The Hilo Trollers safely completed their first offshore fishing tournament of the season on Sunday, May 6. Nine boats entered and all nine boats had flag fish on board by 9:30 a.m.
The Hilo Trollers safely completed their first offshore fishing tournament of the season on Sunday, May 6. Nine boats entered and all nine boats had flag fish on board by 9:30 a.m.
According to a Hilo Trollers official, 17 ono and one qualifying ahi were weighed in.
The largest ono and largest fish overall was a 50.5-pound ono landed by captain Rodney Nishiki and angler Clive Tanimoto on the Andrea W.
The second largest fish was also an ono, weighing in at 43.5 pounds and landed by captain Jared Miyake and crew on the Sherissa 5.
Grand Champion honors went to captain Derrick Moreira on the Kinikia. Angler Kenny Antonio landed a 37.3-pound ahi and angler Steve Stein landed a 39.6-pound ono.
The Kinikia received a gift certificate donated by S. Tokunaga Store for landing a qualifying ahi closest to the minimum weight of 25 pounds.
The Andrea W. received a lure donated by J. Hara Store for the largest fish and captain Brian Catriz on the Laurie Marie 6 received a lure donated by J. Hara store for the first fish landed.
The June Trollers Tournament is scheduled for Sunday, June 3, weather permitting. If small craft warnings are posted, the tournament will be postponed to the following Sunday.
Membership forms, tournament entry forms, and tournament rules are available at S. Tokunaga Store, J. Hara Store, and Boat House Hawaii. The June Tournament will run concurrently with a Mike Sakamoto Memorial Fishing Challenge sponsored by the Pacific Islands Fisheries Group and the Sakamoto family.
Ono is the fish to catch, and each boat landing a qualifying ono will be entered in the year end grand prize drawing.
Entry forms are due by 4 p.m. Friday June 1 at one of the stores mentioned above.
For information on Hilo Trollers tournaments, contact the tackle shops, President Carl Shioji at 937-4454 or Weighmaster Uncle Craig Severance at 640-1670.