Given the weather reports and the fact the warm water plume was retreating to Waenae as the currents and moon picked up, decided to move the boat to Ko'Olina for the weekend. I had my Saturday, Sunday, and Tuesday charters cancel, so started I found replacements, and changed to a 2 day plan.
Sunday - 05/27
We ran to the 500fa from Pearl Harbor, and fished a 5-9" Ahi bait spread out to the HH. Picked up a double of Ono (17lb&39lb) fish at 0830hrs 2nm shy of HH. Circled out deep, worked up towards Waianae Pinnacle but ran into the big Aku pile as soon as the current picked up. Worked the birds, no takers, trolled the 500fa back down. Good day, good group of enlisted Army fishermen and women on board, and some fish for market.
Memorial Day - Monday 05/28
Invited my friend Joe fishing for the day. We got started late, and left Ko'olina at 0445hrs. Ran to 6nm W of CO with jets, then set the 5-9" Ahi spread. Within 30 minutes both riggers (running blue Tsumatsu bullets) went down. Short rigger fish had grabbed the head, but missed the hooks, long rigger fish was landed in 23minutes. Nice ~120lb Ahi. Re set the spread circles back around and hook a nice Blue on the Long rigger (same bait). Fish jumped and threw the hook after running a few hundred yards off. Reset and continued working the area for 30minutes. Had to leave and start back home since I was 50nm from Pearl Harbor. Picked up a nice ~30lb Hebi on the short corner 8nm downhill. There was some life at the pinnacle, but no bites. Headed back to ko'olina, and took a screaming hit on the long rigger 4nm out, as we crossed the 500fa. I was convinced it was a small Blue cause he ran 600yds off at 45lbs real quick like and stayed shallow. Then the fish settled down and came in real well behaved. At color, we had another Ahi, who didn't like to circle or sound like his brethren. Brought him to gaff in around 15-20minutes. A nice ~90lb fish. Had to pull the baits and run in to fuel up, get back to Pearl harbor, clean up, and go drop off the fish I sold over the phone.
It's nice when things go as planned, at least the fishing today anyways.
Great day to be out there!
Made some Memorial Day memories.
John
Pics
Congratulations on the beautiful pair of fish John, and thank you for your vivid reports. Reading them is the next best thing to being there.
More pics..
John,
You are the Man!
I spent the day doing a brake job on my truck and mowing my yard.
My Finale was Ribeyes and bake potatoes on the grill.
Spectacular Fish brother ;)
Great report John! You always get the job done!
Keep it coming, I alway enjoy reading your reports.
Sal
That would be the trip of a lifetime for me...just another day on the pond for you guys. I salute! 8)
John, you've got this dialed in!! I have an appreciation for people that take their fishing skills to the next level.
Great work and excellent report.
..................Lou
My favorite fish to catch. Excellent eating.
Dammit man, that is some serious fishing you've going on.
Great fish, time to eat!
Can I take my next vacation with you? ;D
JOhn, you got all of us drooling for your fishing trip.
one question, whats better for dinner YFT or BFT?
your blue tune looks like quality fish but I know nothing about quality of the meat between yellow or blue tunas
Bluefin is darker more fishy tasting than yellow fin. Good raw but never cared for it anyway I've had it cooked. Yellowfin is lighter in color and flavor.
I think he was talking about blue Marlin. Don't think they get much bluefin there
Wow, good fishing!
It is a zoo here in MI on Memorial day on the water, I stayed in my "safe zone" at the yacht club munching on fried chicken dinner.
Could you please post a pic of the Ahi spread.
Quote from: Gobi King on May 29, 2018, 07:47:49 PM
Wow, good fishing!
It is a zoo here in MI on Memorial day on the water, I stayed in my "safe zone" at the yacht club munching on fried chicken dinner.
Could you please post a pic of the Ahi spread.
Here you go...
Both Ahi were caught on the first bait (from left)
Blue Marlin strike/hookup on the 7th bait (from)
Shortbill Spearfish caught on the 5th (from left)
Lost an Ahi on the 7th bait as well
These baits cost about $100 each rigged.
John
Quote from: steelfish on May 29, 2018, 06:52:59 PM
JOhn, you got all of us drooling for your fishing trip.
one question, whats better for dinner YFT or BFT?
your blue tune looks like quality fish but I know nothing about quality of the meat between yellow or blue tunas
I meant Blue Marlin, which if under 250lbs or so a great smoked with a sugary glaze.
BFT are rarely caught here, maybe 2-4 small fish annually in our entire commercial fleet.
Bigeye Tuna, which can be caught deep in the winter months, are fattier, and make the best Sashimi of the two. A grade 1 Bigeye double marker can fetch as much as a BFT (up to $40/lb retail)
John
Sold all the fish (except 5lbs to eat) for $1130-$300 trip expenses =$830 profit. 110lbs chunk Ahi at 65%yield (70lbs @$6.50/lb, 40lbs@$10/lb), 49lbs Wahoo/whole weight, & 26lbs Shortbill Spearfish/headed-gilled-gutted @$4/lb). Auction was only paying $2.75/lb Ahi, $2.00/lb Wahoo, & $1.30/lb on Shortbills right now.
So I did good.
Nice to think I provided fish for 300+ meals here.
:)
This leaves me only $900 short of breaking even on 2018, after 34 trips. If my math is right it has only cost me $24/10 hour fishing trip. Of course there are many other hidden costs to owning/running an offshore boat.
John, Thanks for the Ahi spread pics,
Positive ROI, nice.
In MI and AL dnr will not allow us to sell any game fish. Heck in MI if you toss your bait over after you are done fishing you might get ticket for chumming :o
Quote from: Gobi King on May 30, 2018, 12:32:51 PM
John, Thanks for the Ahi spread pics,
Positive ROI, nice.
In MI and AL dnr will not allow us to sell any game fish. Heck in MI if you toss your bait over after you are done fishing you might get ticket for chumming :o
I grew up in Minnesota, so I am familiar with the fishing regs regarding wanton waste, and commercial sale of fish. There is a huge demand for fresh, sashimi-grade, line-caught fish here, and commercial fishing is encouraged here. Most charter boats also have commercial fishing licenses, and sell much of their catch to help offset the high cost of doing business, or offshore fishing. The ability to get a small boat commercial fishing license is one of the reasons I wanted to live here in the first place. I don't expect to turn a profit fishing, but fish sales should help me to be able to afford to run an offshore boat. I prefer selling some fish, to running charters myself.
Not sure how positive my ROI is though. The numbers above reflect fixed ownership/trip costs. In actuality I will need alot more tuna to pay off the roughly $25-30k investment in the vessel and equiptment.
The state classifies fishermen in 5 basic catagories...
1)Full-time commercial
2)Part-time commercial
3)Cost-offset fisherman
4)Recreational fisherman
I currently fall into category 3, but if I can turn a profit, I will move to category 2. Most of the 1000 or so state- registered small boat trollers fall within cat 3. We do have a longline fleet of ~150 vessels, and there are another ~200 vessels that fish full-time commercially (shoreline, dangler, pole-n-line, Ika shibi, bottomfish, trap, and the like).
John
That is wonderful, it is a win-win for us fishermen and consumer.