Kona Hawaii fishing report – November wrap-up .
If you`ve been following my reports you know that last month the current (or lack of) killed the trolling bite for most of the month. Just when things were getting back to normal, a big storm came through on Nov. 4th and shut the current off again. Here it is over three weeks later and the current is just now starting to pull in it`s typical North pattern. The bait fish stayed on the ledges and FAD`s the whole time the current was slack but there was certainly a lack of marlin in the area even though in some areas, bait fish abounded. Good thing the mahi mahi bite stayed good throughout the month.
The striped marlin should be here shortly. There were two caught last week and they were pretty good size ones. When the run does happen, typically they`re all about the same size. We never know if they`ll be in the forty to fifty pound range or the eighty to one hundred pound range. One of the ones caught last week weighed in at 128 lbs. When the average size runs big, one of my claims of fame is in jeopardy. I have the biggest striped marlin so far this decade. At only 186 lbs., it`s a surprise that it hasn`t been beaten yet but the striped marlin in Kona tend to run a bit on the small side compared to other parts of the world. I also have the biggest black marlin of the decade here in Kona and that one would be hard to beat.
OK, since I`m bragging about catches, I got one more. It has taken nearly eleven years to get one but I finally got a 100+ lb. giant trevally (GT) this month. I wasn`t the angler but the captain gets some credit too. The 100+ is a special category for GT much like getting a 1000+ marlin and there is a published list of the anglers who have accomplished it. I always said that if I caught either one of these special fish that I would kill `em for the publicity. Well, I had my chance and I just didn't have the heart for it. The GT came up strong. It was just too easy to tag it and let it go rather than kill it, hang it for the photos and then dump the carcass or find someone willing to risk eating it. A beast that big would almost certainly have ciguatera toxin in it. Personally, I don't think it`s worth the risk to eat any fish that might have the toxin. There are several people who get "hit" here every month. If you don't know what ciguatera toxin is or the nasty effects it will have on you, try a wikipedia.org search and check it out. After reading about the symptoms, would you risk it?
See ‘ya on the water,
Capt. Jeff Rogers ,
FISHinKONA.com
