Categorized | Fishing, Sports

Maui Jim marlin series resumes

The largest marlin of the 2009 Maui Jim Series so far is an 827-pound monster caught by Che Garcia on board “Pacific Blue.”  (Photo courtsey of Maui Jim Series)

The largest marlin of the 2009 Maui Jim Series so far is an 827-pound monster caught by Che Garcia on board “Pacific Blue.” (Photo courtsey of Maui Jim Series)

MEDIA RELEASE

After a “seven inning stretch” that lasted a few weeks, the final two events in the 2009 Maui Jim Hawaii Marlin Tournament Series are on tap for the last two weekends of August. 

Starting in late June and running through mid-July, the first four events of the Maui Jim Series fielded 155 teams competing for more than $702,000 in prize money, and, trips to such exotic locations as the Galapagos Islands and Panama. Always popular prizes are free pairs of Maui Jim Sunglasses. 

So far, teams have caught 65 blue marlin of which 56 were tagged and released. The fishing has only gotten hotter during the break, and boats along the Kona Coast are reporting from five to eight marlin bites a day – every day! 

One Maui Jim Series “regular” participant – Jack Sanford – is returning all the way from Qatar, where he is an oil drilling contract specialist. Others have come from a span from New Zealand to across the U.S. mainland. 

Also returning is celebrity chef Sam Choy. Choy has two boys who are professional charter boat fishermen, and he knows first-hand how important the tournament industry is to the economy of the Big Island. 

Choy lends his name and culinary skills to the marquee at the Awards Banquet of the 2nd Annual Lazy Marlin Hunt.  

The Lazy Marlin was named after every anglers dream – a marlin more than 800 pounds that is such a behemoth the movements of its huge body look slow and lazy – even when flashing in and dealing a devastating blow to tuna or lure. 

The largest marlin of the 2009 Maui Jim Series to date, is an 827 pound monster caught by Che Garcia on board “Pacific Blue.” Garcia and company earned $66,330 for their catch. 

Although this is the largest marlin so far this year, Team “Pacific Blue” may have caught the biggest marlin, but they are not the biggest money winner to date. 

Jack Sampson has claimed the title of highest money winner so far in the Series. Sampson and the crew on his boat High Flier walked off with a check for $156,945 – one of the highest single payouts in the history of big game fishing in Hawaii. 

The Big Island Marlin Tournament was the first high stakes event to pay cash purse for tag and release of marlin. 

The tournaments have also been supporting the marine science efforts of the University of Hawaii/JIMAR/NMFS scientists for many years through the deployment of pop up satellite archival tags on marlin. 

These mini-computers are attached to marlin that are released back into the open ocean, and the devices archive various scientific observations over a set time. 

When the time is up, the devices cut themselves free from the marlin and float to the surface where they transmit their archived data to a satellite, which then transmits it to the lab of Dr. Michael Musyl in Honolulu. 

To see where marlin go, and what they do after released – log on to www.konatournaments.com and click the “SCIENCE” tab.  

On the Web site, anglers and teams can also find entry forms for the final two tournaments of the season – the Big Island Marlin Tournament (Aug. 21- 23) and the Lazy Marlin Hunt (Aug. 29 & 30). 

Anyone can enter and there is no experience necessary – many anglers have caught the first marlin of their life at a Maui Jim Series tournament. 

For more information on the Big Island Marlin Tournament and/or the Lazy Marlin Hunt, contact Jody Bright at 557-0908 or jody@konatournaments.com. 

All the information on the Maui Jim Series 2009 – and past years – is also available at www.konatournaments.com. 

Coverage of The Maui Jim Series can be seen on the national network VERSUS, starting in January 2010. The television coverage is made possible through the support of Maui Jim Sunglasses and the Hawaii Tourism Authority.

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