KAILUA-KONA — Fish beware: the Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament is back in town and some anxious anglers are looking for some big bites at the historic event, which starts Monday.
A field of 41 teams will take off from the starting line across Kailua Bay to fish the storied tournament. In all, nine countries — the United States, Australia, Africa, Fiji, Japan, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Palau and Papua New Guinea — are represented.
Angles, captains, crew and supporters got together at Hale Halawai to kick off the 60th anniversary of the event on Sunday. Founder Peter Fithian got a standing ovation from the crowd to start the evening and teams from all over the globe proudly stood and sang their national anthems before enjoying food and drinks.
Fithian — who once managed the Augusta National Golf Course before coming to the Big Island to run the Kona Inn — dreamed of creating an event so significant that it would make people worldwide recognize it as one of the most influential events in the sport. Looking around the room, Fithian could proudly take in the moment on the event’s diamond anniversary and consider it mission accomplished.
The tournament is unique in that anglers are not fishing for prize money. Instead, the fishermen and women are hoping to sink their hooks into one of the HIBT’s prestigious trophies.
“When we started this, the money tournaments were what drew the most people and money was much more important than pure sport,” Fithian said in a previous interview with West Hawaii Today. “The money thing fills a need, and people like that, but it’s not what we are doing here. We have always publicized the town, having a good time and enjoying the sport.”
The Governor’s Trophy is the most storied of all the hardware and goes to the team with the highest number of billfish points in the tourney.
The most sought after honors for the fleet of committed captains are the Henry Chee and Richard Boone Awards.
The Henry Chee Award goes to the charter boat captain having the greatest number of billfish points scored on his boat during the HIBT.
The Richard Boone Award — named after the famed actor from the television series “Have Gun Will Travel” — goes to the top scoring skipper based on a rating and ranking given by the team the boat hosts on each of the five days fishing.
Trophies aside, every angler is hoping to reel in a grander. A 1,000-pound fish doesn’t necessarily win the tournament, but it surely puts the team the lucky angler belongs to in the driver’s seat.
It’s a feat that has only happened once at the HIBT (1986), and if one is caught, fish fans can catch a once in a lifetime glance down at Kailua Pier at the weigh-ins.
Daily weigh-ins and scoreboard updates happen on the pier every day at 4 p.m., with the exception of Wednesday, when it happens at 3 p.m. Everyone is welcome to come and see the fishing action.