Kona Hawaii fishing report - Archive -

Kona Hawaii fishing report - March 30, 2004

Spearfish and mahi mahi tops the catch list for March. If you were out looking for food fish instead of sportfish, this was a great month. The marlin bite was very erratic. Blue marlin topped the list this month when it's the stripped marlin that should be in season. Very few striped marlin were caught in March and the blue marlin bite was real good about the middle of the month but has since diminished to almost none. I mentioned last month that I had busted out my big tackle again because some big marlin were starting come in but I went back to running mostly light stand-up tackle shortly after writing last months report. Ono (another good eating fish) started biting about a week ago but don't get your taste buds excited yet. Small flurries of ono often happen in the off-season and hardly ever last for more than a week or two.

The bottom bite has continued to be the excitement of most trips. Amberjacks and almaco jacks in the 20 to 40 pound range (smaller than average) and a load of shark attacks. Mostly we've been seeing small (60 - 100 lbs.) sandbar sharks but we got a good show from a 500 lb. tiger shark just yesterday when it followed up a big amberjack and bit it in half right behind the boat. We played with it for about 15 minutes, teasing it and taking many photos of it eating the remainder of the meal. I have to admit; playing with the big sharks like this has become the most exciting thing about fishing for me. Huge, beautiful animals, not hooked so they tend to be more bold than scared. Anyone for a swim? :)

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