The 51st Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament

July 25-29, 2011

The Grandfather of all
Big Game
Fishing Tournaments

2010 Final Fishing Day Update!

Video by Brandon Sakamoto

big marlin
Out of the Blue angler Ted Morikawa and Miss Billfish Sonja Ascino

KONA GAME FISHING CLUB-KUSATSU WINS 51ST HAWAIIAN INTERNATIONAL BILLFISH TOURNAMENT

BOYD DECOITO TOP SKIPPER

KONA, HAWAII—“Stop fishing, stop fishing, stop fishing,” rang out at exactly 4:30pm for the final time this week and with those words the 51st running of the Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament came to a close.

The final day of this five-day tournament kept ra control on the edge of its radio as captains, crews and highly competitive teams trolled for valuable tournament points.

“Mahalo to the entire Big Island community for extending such warmth and aloha to the international fishing community this week,” said HIBT founder Peter Fithian. “Twenty eight teams out of thirty one scored points and we are happy about that. It was certainly another great tournament.”

This year’s HIBT Governor’s Trophy and first place goes to Kona Game Fishing Club-Kusatsu. Fishing aboard Kila Kila today, captained by long-time Kona skipper Teddy Hoogs, KGFC earned another 300 points. This team has fished consistently all week putting points on the scoreboard every day. By 8:30 am this morning angler Hiroyuki Murakami had tagged an estimated 200-pound Pacific blue marlin. Kona Game Fishing Club-Kusatsu finished this year’s tournament with 2,129 points!

But the story of the tournament goes to HIBT team #8 Out Of The Blue from Waianae, Oahu. Fishing today aboard the Miss Mojo, captained by Tio Kearney, angler Ted Morikawa boated a whopping 779-pound Pacific blue marlin, earning his team second place in this year’s HIBT. “I’ve been fishing in the HIBT for three years and I guess you could say three’s a charm,” said Morikawa. “Captain Kearney encouraged us to fish on live bait. We set up the bait, trolled for a bit and bingo!” As the largest fish of the day and the tournament, Out Of The Blue finished with 1479 points on the scoreboard. 

Top Captain

Boyd DeCoito, captain of the 46’ Foxy Lady, won the Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament’s coveted Henry Chee Award. The perpetual Henry Chee Award was established in 1965 to honor the charter boat captain upon whose vessel the most number of billfish points have been scored at HIBT. The award’s namesake, a pioneer marlin fisherman who set an unprecedented number of gamefish catch records, helped establish the Kona coast as a world-famous fishing destination. DeCoito has won two Henry Chee awards as captain and one as crew. 

“I have been fishing HIBT since I was about twelve years old,” said DeCoito. “So you could say I grew up with this tournament. This week I knew I wanted to fish south in an area called Uniform. It performed for us all week long. We had great teams fishing with us who relied on our experience and knowledge.” Fishing as crew for DeCoito were Sam Choy, Jr. and Russ Nita.

Next year’s 52nd Annual Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament is scheduled for July 24–July 30, with fishing days from July 25-29, 2011. Anglers and teams are invited to apply early as a full tournament is anticipated. Log onto www.hibtfishing.com for details.

hugging a big marlin
Out of the Blue angler Ted Morikawa  hugs
largest fish of the 2010 HIBT

DAILY CATCH (Friday)
8
Pacific blue marlin tagged & released
1
Pacific blue marlin weighed
2
Short nose spearfish tagged & released

HIBT FIVE-DAY WEEK TOTAL
38
Pacific blue marlin tagged & released
8  
Pacific blue marlin weighed
3
Striped marlin tagged & released
13
Short nose spearfish tagged & released
1
Sailfish
2
Ahi boated

FINAL TEAM STANDINGS
Place
Team
Points
1
Kona Game Fishing Club-Kusatsu, Japan
2129
2
Out Of The Blue Fishing Club, Hawaii  
1479
3
Laguna Niguel Billfish Club #2, California
1300
4 Olypian Dream Fishing Club, Japan 1298
5
Hilton Grand Vacations Fishing Club, Japan
1258
6
Game Fishing Club of South Australia
1100
7
Bay of Islands Swordfish Club#1, New Zealand 
989
8
Aussie Invaders, Australia
950
9
Malibu Marlin Club, California
890
10
Team KGFA-Korean Game Fishing Association
820

CAPTAIN STANDINGS
Place
Captain
Boat
Points
1
Boyd DeCoito
Foxy Lady 
1700
2
Tio Kearney
Miss Mojo
1629
3
Guy Terwilliger
Malolo
1489
4
Matt LoSasso 
Last Chance
1429
5
Mike DeRego
Maggie Joe
1050
6
Jason Holtz
Marlin Magic
1008
7
Lance Gelman
Long Ranger
1000
8
Chuck Wilson
Fire Hatt
990
9
Kevin Hibbard
JR’s Hooker
927
10
Kevin Nakamaru
Northern Lights
920

For the Updates Archive Click Here

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Future HIBT Dates:

2011 - July 24 - July 30, with fishing days from July 25-29

2012 - August 12 - August 18, with fishing days from August 13-17

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