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2009 wrap up for Lahaina Harbor, Part II

By Staff | Jan 21, 2010

From left, Dustin Denard and Captains Steve Lambert and Steve Cravens with their 200.0-pound yellowfin ahi caught on the Action.heading: harbor report

LAHAINA — The largest billfish of the year weighed in at 774.7 pounds and was captured by Robbie Platt aboard the Start Me Up Das It with Capt. Randy Evans and crewman Rich Lynch.

It was raised on the 100-fathom ledge off the Palaoa Point Lighthouse, Lanai, at 8 a.m. using a Steve Elkins Jr. Popsicle, mango-colored lure on the long gone position. The fighting time was six hours on 100-test line.

The marlin was 13’4” from tip to tip, with an 11-foot jaw to fork of tail length. It had a 32-inch half-shoulder girth, 29.75-inch anal half-girth and a 16.5-inch caudal circumference.

Just 9.9 pounds away in second place was a 764.8-pound blue landed by father and son Glen Fisher and Glen Jr. aboard the Kai Akua with Capt. Jeremy Webb and crewman Aaron Cecil.

It was raised outside the 100-fathom ledge off the Manele Bay Golf Course, Lanai, at 6:30 a.m. using a Marlin Magic purple back baby ruckus lure on the short gone position. The fighting time was two hours on 80-test line.

The third place marlin came in at 701.1 pounds by tandem anglers Jim and Mike Davis aboard the Start Me Up Too with Capt. Steve Cravens and crewman John French.

It was raised off the Kaho‘olawe Shoals at 9 a.m. with a double hook-up on both a regular and junior purple Softhead lure on the short corner and long gone positions. The fighting time was two hours and 30 minutes using both 100- and 130-test line.

The Start Me Up La Dat captured all three of the 600-pound marlin (670.9 by Richard Hall, 640.0 by Jarett Brugger, and 603.3 by Andrea Salazar) with Captains Ryan Fiedorowicz at the helm and Brandon McKinley. They were all landed over a 14-day period.

The 603.3-pound blue was the largest marlin by a wahine angler. It was also the 13th largest blue marlin by a wahine angler since 1990 in Lahaina Harbor. Two other wahine anglers also weighed big blue marlin: 574.4 by Amber Schmidt and 545.6 by Allison Seferian.

The largest marlin on the lightest tackle weighed 424.4 pounds, with Rob Hytner using 50-test line aboard the Piper with Capt. Jeff Kahl and crewman Ta’ane Veine.

The Piper also landed a record-sized striped marlin, weighing in at 177.2 pounds, by Robby Diffee with Captains Jeff Kahl and Chimo Shipp. This striped marlin is the third largest recorded aboard a Maui charter boat since 1984.

The largest short-nosed spearfish, weighing 44 pounds by Larry Dille, was boated aboard the Luckey Strike II with Capt. Brad Coombs and crew Lacy Bryant.

The lone sailfish of the year weighed 39 pounds. It was landed by Bryce Peltier aboard the Reel Hooker with Capt. Greg France and crewman Peter Wong.

It was another slow year for 100-pound tuna, with only 15 being weighed — the eighth lowest total since 1988.

The ahi bite happened in June with ten fish weighed (200.0, 161.8, 159.6, 144.4, 142.3, 130.0, 122.8, 119.0, 100.6 and 100.1).

The top ahi weighed in at 200.0 pounds by Dustin Denard. He was fishing aboard the Action with Captains Steve Lambert and Steve Cravens.

This was the largest ahi for Lahaina Harbor since June 2008, when the Action weighed a 211.9-pound fish (largest of year). It was the 11th largest ahi for a Lahaina charter boat since 1980 and the 15th largest in Lahaina Harbor since 1977.

The second place ahi, weighing 191.8 pounds by David Miller, was also aboard the Action with Capt. Steve Lambert and crewman Jukka Hyytia.

The third largest ahi came in at 161.8 pounds by Scott and Kevin Springer. They were fishing aboard the Luckey Strike II with Capt. Brad Coombs and crewman Greg Bryant.

In the other “flag fish” categories, the largest mahi weighed in at 65 pounds. It was landed aboard the Die Hard with Captains Fuzzy Alboro and Boy AhPuck.

 A 62.6-pound mahi was weighed by the Kamalani with Capt. Randy Kinores and crewman Jukka Hyytia.

The most mahi during one charter was aboard the Start Me Up La Dat, with Captains Ryan Fiedorowicz and Brandon McKinley hauling in 85. Two other boats had good catches. The Action, with Captains Patrick Dorn and Steve Lambert, and the Reel Hooker, with Capt. Greg France and crewmen Peter and Chris Wong, filled their boats with 68 fish each.

A 56.7-pound ono was the largest in that category. It was boated aboard the Hinatea with Capt. Mark Shultz and crewman Brian Edmisson. The Start Me Up Cuz had a 52-pound fish with Capt. Eric Pietsch and crewman Warren Keiley.