Kona Hawaii fishing report - Archive -

Kona Hawaii fishing report 9/28/02

Too bad I didn't write this months report a week ago. The bite was really hot then. The marlin bite was good for both the small and the big ones, lots of yellowfin tuna, plenty of mahi mahi and a fair amount of ono too. The bottom fishing bite was picking up also with some nice size sharks and jacks being caught and released. Then the current changed. North, South, in, out, none. Like a faucet, the bite just turned off. So, for this months report, since there's not much to talk about fish wise, I'm going to give you a brief education on how the Kona currents are produced. The current is produced by a predominate East wind that drives the water and hits the East side (windward side) of the islands. As the water wraps around the island of Hawaii, it creates 2 eddies (whorl pools). One wraps around South Point and creates a large clockwise rotating whorl pool. The water to the North is being squeezed between the islands of Hawaii and Maui and creates a counter-clockwise rotating whorl pool. With me so far? The angle of the current hitting the East side of the island (usually from the E, NE, NNE) determines where the "split" in the Kona current will be. As the 2 eddies rotate, they create a near shore South current to the South and a near shore North current to the North. Because the predominate current hits the island from a North East angle, the predominate current on the Kona (West) side is usually North. When the current hits the island directly from the East, we get the "split" right near the harbor on the Kona side of the island. Add a weak or constantly shifting current to the mix and you get messed up Kona currents and messed up Kona fishing. I've got just a couple of charters to do Monday and Tuesday and then I'm going to take a week off. When I start fishing again, hopefully, the current (and the bite) will be back to normal.

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