Kona Hawaii Fishing Tournament Schedule 2013

/in /by

Charter Desk New Year’s Day Tournament –   January 1st

The Charter Desk is hosting their annual New Year’s Day Tournament!!  Sign up at the Charter Desk!  http://www.charterdesk.com/tournaments.html

Rock and Reel Tournament –   June 14th 15th & 16th

The Hawaii Big Game Fishing Club invites you to come join the fun and excitement of our 10th Annual Rock ‘n Reel Hawaiian Open! Two evenings of excellent food.  http://www.hbgfc.org

Kona Kick Off  –  June 28th, 29th & 30th

The Kona Kick Off is the first event in the 26th Annual Hawaii Marlin Tournament Series. A “Four  Flags” tournament, the largest marlin earns 40% of the base purse, and the largest ahi, ono and mahi each earn 20% of the base purse. There are optional daily entries as well.  http://www.konatournaments.com

Firecracker Open  –  July 5th, 6th & 7th

Kona’s signature “Big Game” Tournament that scores ahi and marlin points for the base purse. Optional categories for the largest marlin and ahi of each day and of the two day tournament.  http://www.konatournaments.com

28th Annual World Cup Tournament –  July 4th

The “World Cup” is truly the only worldwide tournament of its kind. Each July 4, teams fish for 8 hours in their time zone to see who can catch the largest blue marlin over 500 pounds. Winner takes all. There is no second place.  The World Cup supports game fishing though its support of the IGFA and The Billfish Foundation.  http://www.bluemarlinworldcup.com/

Skins Marlin Derby–   July 11th, 12th, 13th, & 14th

The most unique Big Marlin competition in the world! Patterned after the golf format, the base purse is available each fishing day to the largest marlin weighing 500 lbs or more. If no one catches a marlin of that size, the day’s purse rolls over and is added to the next day’s purse.. http://www.konatournaments.com

53rd Annual Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament  –   August 3rd – 10th

Five days of tournament fishing August 13-17. Anglers and teams are invited to apply early as full tournament participation is anticipated. Log onto http://www.hibtfishing.com/ for details.

26th Annual Big Island Invitational Marlin Tournament  –   August 15th, 16th , 17th & 18th

The event that started it all off in 1986, this event celebrates its 26th year in 2012. The BIMT was the very first high stakes, big game tournament in Hawaii to pay a cash purse for tag and release. The base entry pays the top three largest marlin. Optionals pay most points and largest marlin per day.   http://www.konatournaments.com

September Challenge  –   September 12th, 13th, 14th & 15th.

The Hawaii Marlin Tournament Series began from the deck up in 1986. The September Challenge has been designed with input from the top skippers of 2010. The team raised the minimum weight to 400 lbs and increased the First Place Prize to 70% of the base purse.  http://www.konatournaments.com

Feel free to contact me about availability and information about these events.  You can visit these sites for registration forms and additional information

Jeffrey’s Fish of a Lifetime is Caught in Kona Hawaii

/in /by

Jeffrey’s Fish of a Lifetime is caught in Kona Hawaii. Jeffrey and Katie Fogel along with Katie’s parents, Greg and Bernadette Zemenick boarded Fire Hatt hoping for a fun trip and a wonderful experience. Since it was Jeffrey’s first fishing trip, the family all agreed that he would be first in the chair.  The water was flat and calm so we headed north to the “grounds”.   After trolling for about an hour we had our first strike. The long rigger line is screaming!  We are hooked up! Jeffrey quickly made his way down from the bridge and began reeling in his first fish, after a short fight, he has a 40lb Shortbill Spearfish to the boat!  By the way, the hit was on one of the boats favorite lures, the “Lucky Linda” on a Ken Matsuura reel spooled with 50lb test line.   This was Jeffrey’s first fish…ever!  How exciting.  Crewman Chet Chiara from Anchorage, AK was on board today and did an awesome job subduing the fish.  Jeffrey grew up in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, spent his undergrad years at Harvard and then pursued a PhD in Astrophysics at the University of Michigan. Now he is a management consultant at a firm in Princeton, NJ.  As you can imagine he didn’t have a great deal of free time for fishing while growing up.

Not long after Jeffrey landed the spearfish we had another strike.  This time it is Katie in the chair. The fish hit the short rigger line and then moved on to take the stinger line.  We are hooked up again!  This time it is a Pacific Blue Marlin.   Katie got in the chair, snapped herself in and began reeling.   Although Katie wanted to catch the Marlin she didn’t want to injure it.   She also began lamenting the fact that she didn’t want the fish to have a heart attack or be injured.  Sooo, not too long after she voiced her concerns the Marlin opted for self-preservation and spit the hook.  Needless to say she was disappointed but at the same time relieved that the fish did get away.  Katie, who is a Pediatric Orthopedic Physician Assistant in Neptune, NJ has been fishing since she was a child and has a special love of deep sea fishing.  It has always been Katie’s dream to catch a marlin and there it was.   As for Greg and Bernadette, they enjoyed the show, loved watching their daughter and son-inlaw fight fish and making lasting memories of their family fishing trip in Kona Hawaii.  I think we will see them again soon.

A Shining Star on Fire Hatt

/in /by

A Shining Star on Fire Hatt.  Meet Harrison, this was Harrison’s first fishing trip…ever!  Harrison’s Dad, Myles told me when he boarded Fire Hatt that morning “I just want Harrison to catch something.”  No pressure here.  I often tell our guests the toughest person to please are 5 to 14 year old boys.  Their parents tell them they are going fishing so they expect to catch a fish.  When it happens, it is the most thrilling event to watch unfold, remember your first fish?  This fish was caught on the grounds, just off the “pens”.   Harrison’s Barracuda weighed about 12 pounds.  After the photos were taken, the fish was released back into the beautiful Pacific Blue Ocean.  With a little help from his dad, he landed the fish in just a few minutes.  He has a great story to tell his friends back home about his family fishing adventure in Kona Hawaii.

These fish sometimes referred to as the “silver bullet” of the sea, the great barracuda deserves its reputation as a fierce predator. Long, lean and mean, it can strike without warning, reportedly at speeds approaching 40 feet per second. Also known by its Hawaiian name of Kaku, this largest of the barracudas in Hawaiian waters can weigh up to a maximum of 100 pounds and reach six feet in length. However, barracuda of such size are uncommon. If one that size were caught here, the incident probably would make news. You can learn more about the Great Baracudda by visiting this useful site:

 http://www.mauioceancenter.com/index.php?id=11&ss=0&page=marine&content=marine_detail&cat=1&CRid=73&limitstart=0