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The Fishing Island Is Here!
Hawaii Fishing News - Spring 1990
By Rick Gaffney

    The first angler who paid to drop a line off the Fishing Island landed a 157 -lb Pacific blue marlin and a 125-lb thresher shark two days after Christmas. Angler Stewart Rosen was elated. So was Fishing Island owner Ray Nibert.
    It took Ray six years of planning and patience (along with buckets of good, old-fashioned blood, sweat and tears) to secure the myriad governmental permits required, but his long-awaited dream of a moored fishing island off the Kona Coast finally became a reality. Ray, his financial partner George Cline, and his new working partner (also his brother-in-law) Ralph Sill invested heavily in the dream during the long drawn-out process.
    Situated about 3.5 miles off Kaiwi Point on the Kona Coast, the 70-foot long by 24-foot wide aluminum platform quickly became Hawai'i's largest and perhaps one of its most productive fish aggregating devices (FADs). Small boat fishermen and charter skippers play ring-around-the-island all day and for most of the night to work the prolific schools of bait, and they catch a substantial number of fish.
Fishing Island started producing fish within three days of its November 30 installation. By New Year's it had seen a number of blue marlin hooked and lost due to the complications of fishing from a large moored vessel, but a surprising number of billfish were landed by Ray and Ralph Sill and their team of workmen who were frantically working to complete the vessel's interior.
    Other more valuable species like 'ahi were regular attractions. The largest tuna caught to date is a 225 pounder taken off the fishing platform in early January. Regular nighttime catches include a constant stream of thresher sharks, which seem to find the bait attracted to the Fishing Island irresistible.
    The present Fishing Island is a far cry from the original concept, which envisioned the mooring of a huge barge outfitted with an upper deck restaurant and lounge, a sun deck with saltwater plunge and spa tub, and rail space and tackle for a large number of fishermen. A series of investors seeking too much control scared Ray away from the larger project, though that dream is still alive.
    The Fishing Island in place off Kona's Honokohau Harbor today is a down-sized version of the ultimate Fishing Island, but nonetheless a very functional one.
    The 70-foot long commercial fishing catamaran DOUBLE D was secured in a partially completed form, and then simply outfitted to carry and support a small number of anglers, night or day. The twin hulls of the vessel make her remarkably stable, and the shallow draft means she places very little drag on the mooring.
    One of the most impressive aspects of the Fishing Island is its deep offshore mooring, set in nearly 1,000 fathoms of water. That's more than one mile! Only one other mooring has been set that deep in island waters, and that was for the large OTEC plant moored off Kona years ago.
    The OTEC mooring was set with literally millions of federal dollars for engineering, vessels, chain and other materials. The Fishing Island mooring was well-engineered and then assembled and installed by neophytes who substituted with sweat and blood for the money and experience the government had invested in the OTEC project. A flotilla of small commercial fishing and charterboats substituted for the tugs and barges used at OTEC. Over a year earlier, Ray's first attempt to set a mooring on the site failed when the anchor was dropped in water too deep and the entire rig disappeared forever.
    This time, when the 2,000-lb Fishing Island anchor was kicked off a small wood topped float, supported by 55-gallon drums, it was followed very quickly by 500 feet of chain estimated to weigh five tons and then 6,000 feet of steel cable.
    "The chain jumped into the air and flew off the float in something like seven seconds," Ray recounted later, "it was unbelievable to watch; it was like it was alive!" Ray had spent hours painstakingly laying out the heavy links by hand so that they would pay off the float properly. The anchor found its mark in the right depth of water, and the large buoy specially created to support the mooring system proudly stood up to mark the site.
    The mooring buoy is a good example of Ray's creative use of available materials. Rather than buy an expensive, high-technology mooring buoy, Ray took a discarded cement mixer drum, filled it with pourable foam, welded rings on each end, and built the perfect mooring buoy himself. As the perfect final touch, his Wife, Terry, painted the company logo on the side.
    No one is certain of the specifics of the attraction of floating objects in the ocean, but there is little question that this large object has proven immensely attractive to a variety of the smaller fish that larger predatory game fish eat. The vast school of 'opelu that surrounds the Fishing Island at night is awesome. Lights are kept on at the surface of the water all night to attract squid as well. During the day, smaller aku and 'ahi are regularly accessible, providing a mix of bait that attracts all kinds of game fish.
    The Fishing Island is only able to accommodate six anglers at a time, pending later certification by the U.S. Coast Guardfor a larger capacity. In the meantime, Ray expects to offer round-the-clock access to fishermen, who will be shuttled to the floating platform aboard the charter boat SUMMERTIME II. Cost is $49.95 per angler for a five-hour trip.
    Once aboard, anglers will find a spacious rear deck and broad unobstructed side decks; in short, they'll find lots of room to fish. The vessel does have a large interior, which will include a small galley/deli, an onboard tackle shop, rest rooms and a sheltered dining area. The bow area features a fish cleaning station for the convenience of the anglers.
    After the mooring of the Fishing Island was complete, Ray and his brother-in-law worked around the clock to complete the interior amenities and prepare the vessel for the Coast Guard certification that will allow them to invite more fishermen to join the fun. The completion of the first phase of the venture is just beginning. Ray and his partners will continue to seek some $4 million in venture capital to build the dream Fishing Island that has been planned for so many years. The difference now is that Ray can physically show investors what he means when he talks about aggregating large schools of fish, and he can now prove the earning potential of the project with more than hypothetical financial projections.
    The Fishing Island is certainly one of the most novel approaches to game fishing ever introduced into island waters, and it took a lot of persistence to see it to reality. Judging by the fleet of small boats nestled close to the wings of the aluminum catamaran, and the anglers anxious to fill their coolers with everything from 'opelu and small 'ahi and aku to the largest game fish in island waters, the Fishing Island is quickly proving to be a real success.

© Rick Gaffney

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