Not a Bad Day of Fishing In Kona Hawaii
Not a Bad Day of Fishing In Kona Hawaii with this group visiting from across the country attending a Medical Conference. Coincidently, the Wives won this trip and the guys got to catch the fish. Marriages made in heaven! The group boarded at 7:00 am with so much energy and excitement I knew this was going to be a great day. Once we cleared the harbor and lines were set, Linda gave the chair talk. Everyone was just settling in when the stinger line was bit. The fish did not stick, I made a turn and worked the area for a while and then moved on. Linda spotted a bird pile in the distance about five miles out so I turned and headed that way. As we approached there was still a lot of bait and birds in the area. I had a lot of activity the last few days out deep so we stayed outside and headed south. Then the action started and kept going all day! First, the stinger is bit, Jeff Jackson is in the chair and I am helping to clear lines and now the short rigger line is bit. Double Hook Up! Kurt Andresen was designated as the second angler and is fighting his fish from the gunnell. Talk about exciting! And we got both fish. Two Shortbill Spearfish about 35 to 40 lbs each. With lines back out I stay deep and follow a current line. After just a short distance, the Stinger line is bit….again. Line is screaming and I can tell this one is NOT a Spearfish. Mike Agema is in the chair and the fight begins. Mike brings his fish to the boat in just under 15 minutes and has officially caught and released his first Pacific Blue Marlin estimated at about 125 pounds! Nice Job! Linda no sooner has lines back in the water and the stinger line is down again! A nice Shortbill Spearfish is caught this time by Brad Browder, this one we tagged and released. All the guys got to fight a fish today. Now the ladies enter the rotation. Erin Browder is first up and she is ready! Reluctant at the start of the day, the ladies did not want to pull on any fish. Now…. after seeing the unbeleivable action all day, they want their time in the chair! Unfortunately the day ended with not more action and they are talking about coming back next year and getting their shot! These Guests are part of a larger group and wondered if they could have some of the Spearfish to take back to their Hotel to have prepared for everyone? I delivered the two Spearfish to the Hotel and was told by these guests that the Chef’s did a fabulous job preparing the fish a couple of different ways and it fed everyone. It was the hit of the trip for them! They all agreed that is was”Not a Bad Day of Fishing In Kona Hawaii.”
I have been seeing large schools of bait, hundreds of acres, and a lot of birds in the past week mostly off shore to the southwest where our Pelagic fish migrate in to the Kona shores. This is typical of the start of the season. Bait arrives followed by the large predators. While always watching for signs on the water, and studying tides, currents and water temps, there are signs that give you a better chance of finding fish such as, that Spearfish are a favorite food for big Blue Marlin and when you find them in numbers as we did today….hang on folks as this could get interesting in a hurry!
Featured in the photo above is Erin Browder “Tending the Bat”, Jeff Jackson (boated Spearfish), Brad Browder (tagged Spearfish), Mike Agema (tagged Blue Marlin), Amy Agema (with gaff ready) and Kurt Andresen (first boated Spearfish)
Fire Hatt is a member of the AFTCO Pro Fishing Team
