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Kona Hawaii fishing report 11/17/00
Mahi Mahi tops this months report as the most common catch. I'm not talkin' about little schoolie dolphin either. This is the time of year that we get the big ones here in Kona. The state record currently stands at 82 lbs. My largest Mahi to date hit the 80 lb. mark. Just for reference as to what you might hook up to this time of year. Now's the time where Kona's best captains veer from the norm and pull out their secret Mahi weapons. Besides my favorite Mahi trolling lures, I keep a pair of stand-up casting rods at the ready loaded with large Japanese casting plugs for those times when the school comes right up to the boat. Dead bait and cut chunks are another thing to have ready for when the action gets fast and frantic.
Normally I start my report with the Marlin action but it hasn't been very exciting lately. About 20 boats a day going out and from 0 to 3 marlin a day being caught. Not very good odds. The stripped Marlin will be arriving soon so hopefully next months billfish report will be better.
Lots of "shibi" (small yellowfin and bigeye tuna) are hanging around F buoy right now along with oioi and small aku. Good fun on light tackle. I recently joined the ranks of a state wide yellowfin and bigeye tuna tagging team (2 of us in Kona now) in cooperation with the University of Hawaii's Pelagic Fisheries Research Program. If you go fishing with me and it's tuna we're targeting, plan on tagging and releasing a large percentage (notice, I didn't say all. Yum yum) of the catch.
The Ono bite has been very slow lately due to a strong North current. When the current slows down, the Ono bite will pick up. We're still waiting for the spearfish to show up too.
Bottom fishing is still fantastic even with the strong North current. The "grounds" are loaded with oioi and kawakawa so the bottom fish are hanging right below the schools just waiting for a morsel to go deep enough to grab. The strong current definitely makes bottom fishing more difficult but not impossible.
See 'ya on the water,
Capt. Jeff Rogers
http://FISHinKONA.com