jackpot

After three days of intense fishing competition among 103 boats, the Goodfellows, owners of the Lahaina based Bertram 43 Taipan II and spreaders of goodwill throughout their company, managed to land a 307.3 pound Pacific Blue Marlin on day two to claim the title of the 1999 Lahaina Jackpot Fishing Tournament champions. The fish was the second smallest to take the $25,000.00 first prize in its twenty-three year history, just a little heavier than the 272.4 pound Marlin caught on the Snoopy Too in 1991.
Tai Pan II entered the tournament with three sets of six anglers, eighteen in all, and gave their employees the opportunity to participate in one of the most enjoyable tournaments in all of Hawaii. Despite having to pay an extra $2,100.00 to enter ($150.00 per angler over four is the rule), the Goodfellows use the Jackpot each year as a way to thank their employees. After coming up empty on day one, they worked the North end of the Pailolo channel between Maui and Molokai on day two, and angler Bill Yarian got the lucky strike, boating the fish after an impressive fight. As they brought the fish to the scales before a warm, cheering crowd outside the Pioneer Inn, they figured they had enough to take over the day one lead of 279.3 pounds caught on Kukana Kai, but they didn’t think the fish would hold on to win the big prize. In fact, nobody thought it would hold up because of the grand history this tournament has seen. Tiny Lahaina Harbor where all the action is On October 28, 1977 at about 11:00 am, only four hours into the first Jackpot tournament in Hawaii had begun, Dave Rockett and his father Louis tied into what would prove to be the first tournament winner; a 559 ¾ pound Black Marlin caught in a mere half hour aboard Halcyon. That fish remains as the only Black Marlin over 400 pounds caught in the tournament, and places eighth on the all time largest. And since that eventful day almost a quarter-century ago, it’s noteworthy to consider this entire yearly pilgrimage to Maui may never have materialized if not for the efforts of local skippers Bill Moffett and Phil Cole.After discussing the concept of a Jackpot format (as opposed to a “Corinthian” tournament like the world famous Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament), Moffett and Cole recruited help from Kenny Takashima and Rick Rose, and the four of them obtained a professional opinion as to whether or not a jackpot tournament would qualify as gambling and thus be illegal in Hawaii. The Maui prosecutor’s office cleared the way with their thoughts that a jackpot was similar to Brahma bull riding for money in up-country Maui, and thus the road was paved for a tournament that would see some of the greatest fishing drama the world has ever known.
Weigh scale construction To say there has been drama and controversy over the years in Lahaina is an understatement. If the Indianapolis 500 is the “Greatest Spectacle in Sports,” the Lahaina Jackpot must surely be worthy of the title of “The Greatest Spectacle in Fishing.” Case in point: during the early 90’s, a couple of boats seemed to be coming in terribly late almost every night and they were filling up the weigh scales with hundreds of pounds of Mahimahi. Despite the requirement that all boats stop fishing at 4:00 each day, the lack of radio contact with every boat in the fleet has made it very difficult to communicate information to everyone during the day and thus the “stop fishing” time is governed predominantly on the honor system. Although there was never any proof of wrongdoing, the committee had a bit of a rough go with administering the situation, causing a little extra tension on banquet night when the time came to hand out the prizes.
Also during the early 90’s, the tournament committee recalled a boat that blew up shortly after the start, tossing the crew into the water with a hundred boats bearing down on them. In another year, one of the skippers of a local commercial catamaran operation decided to enter the tournament, partly resulting of the increased growth in popularity of the tournament and partly because of the lure of the big cash prize. They reportedly took the boat to the North Shore of Molokai, caught a couple of Striped Marlin, but were rewarded for their efforts by being terminated on the spot for unauthorized use of the vessel.
Then there were the tag and release challenges. All over the world, conservation has become part of the daily ritual for rod-and-reel fishermen, and Hawaii has seen its share of ups and downs on this issue. In 1994, after two years of implementing the tag and release program, the committee had a logistical challenge to overcome while trying to make a forthright effort to make the tournament more conservation oriented. With limited ability to contact boats by radio and thus provide instructions on validating their catch, there was no way to govern ties or prove fish had been released. With only five qualifying fish caught and a 140-pound minimum in place, a decision was made by the committee to pay prize money for fish released in the tournament instead of issuing prizes of merchandise as had been the way in the past. The word got out to the anglers during day two, and reportedly, some of the less forthright anglers began to employ questionable tactics and skepticism rang throughout the fleet as to the validity of the results. Since
It all takes place right outside the famous Pioneer Inn
that time, the committee decided to pay jackpot money only for fish actually weighed, however, the Jackpot has continued to promote the release of small billfish by rewarding skippers with substantial merchandise prizes. The logistics of running such a large tournament in a tiny harbor has always been a challenge. Lahaina harbor, just an egg-toss wide and a nine-iron long, only contains 96 official slips (Tahiti-style tie ups, really), yet because of the enormous foot-traffic filling up charter boats, dinner cruises, whale-watching trips, sailboats and ferries to Lanai on a daily basis, it remains the busiest in the state. A couple years ago, the committee managed one of the biggest logistical challenges ever. In addition to the 157 boats entered in the tournament, a cruise ship, a research vessel and two navy ships were all vying for use of the garage-sized harbor entrance, the severely limited dock space, and access to the fuel trucks that maintained a constant pilgrimage from the refinery to the harbor. Some boats had to wait outside the harbor for hours to take on fuel, but somehow they managed to work their way through it and keep everyone safe.
The morning sun rises over the tiny harbor The tournament pressed on, its popularity grew, and as this resilient group of participants and volunteers overcame challenges, the rewards that came with it became memories for a lifetime. In 1986, the crew of the Cutty Sark II caught a 784-pound Marlin on the first day and decided to enjoy the fruits of their labor. Shortly after the start on day two, they returned to port and secured, entertained themselves at the bar, then watched mortified as the Maka Iwa came in with a 654.4 pounder. Figuring there were still some big fish out there, they decided they would be better served by protecting their lead, and went to sea on day three. And though they managed to hang on to the lead and ultimately win the tournament, the scare served as a wake-up call, reminding everyone who fishes in tournaments that Hawaii is a fishery that can give great bounty, yet take it away as well.
The late Cornelius Choy, skipper of the famed Coreene C that still holds the record for the largest Marlin ever landed on rod and reel (1805 pounds, caught on Oahu in 1970), fished this tournament every year without fail, and the committee recalls him always being a gentleman when he was in town. He was always assigned team number 53, and though he never did win the tournament, his number was retired after he passed away. To this day, team 53 on the fish board reads “Retired – Captain Choy,” and serves as a great testimonial to the level of esteem the committee held for the legendary Oahu skipper, and also serves as a great testimonial of the purity and charm of the tournament itself.
Scares, testimonials and other reminders notwithstanding, this tournament has produced some great winners over the years, and some skippers have won it twice. In 1988 and 1989, Aerial, with skipper Chris Rose, son of Rick Rose, one of the original founders, managed to claim back to back victories with a 646.4 pound effort in ‘88 and a 542 pounder in ‘89. As radio-room volunteer Nancy Lee recalls of the only skipper to win it back to back, “those boys can’t remember their team numbers to save their lives, but oh, they sure can fish!”
Oahu’s Matt Kahapea on the Ah Tina won the jackpot in 1984 with a 567.2 pound Marlin, and he took the title again in 1995 with a 508.6 pound effort. And in 1998 Pualele, a well-known Bertram 35 owned by the Luuwai family of Maui that fishes tournaments all over Hawaii, won both the Wahine and open tournaments with a 534.3 pound Marlin in the Jackpot and a 199.8 pound Ahi in the Wahine.