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The Lazy Marlin Hunt

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The first tournament of the season was so much fun and rewarding. Tournament fishing in Kona, Hawaii is not for the faint at heart! The highs and lows every day are challenging at best. The Lazy Marlin Hunt Marlin Tournament April 9th , 10th , and 11th started with a shotgun start in front of the Honokohau Harbor, in Kona Hawai’i. After a slight delay, Fire Hatt was on the hunt with Captain Chuck Wilson at the helm. 18 boats competed. On day one Fire Hatt had a tagged Blue Marlin at about 3:30 pm. Buzz Colton brought the Blue Marlin to the boat in 9 minutes estimated at 275 pounds. On day two, Fire Hatt had a hookup just three minutes into the day after the start fishing announcement was made. This time Mark Kirchen had a tag in his Blue Marlin in 5 minutes estimated at 120 pounds. We took prize money for the first hookup of the day. Day three was a long day with a hookup again at around 3:30PM. Linda Wilson fought that one with the fish coming off just 10 minutes into the fight…ouch! Team Sweet Sadie landed the Blue Marlin that won the big purse weighing in at 625 pounds!

Mark Kirchen, a Contractor and Operations Manager for SunAmericaSolar in Petaluma, CA and Buzz Colton, retired Golf Course General Manager from Indian Wells, CA featured with their release flags along with the Fire Hatt crew, Backup Captain Joe Schumaker and first mate Daron Castoro.

Fire Hatt Sportfishing is a proud member of AFTCO Pro Fishing Team.
Captain Chuck Wilson is an IGFA Certified Captain.

The Lazy Marlin Hunt

Nine Years of Exellence

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FIRE HATT SPORTFISHING Earns TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence 9 Consecutive Years in a Row.

FIRE HATT SPORTFISHING EARNS 2019 TRIPADVISOR CERTIFICATE OF EXCELLENCE 9 CONSECUTIVE YEARS IN A ROW

Kailua Kona, Hawaii  May 28, 2019  FIRE HATT SPORTFISHING announced today that it has received the TripAdvisor® Certificate of Excellence. Now in its ninth year, the achievement celebrates businesses that are consistently excellent – having earned great traveler reviews on TripAdvisor over the past year. Certificate of Excellence recipients include restaurants, accommodations and attractions located all over the world that have continually delivered a quality customer experience. 

Our Motto: “We welcome you as our guest and want you leave us as a friend.”

“TripAdvisor is excited to announce the recipients of the 2019 Certificate of Excellence, which for nearly a decade has celebrated businesses that have consistently received positive ratings from travelers and diners on the world’s largest travel platform,” said Neela Pal, Vice President of Brand, TripAdvisor. “This recognition allows us to publicly recognize businesses that are actively taking into account customer feedback to help travelers confidently experience the most highly reviewed places to eat, stay, and explore.”

The Certificate of Excellence accounts for the quality, quantity and recency of reviews submitted by travelers on TripAdvisor over a 12-month period. To qualify, a business must maintain an overall TripAdvisor bubble rating of at least four out of five, have a minimum number of reviews and must have been listed on TripAdvisor for at least 12 months.

About TripAdvisor TripAdvisor, the world’s largest travel site*, enables travelers to unleash the full potential of every trip. With 760 million reviews and opinions covering the world’s largest selection of travel listings worldwide – covering approximately 8.3 million accommodations, airlines, experiences, and restaurants — TripAdvisor provides travelers with the wisdom of the crowds to help them decide where to stay, how to fly, what to do and where to eat.

Fire Hatt is a proud member of the AFTCO  Pro Fishing Team.  You can go to AFTCO.com and read their amazing story.

The Fire Hatt Difference

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Story Credit from Pacific Coast Sportfishing Magazine

The Fire Hatt Difference

Former Southern California Team Fire Hatt, husband and wife Chuck and Linda Wilson, have found their dream life, running their charter boat Fire Hatt in Kona, Hawaii. The two were well known for fishing both mako shark and marlin tournaments in Southern California and spent most of their summers in Avalon, fishing, snorkeling, diving and being with friends. For two seasons they were featured on the network series The Shark Hunters as well as winning the Zane Grey Marlin Tournament.

When Chuck retired from Manhattan Beach Fire Department, the couple decided to move and live in Kona, Hawaii. Making that move was not for the faint at heart. The logistics of moving their boat on a freighter and all of their belongings in an oceangoing container to unfamiliar ground was a real test.

The Fire Hatt has been an amazing business as well as such an amazing way to meet some really amazing people. The couple’s philosophy is “when folks show up on the boat as a guest, I want them to leave as a friend,” Chuck says.

Chuck and Linda have made some amazing headway and accomplished every top captain’s dream by catching their grander blue marlin off Kona. They have had many other large marlin, but that grander is about the most prestigious accomplishment any skipper can make.

Years into the business they have continued to provide a better program than the year before so they do not risk being left at the dock. Chuck’s belief is:”If you focus on your business, it does not matter what others are doing. Providing a better service model benefits everyone, especially future charter guests.”

Please give Chuck and Linda a shot to show you an angling good time while in Kona. They will show you both the similarities and differences with your own fishing experience and how they do it and why. Their 43ft Hatteras is immaculate, and they employ the finest in reels and equipment-all matched in size and manufacturer from light tackle to the 130 Shimano Tiara reels for the trophy fish.

Visit www.firehattsportfishing.com or call 808-987-0038 to book your adventure today.

Reality Check for East Coast Family

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John Bolton and his son, Kyle, both from Northern Virginia, and John’s nephews Kevin and Alex Harrison from Beaumont, Texas, and Albuquerque, New Mexico, respectively…

Well, they’re back on the snowy East Coast and regretting every minute of it.  It’s 28 degrees and they have 10 inches of white on the ground. a reality check for this East Coast Family, and fellow Texans as well!  The Bolton family has fished aboard Fire Hatt with Captain Chuck Wilson for several years, nothing compares to the day they had this time…Christmas Magic?

John Bolton and his son, Kyle, both from Northern Virginia, and John’s nephews Kevin and Alex Harrison from Beaumont, Texas, and Albuquerque, New Mexico, respectively, booked a half-day of family fishing in Kona Hawaii aboard Fire Hatt for the day after Christmas.

We took off from Honokohau Harbor around 7:00 AM with Captain Joe Shumaker at the controls and first mate Anthony De La Cruz setting the lines.  About 10 minutes out, we’re hooked up on two lines!  Kyle is in the chair reeling in the larger fish, while John tries to bring in his fish from the starboard aft.  Kyle’s fish makes a couple of long runs, so Anthony first helps John bring in a nice striped marlin, which we estimated at about 80 pounds.  Anthony successfully tags and releases the striped marlin, then goes to help Kyle bring in and then release a blue marlin, estimated at 175 pounds. Also tagged and released.

Captain Joe brings Fire Hatt to a spot where we see at least four humpback whales frolicking. One of the whales puts on a spectacular breaching display

A great start to the morning only gets better.  After trolling near an offshore buoy, Kevin and Alex spot whale spouts closer to shore, and Captain Joe brings Fire Hatt to a spot where we see at least four humpback whales frolicking.  One of the whales puts on a spectacular breaching display.  After about 30 minutes whale-watching, we’re off to do more fishing, and not long after we’re hooked up again!

This time, Kevin is the chair, and after 15 minutes of hard reeling, he brings another blue marlin — this one estimated at 225 pounds — to the boat.  Beautiful fish, as you can see from the pics.

Unfortunately, we could not get a fourth fish for Alex to bring in, but Fire Hatt entered the harbor flying flags for three marlin.

Fire Hatt is a proud member of the AFTCO  Pro Fishing Team.  You can go to AFTCO.com and AFTCO Logo 2read their amazing story.

Reality Check for East Coast Family

Holy Cow! Big Tuna!

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Holy Cow! This was the term used by Monte Priest after landing this big cow tuna! Our Son Monte and his family are visiting us from Killeen, Texas.  Monte is a 20 year Firefighter/Paramedic in the Central Texas area.  Along with his wife Nicole and Son Miles they have been to the Big Island several times and spent many hours aboard Fire Hatt trying for the trophy Marlin….or anything.  In all his years of fishing in Kona Hawaii and in Southern California we had not been able to get him his Marlin.  Until today!  With Captain Chuck Wilson at the helm, we left Honokohau Harbor at about 6:30 AM and around seven o’clock we had a grand explosion on the short rigger….we are Hooked Up!  Monte fought the Ahi for about 18 minutes and had the beauty in the box!  We had just finished putting the lines back out and were still hosing the blood off the deck when the short corner line started screaming. We are Hooked Up again!  Monte was back in the chair, still worn out from fighting the first fish.  Captain Joe Shumaker leadered the Blue Marlin after another impressive short fight.  Monte was out of the chair and Tagged his first Marlin.  Captain Chuck commented “When you want a fish so badly for someone, that is the hardest fish to catch.”  Congratulations Monte! #FireHattSportfishing #BestCharterFishingInKonaHawaii #MarlinFishingInKonaHawaii #AFTCOProTeam

Fire Hatt is a proud member of the AFTCO  Pro Fishing Team.  You can go to AFTCO.com and AFTCO Logo 2read their amazing story.

 

From Two Pound Bass to 200 Pound Blue Marlin

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From Two Pound Bass to 200 Pound Blue Marlin.  Today on Fire Hatt, Daniel Perez broke his personal all time record for the largest fish he has ever caught, (a two pound Bass). This estimated 200 pound Pacific Blue Marlin will give him bragging rights for a very long time. Daniel brought the beauty to the boat in just under 20 minutes. The Marlin was tagged and released, tired but unharmed by Captain Joe Shumaker. Nice!  Daniel is from the Bay Area of Northern California.  Fire Hatt was in about 1200 fathoms just outside the Honokohau Harbor Marina when the fish exploded on the short bait.  Captain Joe Shumaker likes to run the well known “Smash Bait” in tight close to the boat…for this reason!  The Big Blue jumped at least fifty times and tired itself out giving Daniel the upper hand.

 Tagging and Releasing of Pacific Blue Marlin

Scientific name: Makaira nigricans.  The blue marlin is the largest of the marlins, common to 11 feet, and known to exceed 2,000 pounds. It is cobalt blue on top shading to silvery white on bottom, although colors can vary by region.   In common with striped marlin, they are rarely encountered in shallow nearshore waters, preferring blue, oceanic waters.  

Tag and recapture data show that blue marlin travel long distances and routinely make trans-Pacific or trans-Atlantic crossings.  One recent tag return indicates the first inter-ocean for a blue marlin  that earlier data on genetics suggested occurred). In the Pacific, blue marlin tagged in Kona, Hawaii have been recaptured in the South China Sea, in the Marquesas, and off the western coast of South America Some of these movements have occurred in relatively short time scales.

In August of 1997 a pilot project was undertaken on blue marlin in Pacific waters off the coast of Kona, Hawaii.   In this project the first generation pop-up satellite tags were set for durations of 60-90 days and fish ranged in body size between 130 and 300 lbs.   Three of the tags successfully surfaced and transmitted data, and one fish was caught within a week after release within a mile of the initial tag and release event. Remarkably, one blue marlin traveled from Hawaii to an area west of the Galapagos (a distance of approximately 3000 nm) in 90 days. At the time people doubted a marlin from Hawaii could travel this far. The remaining five tagged blue marlin did not report back for unknown reasons, possibly tag failure due to antenna interaction with the fish or mortality. The tagging data provided a short term view that was consistent with the acoustic tagging data- marlin were primarily fish of the surface 50m but occasionally dove to deeper depths.

                   

 

Fire Hatt is a proud member of the AFTCO  Pro Fishing Team.  You can go to AFTCO.com and AFTCO Logo 2read their amazing story.

Big Blue Marlin Tournament Time In Kona

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Captain Chuck Wilson releasing a nice Pacific Blue Marlin

Big Blue Marlin Tournament Time In Kona.   LOOKING FOR TOURNAMENT TEAMS AND ANGLERS 2017

It’s that time of year when our Charter boat FIRE HATT has booked some Tournaments here in Kona Hawaii, and we still have some tournament openings.  A couple of high stakes tournaments are completely open and we are looking for one angler to team up with another angler for the Big Island Marlin Tournament, August  24-25-26, a three fishing day tournament and typically large payout.

We are also wide open for the first tournament of the season, The Rock ‘n Reel Tournament on June 10 and 11.

World Cup Blue Marlin Championship … The one day Tournament on July 4th is the biggest payout of the year

If you are interested, just give me a call at 808-987-0038 or email at firehatt@gmail.com

These high stakes and high adventure events can instantly change your fortune.  Check out our website firehattsportfishing.com to see who we are and also Hawaii Marlin Tournament Series to see details of all events.

Fire Hatt is a proud member of the AFTCO  Pro Fishing Team.  You can go to AFTCO.com and AFTCO Logo 2read their amazing story.

Never Underestimate The Will Of An Eight Year Old Boy

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40lb Srearfish Sammy and Sultan June 2014Never Underestimate The Will Of An Eight Year Old Boy.  Sultan Linjawi, his wife Astrid and two young children, Sammy and Yasmine fished three days with us.  Their mission was for the children to catch fish!  Unless of course a Grander came on scene, then that one was going to be Sultan’s.  On Day one, shortly after leaving the harbor, we are hooked up to the perfect fish for Sammy  A 40+ lb Shortbill Spearfish.  Sammy is in the chair with the help of his Dad and we are able to land the fish for Sammy.  We  let the children pick the lures they wanted to run.  Sammy chose a Blue and Green Super Ninja lure that Bret put on the stinger.  It was the one that the Spearfish took…Carma?    It is Sammy’s first Billfish and his first “Flag Fish”.

On Day Two of their adventure, I spot birds and splashing just short of  town and we make a pass to see what might be biting.  Within seconds we are bit.  Astrid is in the chair and wastes no time bringing in a nice 140 lb tuna.   Again we let the family choose lures… This family is incredible.

Day three explodes right out of the harbor with a Tuna strike.  Sammy is in the chair again and with the help of his dad and my crew, a nice 114lb Tuna is on deck!  Yes, Sammy chose the lure…this time a blue Super Ninja lure.  With lines back in the water, we head offshore and south towards Captain Cook.  Linda spots splashing and birds on the horizon and we go to check it out.  We have the whole area to ourselves as Tuna start boiling around us.  We are Hooked Up!  This time the explosion on the long rigger tells us this is a big fish.  After a lengthy tug of war with the fish, we are able to land Sammy’s biggest fish  A nice 180lb Ahi Tuna!  Amazing…. I think Dad set the bar kind of high now for this young man.  The family has a 38 ft Bertram in Australia and are avid fishermen.  Now we have to work on Sammy’s first Blue Marlin…hopefully we will get it for him next time when the family returns to fish in Kona Hawaii.  No Pressure!

Kona Hawaii and Captain Chuck Wilson Number 1 for Largest Weighed Blue Marlin

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Grander of the Year Kona PhotoKona Hawaii and Captain Chuck Wilson Number 1 for Largest Weighed Blue Marlin.

Year round Big Blue Marlin, fishing in calm sapphire blue waters with a volcano back-drop and less than half a mile offshore. Does it get any better than that? Well, we don’t think so. This is the third straight year Kona, Hawaii has made the Top 10 Billfishery List. This may not be a numbers fishery, but it is a Blue Marlin powerhouse. Kona recorded three (3) Grander Blue Marlin, with Captain Chuck Wilson on FIRE HATT, a 43’ Hatteras weighing the heaviest Blue Marlin in Hawaii this year at 1,058 lbs. Chuck also has the second largest Blue Marlin weighed in the world in 2013.   Chuck’s fish was caught on a Ken Matsuura Custom 50 lb Reel with a 130 lb Amilon mono topshot.  The heaviest Marlin weighed in the world came from Ascension Island , the famed big blue marlin fishery. Capt. Olaf Grimkowksi put angler Kevin Gardener on an absolute beast of a Blue Marlin, weighing 1,320 lbs

Captain Kerwin Masunaga on Rod Bender weighed the second heaviest Blue Marlin in Kona at 1,043 lbs with Captain Doug Pattengill on Holo Holo weighing in a 1,008 lb Blue Marlin. Kona is No.1 in the World with ninety-four (94) Blue Marlin over 500 lbs in 2013 which is also No. 1 in the World. From the ninety-four (94) there were four (4) weighed over 900 lbs and fourteen over 700 lbs

While the crews in Kona may not want to claim it, Kona is absolutely the best fishery in the world to catch a Shortbill Spearfish. While they don’t pack the punch of a Blue Marlin, they can be targeted reliably here on light tackle. In addition to the Shortbill Spearfish, the winter time brings a good run of smaller Striped Marlin and when the bite is on, catching 3+ in a day is not out of the question.

While adding some species variety makes it interesting, anglers continue to return here in search of that “special” Blue Marlin. Kona remains King of the Pacific when it comes to getting a shot at a Grander. Kona has weighed eight (8) Grander Blue Marlin over the past three years. Once again, No.1 in the World.

*For Statistics and Information on all Granders weighed and released in 2013 and prior years, visit  GRANDERWATCH .