Kaenon Polarized

358 boats competed last week out of Cape May for the annual 2010 Mid Atlantic $500,000 fishing tournament. 558 White Marlin were caught and 531 released, with the top prize awarded to the team aboard Billfisher with an 88# white marlin worth $791,442.

Kaenon’s Viking 70 team finished 3rd in the overall release points for white marlin.

Brian Graul and Dave Anderson aboard Krazy Salts caught a couple tuna on the first day. The larger of the two, an 83 pounder, was good enough for third place in the tuna division, winning $15,172.86.

Brian Graul wearing Rhino Black G12 and Dave Anderson in Klay Matte Black G12 with the third place tuna.

Crew Sam Choy Jr. (Rhino Black G12), and Captain Boyd Decoito (UPD black G12), accept the prestigious Henry Chee Award.

Captain Boyd Decoito and captain of the 46’ Foxy Lady, won the Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament’s coveted Henry Chee Award. The perpetual Hery 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, Henry Chee, was a pioneer marlin fisherman who set an unprecedented number of gamefish catch records, also helped establish the Kona coast as a world-famous fishing destination. Decoito has won two Henry Chee awards; one as captain and one as crew.

“I have been fishing HIBT since I was about twelve years old,” said Decoito. “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.”

Conway Bowman’s second annual Flying Mako Tournament in early August off the waters of San Diego, to bring more awareness to the sustainability, conservation and sound management of mako sharks and other apex predators.

The Flying Mako tournament enforces a strict catch and release policy for all sharks hooked and fought to the boat. All fish hooked, fought, and brought to the boat must have the fly removed by the captain wiring the leader using a long release stick to remove the barbless hook.

Conway Bowman in Jetty Black G12 tells a fish story to event winner Jeff Patterson of Abel Reels.

Team Healing Waters led by Captain Jared Lane in Burny Black G12 (kneeling left) took second place.

As reported by Wired2Fish.com:

Holding off a hard-charging Ryan Said, Dave Wolak of Wake Forest, N.C., had just enough weight Saturday to take the 2010 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Northern Open on Lake Champlain. Wolak amassed a three-day total of 54 pounds, 1 ounce, to score his second BASS victory.

“This tournament means more to me than anything in my career,” said Wolak, a Bassmaster Elite Series pro. “More than the Rookie of the Year or the Bassmaster Major that I won. This lake has a sense of purity about it, and when you come up here you really have to find the fish first. You have to make changes navigationally and strategically.

“I came up here planning to fish for largemouth thinking that’s what was going to win it, but I started fishing for smallies early on. I made a critical move on Friday because the north wind made me fish shallow. I found a grass mat and whacked ‘em. That wind tucked the fish up under there.”

Wolak flipped a Fin-Tech Title Shot jig tipped with a YUM Craw Papi into grass to land most of his fish. He took home the top prize of more than $51,000 as well as the lead in the Northern Opens points race. After the three-tournament Northern Opens season, the top two anglers will receive a berth in the 2011 Bassmaster Classic in New Orleans.

Dave Wolak wears Kore, Black, C12 lens

Kimi Werner, Garrett Lee and friends went out for a day trolling off Oahu’s West-Side and ended up hooking up a nice 178 pound Ahi.

Kimi in Eden Black G12 goes to work hand-lining the fish while friend Kalei Fernandez pulls up slack.

Garrett wearing Kore M G12 sinks the second gaff – check out Garrett’s home-made pearl-head lure hanging out of the ahi’s mouth.

Elite series angler Aaron Martens, wearing his go-to Kore C28, went from having one of his best fishing days ever, to one of his worst after his winning bag of fish went belly-up in the live well (aka dead).

Forced to throw back several large fish in order to prevent them from dying, Martens wound up in second place only 3 ounces behind winner Russ Lane. A visibly dejected Martens still weighed the biggest bass of the day.

Elite Series Angler Dave Wolak spoke up on Basseast.com about what he looks for in a sight-fishing sunglass.

Read the full article and watch his video review here

Wolak talks Sunglasses from Bass East on Vimeo.

Dave Wolak wears Kore C12, C28 and Y35 on tour, explains why he prefers Kaenon shades and how they benefit his fishing.

Captain Jason Holtz and crew Brian Toney hosted newlyweds Jill and John Anderson for a day of fishing the deep clear waters offshore of Kona. The crew had only made it a couple miles south of the harbor entrance when at 6:55a.m. a large Blue Marlin attacked a Marlin Magic bullet lure and the fight was suddenly on.

After a tough three and a half hour battle on 130lb line with heavy drag, the fish was brought within range and gaffed. Jason and Brian release the vast majority of their blue marlin catches, but, this fish looked big enough to make it over the mark. Sure enough, with a 142 inch short measurement (tip of lower jaw to fork of tail), the blue went 1,104 pounds at the scale.

Of the three marlin species that can grow over 1,000 pounds (Atlantic, Pacific and Black) the Pacific Blue marlin is the most elusive and is truly a career defining catch. This fish registers as the first Grander caught anywhere in the world in 2010.

Jason is no stranger to the company of big fish—he has leadered three grander black marlin, including an 1,103 pound on Australia’s great barrier reef, as well as an 1,357 pound Atlantic blue in the Azores, making him part of the highly exclusive triple grander club, whose other known members, Kevin Nakamura and Oskie Rice, also hail from Kona.

Jason Holtz wears Arlo Tortoise G12 and Brian Tomey wears
Rhino Matte Black G12

Early season signs are pointing to a great upcoming El Niño-influenced summer of fishing. While White Sea Bass and Yellowtail are just starting to show up at the islands, the Calico Bass action is already in full swing. Local Salt Water Bass pros Ben Florentino and teammate Keith Michael of team “Big Hammer” reported,

“Great day on the water. The weather was nice to start in the 60’s, shorts and jacket, then the storm rolled in, but, it didn’t seem to bother fishing! We ended up with about 30 fish a piece!”

As the weather conditions deteriorated the fishing improved. Ben shows off a huge 8 pound calico caught in the rain.

Kimi Werner, wearing Eden just returned from Palau where she did some diving with the crew from Hawaii Skin Diver Magazine.

Kimi Werner, diving Palau’s famed brackish lake, which is home to thousands of non-stinging jellyfish.

Respected offshore fisherman Greg Stotesbury left the heavy tackle at home to enjoy a day fishing bedded bass on Lake Skinner.

Greg Stotesbury spotted this one deep wearing his Hard Kore Y35.

“All of the bass were just starting their move to the shallows to spawn. We were at the lake last week and many of the males were just starting to clear nests in anticipation of the females moving up during the full moon period. Skinner has extremely clear water with at least 20 feet of visibility, with the proper Kaenon lenses!

“Yesterday we were targeting the larger pre-spawn females on the outer edges of spawning flats in 15-30 feet of water. As soon as we got on the lake I was able to identify several areas where the shallows were loaded with males guarding nests. We knew the females would be located on the edges adjacent to these flats and immediately started targeting those edges with jigs and plastics. The key was locating the flats with the most male bass guarding nests. Even though we weren’t specifically targeting the males by sight fishing, it was a huge advantage being able to see them in the clear-green water. Most of the nests with bass on them had small white freshwater clam shells and other debris in them which I could easily spot with Kaenon’s Y35 lenses, even before I would see the male bass guarding the new nest.

“After identifying the key edges and flats we started scoring on a beautiful grade of pre-spawn female bass in the 3-6lb range. It wasn’t easy fishing but we were able to catch over a dozen nice fish throughout the day. This 6.25lb pre-spawn beauty was our best of the day-

“She fell for a Texas-rigged, 8” hand-poured purple/neon blue worm in 22 feet of water. We released all of our egg-laden female fish in the areas where we caught them.”

Captain Kevin Hibbard reported back that he took last weekend’s Dirty Dozen tournament in Kona with a 672lb Pacific Blue Marlin.

J.R. Robinson, Wireman Davey Wolff wearing Jetty Seaweed G12 (standing right) and Captain Kevin Hibbard wearing Rhino Tobacco C12 and Kaenon T-shirt with the winning fish.

“Big Head, long, but kinda skinny,” Kevin Remarked “Ate a big Coggins Tado lure right off the short corner.”

Kevin in Rhino Tobacco C12 watches the spread.

A native Californian and one of the best Bass fishermen on the planet, Aaron Martens returned to his old stomping grounds last week for a day of free fishing on Lower Castaic Lake before heading back to the East Coast for the upcoming Elite Series Blue Ridge Brawl on Virginia’s Smith Mountain Lake.

Usually wearing his favorite pair of Kaenon sunglasses, Kore Black C28, Aaron is widely regarded as one of the best sight and finesse fishermen on tour. Working the beds of Lower Castaic Lake Aaron discusses the tactics used when sight fishing in tournaments.

Check out the video of Aaron Martens at Lake Castaic

Kula Barbietto, yes we know how cute and sweet she is, but she also rips. Whether it is surfing, stand up paddling or fishing, Kula is pure Hawaiian waterwoman. Here’s a recent shot of her this winter with a fresh catch.

Kula is now wearing Joss , Delite and the all new Soft Kore, coming to retail this spring.

Jaren Luke who works at Oahu’s Hanapa’a Fishing Store went big with his first Ono, spearing a huge 46.6 pound fish.

Jaren Luke, in UPD Black G12, very stoked!

Nice work Jaren!

FRESH PRESS

Conway Bowman grabbed a nice write up in ESPN Outdoors Saltwater magazine in an article covering Southern California’s world-class Mako Shark fishery.

Last week, the crew of Tenacious traveled 244 miles west of Cabo San Lucas to the remote and uninhabited island of San Benedicto. Fishing was excellent and the boat’s freezers were filled to capacity. The boat and crew decked out in variety of Kaenon sunglasses will now return to Southern California in preparation for the upcoming 2010 summer fishing season.

We just caught wind of these ridiculous images of our friend Jared Lane from Fast Lane Sailing Center down in San Diego. Wearing Kaenon Polarized Sunglasses style, Burny Black G12, Jared caught a 100 lb thresher shark from a stand up paddleboard, actually pulling the shark up in his lap. Yep, you read that right.

Just another day in sunny Southern California…?

“There was some talk about fishing on a stand up paddle board going around our shop, and the idea to tow surf behind a shark came up. Is it possible? I thought it would be more than possible and was so confident I set the whole attack mission up. I had the whole thing planned out except for one minor detail… What do I do when it’s right beneath my feet?” – Jared Lane

Read the full story and see more pics and video on the Fast Lane blog.

by Matt Peters  (Guest Contributor)

The recent FLW Outdoors National Guard Eastern Series tournament on Lake Okeechobee was a sight fishing shootout.  The fish had moved up on beds to spawn and the winning weights came from guys able to get the big females to bite.   The conditions for the tournament were pretty ideal for sight fishing:  mostly sunny skies, with slight cloud cover and light breeze.

When it comes to sight fishing, you’ve got to be able to position your boat as far from the fish as possible, and yet still be able to see what is going on.  Enter Kaenon Polarized.   I wore the Arlo with Copper 12 lenses the entire tournament and was able to stay off the beds, work the fish from a distance, and get the job done.   The C12 lenses give you ample brightness to see down in the black Florida freshwater.   Of course, the polarization takes the glare off the water so you can see the fish, see your bait, and make the best possible presentations to irritate the big girls into biting.

The below picture shows my view of a bed without polarization:

Here is that same bed, holding a pair a Arlo C12s over the camera lens: (notice the 3 pounder swimming away at 10 O’clock):

And here I am with my Arlo C12s and some Day 2 tournament fish, including a beautiful 6 pound female that helped me to a 40th place finish and $5250:

I’m gonna be here another few weeks to practice for one more event on Lake Okeechobee, aka, the Big O.   When conditions get really cloudy and grey, I’ll be reaching from my Hard Kore’s with the Y35 lens to optimize the amount of light I can get to see, should the conditions turn from bright to cloudy.  Otherwise, I’ll just stick to my Arlo C12s.  Kaenon’s got you covered for sight fishing.

Jonathon VanDam and Stephen Pineau took to the road after Christmas fleeing the icy cold Michigan weather. First stop was the Prettyboy reservoir in Maryland followed by a stop on the St. John’s River in Florida before heading down to sunny Boca Raton. The two are pre-fishing despite abnormally cold weather for the Sunshine state in preparation for the first Southern Open taking place next week in the Everglades.

Conditions in Maryland weren’t exactly ideal for fishing, but the boys went anyway.

Not what you want to see when you’re bass fishing.

Despite Frigid conditions the boys managed a couple good ones. Stephen Pineau wearing Kore with Y35 Lens, Jonathon VanDam in Lewi, Black with G12 Lens were rewarded for their suffering. While the fish got a little smaller, but the weather improved upon arrival in Florida

Jonathon hoping a gator doesn’t get to his bass before he can get it to the boat on the vast grass-beds of Lake Okeechobee.

EXPEDITION FISHING

Kaenon Polarized hunter extraordinaire, Alistair James sent us a recap of his recent holiday expedition in Nairobi which included fishing for Nile Perch. Not something you get to do every day…

“I was in Nairobi on business the first week of November when I met Johnny Chipman, a fellow hunting guide working in Tanzania. He mentioned that he would be heading to Lake Turkana over the weekend to fish for Nile perch and asked if I would like to go along.  Always willing to try something new, I immediately said yes. After a few drinks Johnny sketched a map on the back of a napkin to help me find the meeting point for our trip Thursday night.

A four hour drive from Nairobi going north on Thursday afternoon proved the napkin sketch more or less reliable as I arrived on location and met up with Johnny just before dark.  There we were joined by four other friends and together we packed two Land Cruiser pickups and had an early night with the intention of starting first thing the next morning.

We had a fourteen-hour drive north to the southern tip of Lake Turkana.  The closer we got to the Lake, the more barren and dry the landscape became.  The local herders all roamed with Kalashnikov rifles, but appeared for the most part friendly.  A couple hours before the lake we stopped in a small mission where a Dutch missionary family told us that a fight had broken out the day before and that everyone was low on ammunition so we should be safe.

As the sun was setting we arrived on the lake shore.  Because of the intense thermal winds we set up camp in the lee of a rock formation.  I just slept that night on a ground mat with a blanket, but when the breeze died sometime after midnight I wished that I had brought along my mosquito net.

Early the next morning we were up and launched the small aluminum boat that had been carried all the way to the lake on the top of the pickup truck.  There were quite a few crocodiles in the lake, so we were on the look out when launching the boat.

We fished for perch in the mornings and evenings by trolling Rapala lures.  During the midday heat we fished the shores for a big species of Tilapia that feeds on the algae growing on the rocks in the lake.

We fished all day Saturday and Sunday and trolled briefly Monday morning before packing up and driving back south.  The lake is an amazing example of desert and water coming together creating an almost surreal landscape.  Highly recommended.”

FRESH PRESS

Kaenon Polarized fly guide, Nick Pujic (Kore C12) appears on the cover of the current issue of Fly Fishing in Salt Waters – November/December 2009.

FLY FISHING – MOZAMBIQUE
Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water! Trapper Rudd shows that having the right equipment can make all the difference. Wearing Kaenon Sunglasses in Hard Kore C12, Rudd holds up a very large, angry tiger fish he caught fly fishing on the Zambezi River in Mozambique.

Trapper Rudd, wearing Hard Kore Black C12 fishing sunglasses and owner of Cutthroat Anglers, experienced off the charts snook fishing deep in the mangroves jungles of the Yucatan. Armed with a fly-rod, specialized fishing Kayak, and plenty of Skoal Wintergreen – Trapper hooks up to a HUGE snook.