September 2026
Aloha Tag-It Community,
Welcome to all of our new tagging participants and mahalo to everyone for continuing to contribute your valuable data and time. We’ve had some rough weather this past month, but still hoping for a great rest of the fishing season.
Mahalo to those of you who took the time to provide your input on the program, we got a lot of great answers from our tagging community. We’re always looking for ways to improve and better serve you, so we’re really grateful for the support and input. If you’d like to provide any suggestions or input on the program, please reach out to us at pacificfisheries@gmail.com.
Recaptures:
We had four recoveries in the month of August. Recaptures are always cool to see, and they give us insight into the lives of the species we target. If you or someone you know recovers a tagged fish, please make sure to report it through the tag submission form. It provides us with valuable data on the fish’s movement and growth that we can share with you, and you get a free t-shirt too!
#A15030 was tagged by Darren Ishikawa on August 21 and recaptured by Duane Fukumoto on August 23 (only 2 days later)! This oio didn’t grow much or travel very far, but quick recaptures still matter! This shows survivability of the fish with proper handling practices and that it resumed feeding normally soon after being tagged and released: good signs that support sustainable catch-and-release fishing!
#A14676 was originally tagged by Kevin Mita on July 18 and recaptured on August 20 by Jay Aguedan roughly 3 miles away! The route this 11lb omilu took suggests it may have been following schools of halalu/akule to feed, which aligns with what our data has shown in terms of the connection between omilu and their prey species.
#A14688 was originally tagged by Dash Dicksion on June 27 and recaptured by Darren Ishikawa on August 13. This 12.5” omilu was free for 47 days and stayed within the same general area.
During the summer months, short-term travel remaining within a general area for omilu makes sense, as the bait is still around. There’s no need for the predators to travel very far until the bait moves out or disappears. It’ll be interesting to see how catch patterns are affected by weather disturbances like the storms we’ve had lately, as forage species might be displaced by runoff or high surge.
Multiple tagged fish recovered this month were re-released afterwards. It’s a real excitement to see fish both fish recovered and re-released and at the same time it’s wonderful to see fish being kept and feeding families. Thank you to all who have been a part of this past month’s effort.
#A14383 was recovered by Derek Uyehara (17) of Mission Viejo, CA. It grew to 15 inches from 11.75 inches when it was originally tagged by Kevin Mita and traveled roughly six miles during its 290 days of freedom. Fun fact: Derek also recovered a papio in 2022 when he was 13 (see image below). That first tagged Omilu was at liberty for 381 days and grew 3 inches. Great going Derek!
Derek in 2022 with his recovered papio!
Monthly Tagging Tournament:
Congratulations to August’s raffle and tournament winners! We’ll get your prizes shipped out as soon as we can.
Random Raffle: Collin Pungan (3 Live Deception Jigs from Promar Ahi USA)
Best Tagged Fish Photo: Taidas Belanio (Pacific Islands Fisheries Group Hat)
Most Omilu in 1 week: Tony Montoya Jr. (10 Tags)
Best Tagged Fish Photo Winner: Taidas Belanio
Thanks to everyone for getting out and tagging fish! Here’s a look at the tournament for September in terms of categories and prizes.
September Tagging Tournament:
Monthly Raffle: PENN Battle III 5000 Spinning Reel
(Must tag at least one fish in September to be entered.)
Most Fish Tagged: 10 Tags
Kaku Raffle (Tag 1 Kaku to be Entered): PIFG Tag-It Visor
Monthly Catch Gallery
Interested in joining the tagging community or being a sponsor?
Email us at: pacificfisheries@gmail.com
Mahalo for supporting the Tag It Program!
PIFG Tag It Team
