I had always wanted to give deep sea fishing a try, but the frigid temperatures in the early morning hours in Northern California always provided just enough of a mental barrier to keep me away. That flimsy excuse didn’t hold up in the warm, tropical waters of the Hawaiian Islands.
On a recent trip to the Islands my husband Steve and I, along with a group of friends, headed directly to the North Shore of O’ahu. After exploring most of the larger islands in the Hawaiian chain this remains our top destination. The quiet neighborhoods, lack of tourist development, small town feel of Hale’iwa, and the heart of the community at Foodland all make us feel at-home. The focus of this trip was to get out on the water to try our hand at catching our own dinner.
Captain Mark Glaser befriended us on a previous trip, which led to our joining Captain Mark and Chris Parker, on the Karlyn, a classic, locally made Hawaiian sportfisher. This 40-foot Haole Sampan style boat is designed for a smooth ride on Hawaiian waters. A back deck and flying bridge gives everyone plenty of room to stretch out. Mark has lived, fished and surfed on the North Shore all his life, ultimately getting a degree in marine biology from the University of Hawaii. He’s been fishing out of the Hale’iwa Harbor for the last twenty years, so you know you’re in good hands. Chris, likewise, has been fishing since he could walk and quietly established himself as indispensable on the back deck by taking care of the innumerable tasks necessary to ensure the success of a group of non-fishermen.
After motoring for about 30 minutes we stopped to catch our bait. Yes, we caught our own live bait, which is one of the special ways that Captain Mark assures success. Chris got skunked, but Captain Mark came off the bridge and quickly filled up the hold with opelu, a kind of mackerel. I figured we had already achieved success—we caught some fish in the first hour! The gray reef sharks are in on this secret and swarmed around the Karlyn, dashing any thoughts I had about taking a swim off the deck. Their congregating in this area has spawned another water-based activity: charters that promote swimming with the sharks. We watched one boat lower a large cage into the water, filled with….people! We didn’t linger to see the outcome
We continued out to a buoy about 10 miles from shore where Captain Mark knows ahi tuna congregate. We bobbed around for a while to see if they were visiting today, but to no avail. Maybe bait fishing was going to be the measure of our success. Captain Mark wasn’t satisfied, so we changed course and headed toward Ka’ena Point at the northwestern tip of O’ahu. It was refreshing to be moving again and we were soon dozing on the sun-warmed deck. Suddenly there was a blizzard of activity. Chris jumped up and grabbed a line and threw John into the seat. The silvery glint of the ono could be seen thrashing about. John furiously reeled in the catch, struggling to bring him in. When he finally reeled him close enough Chris surprised us by doing the dirty work. We all felt a little guilty for letting him stun the fish with a club, remove the hook, toss it in the hold and clean up, but frankly, no one attempted to take over for him. The whole cycle repeated again, six more times. When my turn came I didn’t think I was going to be able to reel the huge ono in, and called for help but I was on my own. I heard someone yelling, “Bring it in, Inga.” My biceps ached, and I wished that I had stepped it up a little more in the gym. It was a proud moment when I brought in this beautiful 40 lb specimen, thrashing and fighting, the largest catch of the day. In all, we caught five ono and two mahi-mahi. I was struck by the beauty of the brilliant metallic green of the mahi-mahi, which fades to a muted green almost immediately after being pulled from the water.
The Big One
That night we celebrated our success with a delectable buffet featuring our catch. Seeing Captain Mark eyeing us nervously when we got near the grill we turned the responsibility over to him, the expert in all things related to fish. We made some mouthwatering ono sashimi (raw strips of ono), ono poke (raw fish marinated with soy sauce and spices), and perfectly grilled ono and mahi-mahi. It was a very successful day indeed, and we were grateful to Captains Mark and Chris for sharing their secrets of the seas with us in the tropical warmth of the Islands.
I know sport fishing is big in many other parts of the world. How do other areas compare to Hawaii. Forty pounds felt like a lot. Have any of you caught bigger fish? Now is the time to let the fish stories fly.
INFORMATION:
Oahu Sportfishing Charters
Captain Mark Glaser
Phone: 808-721-8581
Email: capt-mark@hawaii.rr.comwww.sport-fishing-hawaii.com
All the fishing equipment is provided, along with non-alcoholic beverages. Lunch/snacks are not provided, but a cooler with ice is provided for any food and drink brought on board.
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