it!) And they should be aware of any boats not engaged in tournaments.

As Dave said that deep water jigging is fairly specialist and you would need your own gear. However all the boats would be equipped with good quality sets of trolling gear - 50s, 80s and 130s. And some would additionally cover everything - or could obtain - right down to ultra light, although you'd need to check beforehand.

It's fair to say that unless you ask the skippers will all assume that you want to go trolling for Billfish and Tuna. But make it clear what you want to do when booking. They'll also use that same gear when livebaiting (or trolling plugs) closer in for the Jacks - the Amberjacks, Giant Trevally and Almaco Jacks that Dave mentioned. These are big fish and will pull a lot harder than anything you've experienced in the UK.

Additionally there are reasonable numbers of Sharks there as well but 'encouraging' the skippers to fish for them might prove more difficult than hooking them. They don't like messing up the boat's gell coat!

I guess one further point worth mentioning the seas offshore, if you're trolling, in the lee of those main volcanic islands, are flat calm and the boats are equipped with reasonable toilet facilities - 'Heads' to the Americans. So, as such, they'd be ideal for taking out ladies just for a day on the water. As well as schools of Dolphin you might be lucky and see some of the migrating Humpback Whales.
Dave