Kona Hawaii fishing report - Archive -

Kona Hawaii fishing report - May 31, 2004

The month of May started off kind of slow with the majority of catches being mahi mahi, ono and spearfish and then, WOW! The marlin moved in after the new moon and almost every boat that was out was raising at least one marlin during the day. My best day was on the 27th when we raised 3 marlin. We hooked one of `em and landed it. A 447 pounder. On the 26th we tagged and released a black marlin that would have been the biggest black of the year in Kona at about 275 pounds but we decided to let it go. We did get some nice photos of it though. Still no grander (1000+ lb.) marlin caught this year but it should happen soon. The biggest marlin caught in May was a 960 pounder. That`s a lot of fish but it doesn`t get the prestige that a "grander" brings.

The ahi (yellowfin tuna) are here with a wide variety of sizes. There`s 3 to 20 pounders on the FAD`s, and there`s 30 to 200 pounders just roaming around. I heard a rumor that a 200 pounder had been caught but it turned out to be false. Just like the "grander" is the mark to hit with marlin, 200 lbs. is the mark to hit with yellowfin.

Last month I made Kona`s "Big Fish List" with an amberjack and a barracuda. This month I made the list again with gray snapper ….. twice! Got a bigger one a week later. The bottom bite has been pretty good so I'll continue to take at least part of my day (on most trips) to see if we can find something bigger off the bottom. Being on the big fish list gets your name in the local paper each week. Had I killed the black marlin mentioned above, I would now have 4 slots on Kona`s big fish list but, I'm only feeling slightly bad that I didn't kill it. The main reason I tagged and released it wasn`t for study, conservation or any reason other than the fish wholesalers are just too loaded up with marlin meat right now. I called them from the boat while we were still fighting the fish and they really didn`t want it. I told them that if the marlin was not seriously wounded that I would let it go but if it was eyeball hooked or otherwise mortally wounded they would be seeing me at the scales. The marlin was very healthy and easily released. The 447 pound blue we caught the next day wasn`t so lucky.

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