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Third Time is a charm for Tom Anderson while Marlin Fishing in Kona HI

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Marlin fishing in Kona HI is certainly exciting!  Just ask Tom Anderson from Sacramento, CA (center) and his Mom Joyce.  On the third day of fishing, an hour into the day, the stinger was hit.  Tom jumped in the chair and battled the Blue Marlin for forty minutes.  Once he got the line back to the rubber band he was just another 40 feet until leader and the fish was off.  Ouch!  Tom had intended to release the fish, no matter the size anyway.  The fish was estimated to be at least 400+ pounds.   With lines back in the water, we headed after another one.  Ten minutes later, the Short Rigger is bit.  After just seconds, the fish was off.  Just enough excitement to get the pulse racing.  Now without another bite, we are headed back to the harbor and we have a double!  One is off and the other turns out to be a Shortbill Spearfish.  Tom jumped back in the chair and finished what he originally wanted to to, land a trophy fish. Tom originally planned for two days of fishing.  When we went two days without a fish, he wanted to give it one last try.  Third time is indeed a charm.

3 Day Kona Marlin Fishing Adventure

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Peter Baio and his wife Patty boarded Fire Hatt on day one for the start of a three day Kona marlin fishing adventure. Targeting a big blue marlin, we set out. This was a beautiful flat day on the water. We encountered pilot whales, porpoise, birds and lots of flying fish but no marlin! However, the porpoise show today was the best I have seen to date. The water was crystal clear as you can see in the photo above. If you can’t swim with the Porpoise, cruising with them is the next best thing.

After the second day into his Kona marlin fishing adventure we are still on the water and no marlin bites, we are getting frustrated. A few marlin have been reported caught or released, so we feel that there is still hope for us, but by the end of the day, there were no fish for Peter.

On day three, after announcing to Peter we released a marlin the day before, we have renewed faith that today is his day. Clad in his lucky yellow shirt and Denver Nuggets cap, we head out. We are bit! A double, lines screaming, Peter grabs a rod and gets  into the chair. One fish comes undone and the other is a nice shortbill spearfish. Not the marlin we hoped for, but a prize anyway. Lines out again and now we have a marlin up in the pattern. He strikes the short rigger, takes a little line and is gone. We circled back to try to coax the fish in and we hook a nice skipjack instead.  (This explains why the marlin was there.)  To no avail, we head back out for the hunt.  Another marlin swims into the pattern slashing at the long corner bait, again does not take it? Who is teasing who? At the end of the day, Peter does have a nice spearfish and plans to return for another shot at a big blue marlin.

Snorkeling Tour and Marlin Fishing Yields Big Results

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Snorkeling Tour and Marlin Fishing

Debbie and Jack Cupples along with friends Shannon and Mark Johnson enjoyed a stress free day aboard the Fire Hatt. The day started with an ono run to Captain Cook Bay, near Kona, for a morning snorkeling tour. (One ono was caught and involuntarily released along the way.) Being the first boat to arrive this day, the group had the entire bay to go snorkeling by themselves. After a leisurely snorkel, we loaded up and headed out for a big fish. Around 2:00pm, a nice big blue marlin hit while it was Debbie’s turn in the chair. While getting the rod to her, I told her “This is the real deal”. With wide eyes and a big smile, Debbie began to wind.  Forty five minutes later after a fantastic display by the marlin and the other guests having a turn in the chair, the marlin was released. Good thing the world didn’t come to an end, who would they get to tell their story to?

The Ono are here!

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Peter and his family,  including his young Grandson Scout, boarded the Fire Hatt with such enthusiasm.  We were bound to hook up something today.  Fishing had been a little slow, a few Mahi Mahi and a few Ono being reported along with a few nice Marlin in the past week.  We put out our Ono rigs and headed out to “Ono Lane” (40 fa) and hoped for a strike.  Nothing!  Not even a knockdown.  We changed out rigs and headed to deeper water.  Hoping for a Spearfish or Marlin.  Nothing.  Young  Scout waited beside a rod that was designated as his.  Again nothing.  Finally we headed back to Ono Lane, changed the rigs back and we are bit!  Peter brought the fish to the boat in just minutes.  Sometimes when you want a fish so bad for a guest it seems impossible to get one.  This time it payed off.   After packaging fish for them to take back to their condo, Peter’s wife Jenny prepared the Ono 3-ways.  Battered, baked, and sashimi style. It was delicious.

E J's First Billfish

First Billfish for Guest Fishing in Kona

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E J's First Billfish

E J and Johnny Vaughn, longtime Huntington Harbour, CA residents and fishermen spent the day aboard the Fire Hatt in Kona, Hawaii, for a day of fishing.  They entered the local “Dirty Dozen” tournament held the first Saturday of each month.  With much anticipation, we blasted off the starting line after Start Fishing was announced.  Johnny told us E J would be the first angler.  He wanted her to catch her first Marlin.  After the “chair talk”, E J was wide eyed and anxious as we waited for the line to scream.  During that time we listened to the radio as two boats hooked up.  Top Shape boated a 301 lb Blue Marlin and JR’s Hooker boated a 458 lb Blue Marlin to take the lead. Then the stinger line was hit!  E J hopped in the chair and brought in her catch, while not a prize Blue Marlin we were hoping for, it was still her first billfish.  Look at her smile, I think she was happy with her catch.  After getting back to the harbor and taking photos, we started cleaning and packaging her fish.  We always look in the stomach to see what the fish are eating…. we found a tiny Marlin!  E J quickly pointed out that she really had a double…. hard to argue.

Beginners Luck! FIRE HATT Shines in Episode of Hawai’i Goes Fishing

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Last Sunday FIRE HATT appeared in the TV show “Hawai’i Goes Fishing” in a segment called Beginners Luck on the Oceanic Time Warner Cable network. We don’t want to spoil the content of the videos, but they didn’t title the segment Beginner’s Luck for nothing! Be sure to watch both videos to get a real taste of what fishing on FIRE HATT is really like!

Beginner’s Luck Part 1:

Beginner’s Luck Part 2:

Instant Mahi Mahi for Gandhi

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Gandhi Balakrishnan and his family anxiously boarded Fire Hatt with the anticipation of getting something larger than the family record Salmon caught by Gandhi in WA where they live.  We had just finished setting the lines and the long corner was bit!  We had not even given the “Chair Talk”  to Gandhi yet.  Gandhi jumped in the chair and had the Mahi to the boat in a matter of seconds.  After putting the lines back in the water we joked with Gandhi about the fish patterns on his shirt,  Mahi, Tuna, Marlin and Sailfish.  We joked about getting the Mahi and now we can concentrate on the others, when the line went off again.  This time a nice Blue Marlin about 300 pounds was screaming across the water.  Again Gandhi jumps in the chair to begin his fight for the trophy he really wanted only to have the fish come undone!  What a thrill it was for him and his family.  At the end of the day, one Mahi and one Marlin strike.  We encouraged him to keep the shirt and we will work on the rest of the species next time.

British Columbia Family Covets Japanese Glass Float

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Bev, Bryan and Dana Mills along with Eric Cooper-Smith from Campbell River, BC spent the day with us hoping for the “Big One”.   While following a nice current line with a lot of debris, we spotted the treasure, a Japanese Glass Float.  Bev was very excited.  She stated that she used to live in the Queen Charlotte Islands and walked the beaches for years hoping to find one.  We ended up not getting a fish but we gave her the Glass Ball.  She proudly announced that she would take it home with her and keep it safe forever.

Fish of a lifetime for Twin Canadian Brothers

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Larry and Greg Hosegood from Winnipeg, Canada along with their families boarded the Fire Hatt early to get first crack at a fish.  They are fishing guides in Canada and realize the old saying “The early bird gets the worm”.  After giving the chair rundown to Greg, Linda had Larry’s son Skyler in the chair demonstrating what he could expect if a smaller fish bites.  Then the big fish hit the long corner bait.  A favorite lure of Linda’s that Bomboy Llanes (Bomboy Lures) crafted  especially for her.  It is appropriately named the “Lucky Linda” and had consistently been bit all week.   Three hours and five minutes later we had the Marlin to the boat.  It was tail wrapped and died during the fight.  I only wish everyone could have witnessed the brotherhood between these two men.  They coached and encouraged each other and kept remarkably cool during the entire fight!  They were saddened by the death of the fish and really wanted it to be released.  As did we.

Iron Man, Doug Mackenzie’s First Blue Marlin

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Doug Mackenzie, a 17 year participant in the Iron Man Competition caught his first Blue Marlin while fishing aboard the Fire Hatt with Captain Chuck Wilson in Kona, Hawaii. He effortlessly fought the fish for about six minutes before we released the beauty. Doug was aboard with friends Brian and Bonnie Barber and John and Eva Jones all from Canada.