Kona Hawaii fishing report � August wrap-up .

Kona got its third �grander� marlin this month weighing in at 1,022.5 lbs. The marlin was hooked by the �Anxious� while fishing in the Big Island Invitational Marlin Tournament. This tournament is IGFA rules and while I have nothing against female anglers, most of the time they don�t have the strength to finish the job on a big fish. Such was the case with this grander and had she been able to finish the fight, it would have been a new world record also. So, for you female angler reading this, don�t get mad yet. It turns out that there was a female deckhand on the Anxious that day and she was the one who fought the grander for about 3 hours of the 3.5 hour fight. That�s pretty impressive. We also had the Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament this month with 40 teams catching 105 blue marlin, 40 spearfish and 7 yellowfin tuna during the 5 day tournament. There were several �beast� status marlin (500+ lbs.) caught in August. Typically you only get a few shots a year with marlin that size and most of them with the fight. I�m 2 for 2 this month so I�m feelin� pretty lucky.

August is typically one of the best months for ono but very few are being caught. It�s also the peak season for the big skipjack tuna know as otado. There was a 30 pounder caught this month and it�s the first time since 2009 that one that size was landed. The reason I know that is that in 2009 I got a 32 pounder so I�ve been watching because when I got mine, it had been several years since a 30+ was caught. The otado are here in big numbers right now but very line shy so they�re hard to catch. While there weren�t many yellowfin caught by the HIBT anglers, the night time commercial guys have been doing well with both the yellowfin and the albacore tunas. Even though it�s not mahi mahi season, I think more mahi mahi have been caught in August that ono.

Like I said in July�s report, I haven�t been doing much bottom fishing because of the good trolling bite and the fact that it�s been nearly impossible to catch fresh bait. So why don�t I just go to the store and buy some fresh bait? Because no one sells it here. There�s one small fish called an opelu that you can buy here but they�re so soft that big fish just tear them off the hook. Nothin� beats some fresh tuna or mackerel meat and when fresh, they can sustain several hits without coming off the hook.

The 1000+ marlin caught this month made Fox news and a few other news outlets because a woman angler has never landed a �grander� marlin. This is the 2nd time in recent years that an attempt was made in Kona but failed. For the women anglers that still have a problem with not being able to match the men when it comes to fighting big marlin, here�s some news. The 2nd place winner of the Big Island Invitational Marlin Tournament was a woman who brought in a 405.5 lb. blue marlin that won her $39,000. That can buy a lot of weight training equipment and since her and her husband own 2 Kona fishing boats, it�s only a matter of time�..

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