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# 50963: Subject: Kona, Hawaii Submitted by Capt. Chip Van Mols (ip 66.8.189.234)
Water Temperature: 78-80 Report: Continued fair fishing since my last report. The numbers of striped marlin and spearfish have increased a little but they still aren’t at full swing. Most boats are getting a few shots a day from both species. Blue marlin are still here in fair numbers which is good to see, 100 to 300 lbs seems to be average the last three weeks or so. Not much floating debris coming through yet to hold schools of mahi mahi but we’re getting the odd single or double strike in the blind from nice sized mahi to 45lbs. Still a few big yellowfin tuna around in the porpoise school, 100 to 170lbs, the trick is to find a school by yourself and dropping a live skipjack in front of them. Trolling a mixed spread of lures from large to small has been the most productive for all the other species and I have seen a few days this past week where many boats came in with multiple captures of billfish. The Chiripa leads the pack so far this season with the first grand slam of winter, 1 blue, 2 stripeys and 1 spearfish last Friday the19th, they also had a mahi mahi for BBQ. New moon was the 23rd I would expect to see a lot of slams the next few weeks during the building side of the moon. January thru the first half of March are usually the best for the numbers game on billfish here. Here’s how we did on the Rod Bender for the few times we were out this December. 14th, full day with Dan Perry and his son Justin. No hits, no runs no errors, oops 15th thru the 17th with Roger Trunsdale and his son Mathew. Day 1 we started of with a double strike on striped marlin missing 100lber and tagging a 40lber right in front of the harbor while setting the lures. We went one from three on blue marlin tagging a small one about 50lb, we missed one around 150lb on the strike and pulled hooks on one about 300lb after 5 minutes in the chair. We went 1 for 2 on a double strike of Mahi, boating one about 25lb and losing her boy friend that looked 40+. We missed a few spearfish strikes as well. Not happy with my hookup ratio today but happy we caught the ones we did. Day 2, one strike one fish, tagged a 30lb spearfish. Mercy bite while clearing the lures in front the harbor. Better hookup ratio, not enough strikes though! Day 3, wind 30 knots out of the north! There was a lee south of the harbor but went strikeless there. We caught plenty of salt! 21st, Holo Holo with my daughters for a ¾ day, we found a 30lb mahi outside our airport for the BBQ, Jada did the honors as her little sister was sleeping. We later happened upon a big porpoise school and the first pass on them confirmed the presence of big Yellowfin tuna as I looked at our recorder and saw numerous marks down below us at 30 to 40 fathoms, then off went the shotgun lure with a the typical scream of a tunas first run. After clearing all the gear I noticed that the line was up on the surface and we had a half a spool out on the 50 rig and it was still going at a fair pace, humm, must be a marlin, could be a big one too! Wrong, 45 minutes later we successfully released a common spotted dolphin that had lassoed itself (hook back around the leader) by the tail. *%#@*%#@!!! Nobody got hurt, although the porpoise was tired, we got our lure back. No sashimi but BBQ Mahi will do. 23rd, full day with Larry Speak and friends. Guess we weren’t holding our mouths right today as there was a pretty good bite from blues, stripes and spears today. We pulled hook on a stripey, missed a spearfish strike and another mystery bite. Oops 2003 wrap up for the ROD BENDER. We fished 125 days: Half day (aprox. 5 hours) = 15 ¾ day (7 hours) = 16 Full days (9+ hours) = 94 BLUE MARLIN captures 72, 5 weighed the rest released, 8 est. over 500lbs. Largest est.700lb. Striped Marlin captures 37, 2 taken the rest released. Short Nose Spearfish captures 39, 7 taken for the BBQ the rest released. Ahi ( yellowfin tuna 100lb+) 16, biggest 192.5 Sorry I don’t keep accurate numbers on Mahi, wahoo, smaller tuna etc… A few High points of the year 2003 would include: Jan 1st. My daughter Jada angled and landed to IGFA rules a 514 pound blue marlin. Winning the New Years Day tournament ($4600.000) and earning a Junior Girls IGFA world record! Jan.31st. My owner, Henry Potts and his friend and first time angler, Don Maulsby, teamed up on Rod Bender to tag and release 7 striped marlin and 2 spearfish this day trolling 30, 20, 16 and 12-pound tackle. Most stripeys caught in a day for the fleet. Most billfish released in a day for the state. We also caught few 25lb yellowfin, 20lb mahi and 20lb skipjack. Fishy day! Feb.6th. Another fishy day! Tagged 6 stripeys, tagged 1 spearfish, boated 12 yellowfin 15-25lb and 1 mahi. We had some great blue marlin days this summer! We averaged a fish per day between June and September. August 2nd, Hook Harmling and his Brother John went 3 for 3 on blues est. 700, 200 and 170lbs. Sept. 29th, New Rod Bender Record! Tag and release 5 BLUE MARLIN in one day! 150lb –225lbs, 3 were tagged on 30lb test stand-up and 2 on 130lb test, all 5 were caught trolling lures and were released in good condition. 5 strikes for 5 fish tagged and released. My owner and friend Henry Potts and his son Chris had the honors on the rods and I had a blast driving on em! We had a ton of great days, sorry if I didn’t include yours, but I’m running out of ink! Blue marlin are wandering around out there with the mahi, spears and stripes! The stripeys should really go off anytime now. The weather is perfect, sunny, 80 degrees, light breeze, water in the high 70’s. The only missing ingredient is you. Let’s Go! bvanmols@rod-bender.com or 808-960-5954 would be a good way to start you in the right direction, AHEM! Hope y’all had a merry one and do have a happy and safe NEW YEAR! Tight lines, good fishin and ALOHA! Chip Captain Chip Van Mols Rod Bender Sportfishing Kona, Hawaii To add a remark to this report click here. |
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