When you fish with us at Kona Fishing Charters, you will have access to experience many kinds of amazing and wonderful fish in the Pacific Ocean from the Pacific Sailfish to the Mahi Mahi fish. We thought our readers might enjoy 10 specatcular facts about each of these spectacular Kona fish that you’ll see with us at Kona Fishing Charters. Today’s blog article is dedicated to the Wahoo (Ono) fish, which you will hopefully see (and possibly even catch) when you fish with us!
Ten Amazing Facts about the Wahoo (Ono) Fish:
- The Wahoo (Ono) fish is known as the wahoo fish worldwide. This is possibly because when European explorers first mapped out the Hawaii islands, they discovered that the Hawaiian fish is plentiful around the island of Oahu. Oftentimes, Oahu was misspelled (by the European explorers) as Wahoo. This is where many people believe the origin of the Wahoo fish’s name is from. However, in Hawaii, the Wahoo fish is known as the ono fish. Ono, in Hawaiian, means “delicious” or “good to eat”.
- As mentioned above, the Wahoo (Ono) fish is known to be delicious and it used in many recipes throughout the world. It is mildly sweet tasting with a firm texture, moderate fat, and flakey when cooked. However, the shelf life is fairly short, so it must be cooked fairly quickly in comparison to other fish.
- The Wahoo (Ono) fish is found worldwide in tropical and subtropical seas, including Hawaii, the Carribean, Florida, and Central America, although the Wahoo (Ono) fish moves to more temperate waters in the summer months. The Wahoo (Ono) fish is mostly available in Hawaii during the summer and fall, from May to October. The Wahoo (Ono) fish is part of the Scombridae family of fish species. This family includes mackerels, tunas, and bonitos.
- The Wahoo (Ono) fish has a long body built for speed. It is covered in small scales and it has a blue back and silver sides. There is a pattern on the sides, full of vertical blue bars. In terms of its teeth, they’re razor sharp, making it easier to bite and catch their prey. When the Wahoo (Ono) fish dies, the colors in the scales fade away, making it a much duller color.
- The Wahoo (Ono) fish is known for its speed – it can reach up to 60 mph on the open sea, which makes it easier to both escape their predators and catch their prey.
- The Wahoo fish is fairly solitary. They are never found amongst large schools of their own kind, the most you will see at once will be Wahoo fish composed of loose knit groups that typically only have two or three fish.
- The Wahoo (Ono)’s lifespan is about nine years, which is relatively short compared to many other subtropical/tropical fish.
- Female Wahoo (Ono) fish are longer than male Wahoo (Ono) fish. Males, when reaching maturity, are about 2.8 feet in length when females, when reaching maturity, are about 3.3 feet in length. Wahoos can weigh up to 100 lbs, but in Hawaii, they typically weigh anywhere from 8 to 30 lbs. They also grow fairly fast, as they one study tagged a Wahoo (Ono) fish, released it and found that it had gained 22 lbs in ten months.
- The Wahoo (Ono) fish is capable of eating fish larger than themselves. The Wahoo (Ono) fish’s sharp teeth possibly make it easier for them to both catch and chew up the larger fish into bite sized pieces. The Wahoo (Ono) fish typically goes after many types of fish as well as squid.
- All Wahoo (Ono) fish are line caught, however trollers (with bait and lures) can be used to catch the Wahoo fish. However, this method is not as successful as line catching the fish, as you’ll see when you go fishing at Kona Fishing Charters!There are even more amazing facts about the Wahoo (Ono) fish that you can read about on other websites that we have linked to in the above article! Or, when you come fishing with us out on the open, Hawaiian sea at Kona Fishing Charters, we’ll answer your questions about the Wahoo (Ono) fish as best we can. There’s nothing like seeing the Wahoo (Ono) fish for yourself, especially if you get to see it close up after you catch one!Next time in our series of fish facts, we’ll give you some interesting facts about the Mahimahi, another fish you will probably see when you come out to fish with us at Kona Fishing Charters! Call us at (808) 960-1424 for more info on Kona fishing charters!