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Blue Marlin Release

Kona Tournaments 2020

Update from Jodi Bright / Konatournaments.com

TOURNAMENT DATES SHIFT DUE TO STATE RE-OPEN DIALOG!

I’ve (Jody) finally saw a brief on “the plan” for re-opening the visitor industry in Hawaii….and it really isn’t a plan yet. The general idea is open up the local “kama’aina” economy and assess, and then roll out a phased re-opening of tourism.
Even with an exemption from the Governor to run as scheduled, it appears that mainland travel will not be “back to normal” by early July.

With this in mind, it looks like the June and July months will be early in this process, so we are making plans to shift the tournament schedule so we don’t get caught up in any State ordered delays, and Not Cancel Any Tournaments.

The HIBT has cancelled so we are planning to shift the Firecracker, Kona Throw Down and Skins to that week, August 8 through 16.

The It’s A Wrap will be September 18, 19 & 20

We will plan the Kona Kick Off with move it into July, and run in on consecutive weekends with the Lure Makers Challenge.

So the 2020 summer schedule will be:

KONA KICK OFF JULY 4 & 5
LURE MAKERS JULY 10, 11 & 12
FIRECRACKER AUGUST 8 & 9
KONA THROW DOWN AUGUST 11, 12 & 13
SKINS MARLIN DERBY AUGUST 14, 15 & 16
BIMT AUGUST 21, 22 & 23
IT’S A WRAP SEPTEMBER 18, 19 & 20



The Hawaii Big Game Club Rock n Reel tournament has been postponed, and does not have a replacement date as of yet.

Please feel free to give me a call to discuss if you like. I’m putting out this notice to get feedback, but I’m 99% sure that this is the right move, based on what I read today.

Jody Bright’s cell is 808.557.0908

Quotes from the article:  

State agencies are studying how to ensure public health and safety while opening up sectors of the economy, including tourism, according to Krishna Jayaram, a spokesman for the AG’s office.

“The various ideas being evaluated for tracking visitors in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, are right now just that, ideas,” he said in an emailed statement. “Given that we are an island state heavily dependent on tourism, there is focus and forward planning now on how we can get back closer to normal while adequately ensuring that any influx of visitors does not put our residents at risk.”

It’s a very short hop from ‘It’s OK for tourists’ to ‘It’s OK for any number of other groups,’” she said.

Asked about this concern, Jayaram acknowledged that life will likely be different post-COVID-19. “I do hope we get closer to how things used to be before the pandemic, but part of the new normal might be that the state has to re-think certain aspects of the tourist experience here in Hawaii,” he said.

“There’s a way to phase in letting people back in while watching for signs of infections and taking practical, limited steps to test people, without infringing upon their liberty to move around with government supervision.”


Stay Well!

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We stay in touch with everyone who has participated in an event of the Hawaii Marlin Tournament Series and bring you news from Kona – where ever you are.

Our mailing address is:
jody@kkonatournaments.com

Konatournaments

P.O. Box 2158 Kailua-Kona, HI 96745

Kona Tournaments 2020



2014 Kona Hawaii Billfish Tournaments

Charter Desk New Year’s Day Tournament  –   January 1st

  • The Charter Desk is hosting their annual New Year’s Day Tournament!

Dirty Dozen

  • First Saturday of Every Month.

Rock and Reel Tournament  –  June 13th, 14th & 15th

  •  The Hawaii Big Game Fishing Club invites you to come join the fun and excitement of our 12th Annual Rock ‘n Reel Hawaiian Open!

Kona Kick Off  –  June 28th  & 29th

  • The Tournament that kicks it all off. Local Style. Largest flag fish of each category splits purse.

29th Annual Blue Marlin World Cup Tournament  –  July 4th

  • The “World Cup” is truly the only worldwide tournament of its kind. Each July 4, teams fish for 8 hours in their time zone to see who can catch the largest blue marlin over 500 pounds. Winner takes all. There is no second place.  The World Cup supports game fishing though its support of the IGFA and The Billfish Foundation.  http://www.bluemarlinworldcup.com/

Firecracker Open  –  July 5th, 6th & 7th

  • Kona’s signature “Big Game” Tournament that scores ahi and marlin points for the base purse. Optional categories for the largest marlin and ahi of each day and of the two day tournament.

Marlin Magic Lure Tournament  –  July 8th & 9th

Skins Marlin Derby  –  July 11th, 12th, 13th, & 14th

  • The most unique Big Marlin competition in the world! Patterned after the golf format, the base purse is available each fishing day to the largest marlin weighing 500 lbs or more. If no one catches a marlin of that size, the day’s purse rolls over and is added to the next day’s purse.

Throw Down   –  July 15th, 16th, 17th

  • The Single Largest Marlin of the Tournament will be Winner Take All the purse from the Base Entry division. Entry fee to be posted soon.

54th Annual Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament  –   July 26th – August 2nd 

  • Five days of tournament fishing July 26th – August 2nd. Anglers and teams are invited to apply early as full tournament participation is anticipated. Log onto http://www.hibtfishing.com/ for details.

 Big Island Marlin Tournament  –   August 8th, 9th & 10th 

  • The event that started it all off in 1986. The BIMT was the very first high stakes, big game tournament in Hawaii to pay a cash purse for tag and release. The base entry pays the top three largest marlin. Optionals pay most points and largest marlin per day.

Veterans Helping Veterans  –  August 29th, 30th & 31st

September Challenge  –   September 12th, 13th  & 14th

  • Designed with input from the top skippers of 2010, minimum size fish is 400 lbs and 1st Place takes 70% of the base purse.

Feel free to contact me about availability and information about these events.  

Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament Days One and Two Update

Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament Days One and Two Update of the teams that fished on the Fire Hatt shows Team Captain and Angler Masaharu Matsushita of the Kona Game Fishing Club Taiyo  from Japan with his release flag for day one.  Masaharu released a 150 pound Pacific Blue Marlin on Monday and later in the day had another chance to capture a flag and the fish did not stick.  We are One for Two on day one.  This team has been fishing the HIBT in Kona Hawaii for over 30 years.  On day two, Martin and Mitchell Firestein representing the Balboa Angling Club from California were Zero for Four.  We just could not get one to stick.  The Marlin are hitting the lures fast and furious!  Martin and Mitchell were hoping to deploy a Satellite Tag into a Pacific Blue Marlin that will track the travels and behaviors of the fish for 120 days.  The program is called the Great Marlin Race.  You can go to their website and get information on last years data at http://greatmarlinrace.org , Check it out.  Several tags will be deployed this year.

 

560 lb Blue Marlin Kona Fishing

590 lb Blue Marlin at the Hawaiian Invitational Billfish Tournament

560 lb Blue Marlin Kona FishingOn day three of the Hawaiian Invitational Billfish Tournament, angler Steve Spina along with team member Sam Spinella with the Malibu Marlin Club weighed in a 590 lb Pacific Blue Marlin while fishing aboard the FIRE HATT.  Steve fought the fish for just over two hours.  The fish was taken on a favorite lure of theirs that captured a 560lb Blue Marlin for Sam the previous year during this same tournament.