Pete Thomas Outdoors

Kona angler lands 1,368-pound blue marlin; just eight pounds shy of 1982 world record

A 1,368-pound blue marlin was caught Tuesday by Guy Kitaoka off Kailua-Kona on the the big island of Hawaii.

It’s believed to be the largest blue marlin caught off Kona in 23 years, and falls short of the world record–a 1,376-pound blue caught off Kona in 1982–by only eight pounds.

Kitaoka was fishing with Capt. Darrell Omori aboard a 21-foot boat, Dayna, in an area where large tuna were teeming. He used a skipjack tuna to bait the monster billfish, and had it alongside his boat after an hour-long fight.

Capt. Bomboy Llanes, fishing nearby aboard another boat, helped deliver the massive grander back to the dock.

According to longtime Hawaii fishing writer Jim Rizzuto, the last blue marlin topping 1,300 pounds was a 1,356-pounder caught aboard Spellbound on June 6, 1992.

A 1,400-pound blue was caught aboard Marlin Magic in 1990, but that fish was not caught in accordance with International Game Fish Assn. rules, and did not qualify as a world record.

Kitaoka was using an electric reel, which helps to explain why the fight only lasted an hour, so it could not qualified as a world record, had it been heavy enough.

–Image shows Guy Kitaoka with his giant blue marlin. Courtesy of Bryan Toney

Cabo San Lucas angler's 102-pound dorado would shatter world record, but there's a catch

 A dorado caught off Cabo San Lucas last week was said to have weighed 102 pounds, which is 15 pounds heavier than a world record that has stood since 1976.

The massive dorado–a.k.a mahi-mahi or dolphinfish–was caught by Brian Lindsey, a visitor from Mississippi, aboard Shambala, a yacht chartered through Pisces Sportfishing.

The weight was obtained using a hand spring scale, and the fish was quickly filleted because the crew didn’t want the meat to spoil in the hot weather. So it cannot qualify as a record, and nobody will ever know what it might have weighed on a certified scale.

"The fish was weighed on a typical hanging scale," Lindsey said. "Again, we have extensive documentation of the fish, and a video of capture. It  was also measured and documented by a local biologist, who gave a weight estimate based off length and size."

Pisces managers did not know about the fish until the Shambala anglers entered the office after returning to port, according to Pisces general manager Tracy Ehrenberg.

As soon as they were shown photos they telephoned the fillet dock to try to prevent the cutting process, but they were too late.

“If the fish truly weighed 102 pounds, we knew without looking [at the record book] that this would be the biggest dorado ever caught on rod and reel,” Ehrenberg said.

 

The dorado was hooked on a silver-and-black lure on the Pacific side of the Baja California peninsula, and landed after a 20-minute fight on 50-pound-test line.

The International Game Fish Association lists as the all-tackle world record for dolphinfish–dorado is the Spanish name, meaning “golden one”–an 87-pounder caught off Costa Rica in 1976.

–Photos courtesy of Pisces Sportfishing

 

Homemade drone fires semiautomatic pistol in footage sure to raise alarm bells

Many might wonder, after viewing the accompanying footage, if the world just got a whole lot scarier.

Small quad-copter drones of the type that are now widely used to videotape animals, waves and landscapes, apparently can be transformed into killing machines.

 

The "Flying Gun" footage, uploaded by YouTube user Hogwit, shows a quad-copter firing several rounds while hovering several feet off the ground, recoiling and repositioning after each shot.

The description reads: “Homemade multirotor with a semiautomatic handgun mounted on it."

Outdoor Hub reports that the weapon appears to be a KelTec PMR-30, and adds: “With over 30 rounds of .22 Magnum, that’s some serious firepower for a flying drone."

It's not legal to hunt with drones, and we can't help but wonder whether it’s legal to build and operate a device like this beyond a person’s private property–or period.

Aerial footage shows humpback whale blowing a rainbow

When a whale blows a rainbow it’s often referred to as a “rainblow,” and they occur only when the lighting is right as a whale exhales at the surface.

Rainblow photos from boats are not rare, but aerial footage of this event is somewhat rare, mostly because the widespread use of drones for whale photography is a fairly new phenomenon.

The accompanying footage of a humpback whale blowing rainbows, captured off Newport Beach, was uploaded on July 6 by YouTube user MGMedia.

Pay close attention at the 40-second mark, because that's when the rainblow is most vibrant.

 –Image is a video screen grab

A close whale encounter, and one man's hysterical reaction

Close encounters with whales produce a wide array of reactions, but one man’s reaction to discovering a pod of humpback whales emerging to feed very close to his boat was much different than the typical “Wow!” response.

The accompanying footage, which contains brief profanity, is undoubtedly producing lots of smiles as it begins to circulate on the Internet.

Tony Flanders and Brad Rich were fishing off Seward, Alaska, when the whales began to lunge feed at the surface, their heads emerging with gaping mouths, creating quite a spectacle.

For Flanders, the awesome display at such close quarters was just too much, and he began to laugh hysterically. "Oh my God, they're right in front of us!" he begins.

Rich is quoted by Azula as saying, “”I knew that humpbacks do this group feeding. So I knew what was happening as soon as it happened.

"But to be in the middle of that, to actually experience that as to just watching it, it was the most awe-inspiring thing, it’s the most amazing thing to have ever happened to me.”

Rare oarfish hooked by angler, in what might be a first

It's rare enough to see an oarfish, but to hook and reel in one of these deep-sea denizens from a fishing boat might be unprecedented.

The bizarre catch of a 20-foot oarfish was made June 29 aboard the Fortune, a San Diego-based boat that was fishing at Santa Catalina Island.

For whatever reason, the catch was not publicized. But meteorologist Chris Dunn, who writes a column called The Fishing Weatherman, reported the news on his blog.

The fish was snagged and barely alive. When it was brought close to the boat, a crewman attempted to collect it with a gaff, but the flesh was too soft for the gaff to hold.

“It was very surprising, a once-in-a-lifetime thing to even see one,” Smith said.

The fish was eventually abandoned.

Oarfish reside in the dark depths of the world’s oceans, between 1,000 and 3,000 feet, and can reach nearly 50 feet in length.

Because of their long and slender bodies, their mane-like dorsal fins, and their giant, saucer-shaped eyes, they’re believed to have helped spawn myths about sea monsters and dragons that rise to the surface to sink ships and steal crewmen.

They’re rarely seen, and those that are seen are usually dead or close to death, but for some reason Catalina has become a hot spot for sightings.

This represents at least the third oarfish sighting in two years at the island, which is located 26 miles west of Los Angeles.

A 17-footer was found and collected for scientific studies in early June, and an 18-foot oarfish was collected in 2013. In 2006, a 15-foot live oarfish was found languishing near the surface off Catalina. Harbormaster Doug Oudin snorkeled alongside the critter in the moments before it perished.

–Pete Thomas

–Oarfish images are courtesy of Fortune Sportfishing

–Hat tip to Phil Friedman Outdoors

Giant sheet of rock falls from face of Half Dome; could affect climbing routes

A large sheet of rock is missing from the face of Half Dome in Yosemite National Park, and it's likely to alter climbing routes on the iconic granite monolith.

According to the Associated Press, the rock fall, which occurred as recently as Monday, did not cause any injuries. There were no known witnesses to the fall.

Park geologist and climber Greg Stock said the sheet measured about 100-by-200 feet, and that climbers utilize multiple routes on Half Dome's 1,000-foot face.

The fall occurred on the Regular Northwest Face route, the most popular climb in Yosemite, with 23 pitches.

The fall probably will not change the path of hikers on the popular cable route to the top of Half Dome.

Rock falls in the California wilderness park occur sporadically, but typically involve much smaller rocks.

–Generic Half Dome image is courtesy of Kenny Karst