Kona Hawaii fishing report - Archive -

Kona Hawaii fishing report 2/22/03

The striped marlin and spearfish bite remains good overall but it's more of a "right place, right time" thing now. They are no longer scattered everywhere but seem to be grouping in spots. Where's the spot? Hmmmm. Some days only a few boats get lucky and find 'em. On other days, everyone fishing a particular area is hooking up. Few blue marlin are around right now but a few big beasts have been raised. I had a monster blue hit one of my lures just 2 days ago but didn't get a hook in it. I've heard from other captains about their hits and misses with big blues also.

Mahi mahi, ono and small (10 to 25lb.) yellowfin tuna are fairly common catches right now. The mahi mahi are running kind of small but still good eating. Not too many guys are targeting the nearshore ono because the offshore bite has been so promising but the guys that have been fishing one are having good success. The yellowfin are hanging in the koa near red hill and along the front side and top corner of "the grounds".

The current has been strong North so the bottom has been hard to fish. In last months fishing report I mentioned that I had replaced a broken stand-up fishing rod and was anxious to see how the new one performed on a big fish. Sometimes you need to be careful of what you wish for. During a 4 ½ hour battle with a shark weighing over 1000 lbs. my new rod didn't break (though it looked like it would). The shark finally won the fight when the hook pulled out and we ended up being skunked (no fish) for the day. It ruined my chances for a 100% catch rate year on full day charters. I wonder if the shark would have been easier on us if he knew that all we wanted was a photo of him for my fish photos page?

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