Kona Hawaii fishing report – July wrap-up –
As I said last month, the marlin are here. The full moon on the 10th and premium water conditions made for some really good fishing. The Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament, one of the most famous tournaments in the world was held this week. A five day tournament and it got off to a slow start. The week before the tournament started the current was switching and an influx of cold water hit the Kona coast. It shut the bite down to almost nothing. As the week progressed, the current became steadier, the water warmed up and the bite turned back on. Several billfish were tagged and released including many spearfish and striped marlin. There was another “grander” blue marlin (1027 lbs.) caught this week but not by a boat that was in the tournament. I’m not sure how many granders that makes for the year so far but I know of at least five. That’s a big improvement over the past few years.
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The ono were biting pretty good until the current switched. They’ve scattered offshore so most that are being caught are being caught in the deep. Ahi and mahi mahi have also been a fairly common offshore catch for July. Trolling offshore for the day is almost a guarantee of getting hit. Getting them to stick on the hook has been a common complaint. Getting anglers to get one to the boat without loosing them has been a problem I’ve been having lately.
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Jigging has been working better than bait for targeting the bottom. Not many sharks around anymore. Almaco jack and amberjack are the most common jig catch but you never know what else will hit a jig. Ono and snapper were a couple of recent jig catches but the one that really sticks in my head was just a light hit. After the hit, the jig felt heavy but not like there was a fish on it. When I got the jig up I found it snapped in two with the inner wire holding the halves together in the shape of an L. No marks on the jig whatsoever. Whatever hit the jig had a lot of speed and power but it must have missed with it’s mouth. I figure any fish head butting a 12oz. jig at high speed would probably be knocked out cold. I’ll never know what it was but I can imagine it would have been a pretty funny thing to see.
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See ‘ya on the water,
Capt. Jeff Rogers ,
<A href="http://fishinhawaii.com"> Kona Hawaii Sport Fishing</A>
