Kona Hawaii fishing report - June wrap-up

[Capt. Jeff Rogers]

Kona Hawaii fishing report – June wrap-up

The male blue marlin showed up in force this month. These guys average around 150 lbs. and are so abundant now that on a full day charter, you’re almost guaranteed to run into at least one. So what about the big female marlin I’ve been reporting about the last couple of months? Yes, there was finally a “grander” landed on June 5th and weighed in at 1064 lbs. There were also other big marlin both caught and released in the first half of June but in the last couple of weeks, almost all the marlin caught have been the small males and the females seemed to have moved on to other waters. I’m hoping there’s still at least one big one out there with my name on it though because I’m fishing the Marlin Magic tournament tomorrow and the next day. The minimum qualifying weight is 400 lbs. and only pays out for first and second place. Wish me luck! We have many tournaments coming up in July including the World Cup coming up on the 4th. The World Cup is the only worldwide marlin tournament and Kona has produced the winning fish more often than any other fishing destination. Without a doubt, Kona is the Pacific Blue Marlin capital of the world and I hope we can prove it again this year.

The yellowfin tuna “blind strike” bite is on! We’re seeing free jumpers too. The otaru are around but are not biting much of anything. The spearfish are now here in bigger numbers and are a common catch. The ono bite continues to be good and there are still some mahi mahi coming in.

I haven’t been doing much bottom fishing lately because the trolling bite has been so good and the best bottom fishing grounds, North of the harbor has been too rough to fish.
The water South of the harbor has been flat like a lake but there are only a few spots to bottom fish and they haven’t been any good lately. For the next couple of days I’ll be concentrating on huge marlin anyway and using my (not so) secret weapon. I’ve been using 12 oz. plastic Gatorade bottles and 10 oz. plastic juice bottles as lures and stuffing them with anchovies. I gave up my secret to Marlin Magazine for $100 and it was published in last months issue. I kind of doubt that anyone else will be using them in the Marlin Magic tournament. If I win with it, most likely everyone will be using them in the tournaments to come.

See ‘ya on the water,
Capt. Jeff Rogers
Fishinkona.com