Hawaiian SeaCraft

[glow]

Hey Scott, nice to meet you. Yeah, in Hawaii a "striper" is a bit different than in the 48 states. We fish primarily for pelagics, Yellowfin tuna (Ahi), Marlin; Striped (Nairagi/ Nah-ee-rah-gee) and Blue (Kajiki/ Kah-jee-key), Wahoo (Ono/ O-know), Dolphin/Dorado (Mahimahi/ Mah-hee-mah-hee) and Bonito (Aku/ Ah-coo). During the winter season we deep sea bottom fish for Red, pink, striped snappers, and sea bass (groupers) primarily. My family is primarily into Big Game Trolling. I used to commercial fish (troll) with my brother primarily for tuna then any other pelagics.

In answer to your question re: the sponson it is like a spray rail. Water rushes up the bows curvature, hits the sponson travels sideways and back at an angle deflecting the water outward and back from the Flybridge. Do you folks do much deep sea trolling for pelagic game fish? If so what are typical game fish for you and approximate weights? I am very interested in the style of fishing you do in the 48 states. Also, why center counsels and BIIG outboards are so popular.

We started using direct drives, jackshafts and sterndriven diesels in the very early 80's. Mostly volvo 165 diesels, the 200's then 235's. Recently most have been going into the 260 diesel (all the motors mentioned are discontinued already). Some fishermen are going into the 4 cyl. Volvos, while many have already switched over to Cummins and Detroits in the 315+hP range. Volvo 200's i.e.AD41 and Kamd42 235's go into 24's and 26's while the larger engines go into the 26' like my fathers boat. We use twin aluminum saddle tanks usually 56 gal. ea. or just over 60 gal. ea. Living on an island in the middle of the Pacific gives us access to deep water relatively near shore.

Sometimes we travel from our island just off coast of a neighbor island (50+ miles one way) to chase the tuna schools. With the Volvo 200 we burn about a tank or a tad more (running the motors really hard). Ahi (yellowfin) is a 100+ lb. fish while anything under a 100 is called Shibi (She-be). Bonito under 20 lbs. are Aku (Ah-coo) and fish 20+ are Otaru (Oh-ta-roo with a rolling "r" sound). Thanks for the line and I hope to learn more about the topics I asked. Take it easy, Greg

[1bayouboy]

It's hard to believe thats started as a 23'??

The details vary in the states depending on where you're located....you could get lots of different replies. I'm in Charleston, SC and here to go for pelagics you have to get to the "ledge" where the water drops off to more than 100ft....go deep pretty quickly off the shelf. The usual suspects are wahoo, tuna (yellowfin and blackfin), dorado, billfish. In the winter it's snapper and grouper. The main dorado bite is april, may and june. To get there is about 50-60 miles one way. Fish aren't huge. Average dorado are probably in the teens with some into the thirties and the really lucky ones getting the 50lbers. The state record Blue Marlin was caught last year...881lbs.
The tuna are sub-100lbers....both YFT and BFT....at least on average.

In NC the huge blackfin tuna come near shor in the winter....those brutes get huge. In the northeast they go way offshore to the "canyons" for the usual suspects.

Off the east coast of Fl (Miami) you can catch billfish and
dolphin within site of land. And then there's the gulf of mexico with lots of artificial reefs and oil rigs.

Maybe someone else can comment on the left coast....

[glow]

Thanks for the info. BayouBoy. How far are the Canyons? We have alot of local boat builders in Hawaii as fishing is a huge part of growing up in the islands. We have a 30 footer called "Knife" thats supposed to be based off a cigarette hull and another boat refered to as an Islander. My friend has one and his registration say Boston Yankee Voyager. So I can attest to the singel hull deep v Yankee Voyager existing and not just being a nautical myth.

It may be called and Islander due to the fact that I heard the Yankee Voyager was taken over by Nauset Marine. The boat is an excellent rough water boat. My friends boat is powered by a VP AD41B 200 hP diesel and a 290 Duoprop sterndrive. We refer to sterndrives as "leg" boats and direct drives would be "straight shafts." My friend with the Yankee Voyager has it built as a command bridge. I think it refered to as a sport bridge in the states.

He has frequently come back with his in hull fishbox stuffed with a half ton of Dolphin in the 20+ to 30+ lb. range. He is a commercial fisherman and "baits" them with a local fish called opelu (Oh-peh-loo) similar to a mackeral and shaped like a fat cigar. He has also caught over a half ton of Otaru (Bonito over 20 lbs.) which comes to about 50 pieces depending on the size. Thanks for the info. I hope to get more replys and learn alot more.

I'd love to go on a party style long range tuna boat with my wife, dad and brother in the near future. Not sure how the back will hold out using stand up gear. We usually fight our fish from the rod holder. If you look at the pics of my dad's boat you can see the rods are set at about a 40 degree angle. We put a pipe into the rod holder that pivots, allowing us to keep the rod tip in line with the fish's trajectory. We refer to is as a "Shotgun." Seems like most fishermen in the states use stand up gear or a fighting chair and gimble. Aloha, Greg

[glow]

BTW how big do Blackfinn Tuna get? Are they similar in size to the Giant Bluefin? Do they have the same "beef like" marbling as the Bluefins? Thanks, Greg

[1bayouboy]

I think they get huge off the NC coast....like 400lbs.
The Canyons up north can be very long runs to get to...
as far or farther than we go from SC.

[1bayouboy]

My mistake those ARE Bluefin Tuna off the NC coast in January....

[ScottM]

Do you folks do much deep sea trolling for pelagic game fish? If so what are typical game fish for you and approximate weights?

Greg,
Here in the Northeast (MA to NJ), you typically have to run to the canyons (100+ fathoms) for pelagics, but they can be caught up on the shelf (50-100 fathoms) when conditions are right. The Gulf Stream dictates how good this fishery can be year to year. Depending on where you're running from, it could be a 50-100 mile trip one way. For tuna, we catch yellowfin (50-70lbs typical, 100lbs is big), bluefin (anywhere from 30-1,000lbs in cooler water) and bigeye (150-300lbs). Blue, white and striped marlin can also be had, along with mahi and wahoo. Swordfish have been making a comeback with all the longline restrictions, but that is a nightime chunking affair.

[peterb]

Nice writep Scott.

In New Jersey (pronounced "Joisey") we also have a pretty good bluefin bite in specific areas that are 20 fathoms or more. Generally speakng these spots are 20 to 40 miles off shore (perfect distance for a well equipped SeaCraft).