Kona Hawaii Fishing Report – Dec. wrap-up.
The spearfish moved in early this season and quickly became the top catch in Kona for the month. Even though it's the off season for blue marlin, we're not the blue marlin capital of the world for nothin'. Any time of the year we can get a decent blue marlin run and that has been happening lately. This is the time of year for the striped marlin to be here but there have been only a few trickling in so far this winter. I have hope that it's just getting off to a slow start and that more will be showing up shortly. If you're looking for some sashimi for your new year's party, orange meat striped marlin beats out ahi for taste every time.
Ahi have been somewhat scarce and even though it's bigeye tuna season right now, the lack of FAD's is having a major effect on both the smaller ahi and bigeye tuna catches. Both VV and C buoys have been replaced but neither have been holding fish. F and OT buoys have always been a good source for the winter tunas in the past but neither of those buoys have been replaced yet. Our biggest FAD, PP or "the fish farm" broke off of its mooring earlier this month. That was the "go to" place for a lot of the commercial fishermen and I went there often for some table fare and to get fresh bait for bottom fishing. It's currently located at the main fish farm just off of the airport but it's in too shallow of water to be a good FAD. I'm sure they intend on putting it back out to its normal location but when? Mahi mahi season ended suddenly and a little early so it's a good thing that the spearfish showed up. There are a few ono coming in even though it's not season for them.
It's the peak of the giant trevally season and I'm catching plenty along with some sharks. For most of the month, catching fresh bait fish was the biggest challenge. The bottom fish are actually quite picky about what they will eat and how fresh. Old frozen baits just get passed by and it's even hard to get bit on day old baits. Luckily the frigate mackerels are back in along the ledge of "The Grounds" and they have been easy to catch. The current on the grounds has been waffling back and forth a little and that can send the fish away from the ledge at any time but for now, my clients have been enjoying the good catching.
See 'ya on the water soon ,
Capt. Jeff Rogers ,
http://FISHinKONA.com
