Each week we bring you the biggest fishing story of the week. But every fishing adventure is the biggest story of the week to the fishermen who lived it. So this week, we’ll look at some of the “biggest little” stories of the week.
Here’s what I mean. The biggest story of the week happened on Saturday as 438 competitors on 70 boats competed in the 20th edition of the Huggo’s Wahine Fishing Tournament. The winning “Pointless Sisters” team reeled in two blue marlin to edge out a similar catch of two blue marlin by the ladies on Raptor. The winner was the team that got their second fish before the other did.
While the tournament was going on, the biggest little story of the day happened on Bill Jardine’s boat Kakalina. Bill normally fishes in the Wahine Tournament but his usual wahine team — his daughters — elected to fish on another team this year. Bill went fishing anyway just to listen to the radio, keep track of the tournaments, and provide moral support for his offspring.
As it happens, he did have a lady angler aboard. Long-time friend Balbi Brooks had come along to observe, listen in, and maybe pull in an ono or mahimahi. He headed south, specifically to stay out of the way of the tournament boats. As he crossed the 500-fathom line off Hookena, his short rigger line came crashing down. In 45 minutes, Balbi had the marlin to the boat with the finesse you might expect of a lifelong fisher girl.
Before releasing the fish, Bill determined its length with a special measuring tape designed to estimate weight. He was satisfied with a 275-pound estimate. Wouldn’t his deserter daughters be impressed!
(more)
Beasts of the week (marlin weighing 500 pounds or more):
July 19: Blue marlin (507) Chris Hudson, Capt. Trevor Child, Maverick
July 19: Blue marlin (880) Carol Herren, Capt. Bruce Herren, Raptor
July 19: Blue marlin (637) Randall Aquino, Capt. Bomboy LLanes, Pamela
July 20: Blue marlin (502) Dustin Partika, Capt. Ryan Foster, Dojo
Tag and Release
July 19: Blue marlin (200) Olivia Beauchamp, Capt. Bruce Herren, Raptor
July 19: Blue marlin (225) Craig Lindner, Capt. Teddy Hoogs, Bwana
July 19: Blue marlin (200 and 225) Sean Weaver, Capt. John Bagwell, Silky
July 19: Blue marlin (150) Drew Carlton, Capt. Paul Carlton, Go Big
July 19: Blue marlin (340) Colen Settles, Capt. Kenny Fogarty, Makana Lani
July 19: Blue marlin (150 and 300) Unknown, Capt. Kenny Llanes, Vixen
July 19: Blue marlin (100) Unknown, Capt. Tim Hicks, Illusions
July 19: Blue marlin (200) Chris Howatt, Capt. Bryan Toney, Marlin Magic
July 19: Blue marlin (150) Travis Jackson, Capt. Tony Clark, Ihu Nui II
July 19: Spearfish (15) Vince Oliva, Capt. Neal Isaacs, Anxious
July 20: Blue marlin (350) Carol Herren, Capt. Bruce Herren, Raptor
July 21: Blue marlin (200) Darrin Amador, Capt. Al Gustavson, Topshape
July 21: Blue marlin (200) Anderson Reedy, Capt. James Dean, Blue Hawaii
July 21: Blue marlin (225) Scott Reedy, Capt. James Dean, Blue Hawaii
July 21: Blue marlin (175 and 175) Ben Cowan, Capt. Boyd DeCoito, Foxy Lady
July 22: Blue marlin (550) Max Olson, Capt. Steve Tarbill, Kona Concept
July 22: Blue marlin (150, 150, and 175) Mamalakis Family, Capt. Steve Epstein, Huntress
July 22: Blue marlin (200) Nolan Seenberg, Capt. James Dean, Blue Hawaii
July 22: Blue marlin (150) Patrick Slavin, (270) Mara Nichols, Capt. Marlin Parker, Marlin Magic II
July 22: Blue marlin (200) David Baureguard, Capt. Bobby Cherry, Cherry Pit II
July 22: Blue marlin (150, 175, 250) Nic Corbat, spearfish (25 and 30) Nic Corbat, Capt. Boyd DeCoito, Foxy Lady
July 22: Blue marlin (350) Carol Herren, Capt. Bruce Herren, Raptor
July 22: Blue marlin (190 and 200) Ed/Chris Mueller, Capt. McGrew Rice, Ihu Nui
July 22: Blue marlin (200) Eddie Ernst, Capt. Tim Hicks, Illusions
July 24: Blue marlin (150) Ariel Desogun, Capt. Andrew Peterson, High Noon
July 24: Blue marlin (250) Sidney Hutchinson, Capt. McGrew Rice, Ihu Nui
July 24: Blue marlin (225) Ben Mongrenson, Capt. Kenny Fogarty, Hula Girl
July 24: Blue marlin (175) Eileen Boyce, Capt. Al Gustavson, Topshape
July 25: Blue marlin (150) Charlene Taniyama, Capt. Carlton Taniyama, Five Star
July 25: Blue marlin (130) Diane Page, Capt. Chad Contessa, Bite Me I
July 25: Blue marlin (160) DeeDee Suesag, Capt. Chris Cawthon, Ohana
July 25: Blue marlin (180) Gabbie Lorell, Capt. Boyd DeCoito, Foxy Lady
July 25: Blue marlin (140) Laura Lane, Capt. Kevin Hibbard, Jr’s Hooker
July 25: Blue marlin (180) Arron Neiol, Capt. Jeff Heintz, LInda Sue IV
July 25: Blue marlin (285) Unknown, Capt. Mike Derego, Maggie Joe
July 25: Blue marlin (200) Unknown, Capt. Butch Losasso, Sea Dancer
July 25: Blue marlin (150) Jennifer Jean, (150) Lisa Barbas, Capt. Lance Gelman, Medusa
July 25: Blue marlin (230) Taylor Williams, Capt. Marlin Parker, Marlin Magic II
July 25: Blue marlin (150) Lahela Lau, (150) Olivia Beauchamp, Capt. Bruce Herren, Raptor
Notable
July 19: Ahi (153) Drew Carlton, Capt. Paul Carlton, Go Big
July 19: Ahi (220) Marc Rubenstein, Capt. Robert Hudson, Camelot
July 19: Ahi (167) Craig Lindner, Capt. Teddy Hoogs, Bwana
July 19: Ahi (161) Eddie Ernst, Capt. Mark Bartell, Spearfish
July 19: Ono (44) Stan Cantor, Paul Cantor, Silver Star
July 20: Ahi (207) Scott Maddox, Capt. James Dean, Blue Hawaii
July 20: Ahi (185) Akazawa, Kalena M
July 20: Ahi (160) Ben Sandstrom, Capt. Al Gustavson, Topshape
July 21: Ahi (164) Vince Tateham, Capt. Kenny LLanes, Vixen
July 21: Ahi (165.5) Myle McNaught, Capt. Kevin Hibbard, JR’s Hooker
July 21: Blue marlin (490) Rachel/Wes Cobb, Capt. Jim Wigzell, Go Get Em
July 23: Ahi (160) Craig Chambers, Capt. McGrew Rice, Ihu Nui
July 25: Ahi (220) Loel Wilson, Sean Kelly, Caristina