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Summer In Paradise
Western Outdoors Magazine - Summer 1990
By Jim Rizzuto

    Kona, Hawaii; fishermen have two new opportunities waiting offshore: a “Fishing Island” for anglers on a budget and luxurious “motherships” for those with more time and money.
    The “island” is a floating fishing platform anchored in federal waters 3 miles outside Honokahau Harbor, Kona’s major fishing port.  Anglers pay $49 for a roundtrip to the platform and 4 hours of fishing from it.  Fish are attracted to it in such great numbers that “island” jiggers, casters and baiters rarely get skunked.  Blue marlin, thresher sharks, yellowfin tuna, mahimahi and skipjack tuna frequent the platform area.
    Daily, dozens of other fishing boats troll and jig around it. Much of the charter fleet comes to the platform to catch bait (skipjack, tuna) after trolling the ½ hour run to it.  Many local recreational fishermen circle the platform all day, reaping the benefits of Hawaii’s largest FAD (fish-aggregation device).
    The Fishing Island is a 70-foot-long, 24-foot-wide, double-hulled aluminum boat moored to a float made from the drum of a cement mixer and anchored in water a mile deep.  The $250,000 platform is outfitted with a snack bar, head and fishing tackle (one rod per customer, but you can bring additional gear if you wish).  Anglers may keep up to 10 pounds of their catch, which is filleted and wrapped for them.  The remainder of the catch is reserved by the operators to help defray the large startup costs.

For reservations contact Captain Ray Nibert.

© Jim Rizzuto 1990

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