KAILUA-KONA — As the saying goes, there’s plenty of fish in the sea. However, that certainly did not seem true on Tuesday for Day 2 of the Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament.
Just four fish were tagged and none weighed by the fleet of 28 boats, a nearly unprecedented low for the tournament in its 57 years. But despite the slow day, some teams did find a way to generate movement on the leaderbaord.
Mermaid Anglers Club – Kaloa Garden, from Japan, had the most to show for their time on the water. The husband and wife team scored two tags fishing aboard Maverick, captained by Trevor Child.
Sachiko Saegusa fought an estimated 200-pound Pacific blue marlin for 11 minutes before tagging and releasing it. Just over an hour later, Kohichiro Saegusa tagged a Pacific blue marlin estimated at 275 pounds, his second fish of the tournament.
The pair of catches moved Mermaid Anglers Club – Kaloa Garden up to second on the leaderboard, trailing Malibu Marlin Club by 100 points. The leaders were shutout on Tuesday, but were able to stay atop the standings thanks to a trio of tags on Day 1.
Old South Marlin Club — International is currently in third with 600 points, followed by the only team to weigh a fish this tournament, Redcliffe Peninsula Game Fishing Club, at 502.6.
The two other tags on Tuesday belonged to New Zealand’s Ahipara Game Fish Club and Laguna Niguel Billfish Club No. 1.
Fishing aboard Foxy Lady, Ahipara GFC angler Lynda Matthews tagged and released an estimated 120-pound Pacific blue marlin in 18 minutes.
The final fish of the day was tagged by Martin Firestein, who battled with the estimated 150-pounder for just nine minutes to record his squad’s first points of the tourney. It didn’t come without sacrifice.
“A big fish came up early and we definitely thought it was a qualifier. Unfortunately it got away from us, along with my favorite lure,” Firestein said. “We had to wait almost four hours before the next bite, and we were lucky enough it was a smaller fish we could get in quick to get points on the board. That’s what this game is all about.”
There have been 60 strikes, 45 hook-ups, 21 tagged and one weighed fish so far. Anglers will hope those number start to grow rapidly before the tournament wraps up Friday.
