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Not a Bad Day of Fishing In Kona Hawaii

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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

Lucky Lady Hooked Up and Lucky Linda Lure is Lost

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Lucky Lady Hooked Up and Lucky Linda Lure is Lost!  This is true.  Katherine and Mark from Lincolnshire, IL boarded Fire Hatt for a day of snorkeling at Captain Cook Bay and an afternoon of fishing.  After trolling to Captain Cook and enjoying some snorkeling, which by the way had two Humpback Whales just yards from shore.  What a sight to see.  The two whales leisurely hung in the bay for hours.  Several kayakers and many boats got to  hover a safe distance and watch them.  Truly a remarkable sight.  Spinner Dolphin joined up later as we were leaving the cove.  Now with lines back in the water and lunches being eaten, we are headed out to the deep.  Not many boats out today and not many reports of fish except a few Mahi Mahi, it didn’t look too promising.  We were headed back to the harbor and had just started to put things away and start to bring in the lines when Linda saw a fish coming in straight for the “Lucky Linda” on the short rigger.  One strike, then another and the fish was on. A nice Pacific Blue Marlin!  Kathy was the designated angler and was in the chair in seconds after the hook up.  The Marlin came up jumping and running, we could clearly see it was a nice fish.  After about 15 minutes the line goes slack, the fish is off.  Ouch!  And the Lure is gone too.  Not to fear though, Bomboy (Bomboy Lures) made the lure for me and will have another one (or five) to me as soon as possible.  Kathy hooked up to a marlin a few years ago in the Bahamas and it came off after about an hour of fighting it.  Looks like third times a charm for this Lucky Lady Angler.

The Mahi Mahi Are Here

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The Mahi Mahi are here!  This time of year we are looking under every single piece of debris we find for a prize Mahi Mahi hiding out.  The last two days out turned up two different “floaters” Each being large nets tangled with rope and floats. The first one we spotted kept us busy with Dr. Mike Ferrera and his wife Donna visiting from Scottsdale, AZ pulling in three nice fish around 20 to 25 lbs.  Donna’s was the largest.  Again Lady Luck!  The next day we headed out with high hopes of finding the floater again.  Well, that didn’t happen.  Unlike the previous day of smooth calm water, today it is a little bumpy with some wind and swell making it harder to spot floaters.  We tried to calculate where it may have drifted to in a blistering north current.  No luck.  But we did find a different one.  This one was also large with rope and floats tangled in it.  On the first pass we snagged a nice Mahi Mahi about 25 lbs.  Today  David Blauvelt visiting from Avon, OH with his wife Christie was our angler.  David brought the Mahi Mahi to the boat like a pro.   We circled the floater a few more times with no luck and moved on.   We continued on our mission to find more debris.  We did!  This one rewarded us with a nice Shibi and an Ono!  Not bad for day on the water.  Mike was able to take a mixed bag of fish back to his hotel for dinner. (Some hotel restaurants will prepare your catch for you.  Always ask them in advance before you bring fish back with you.)

Ono Fishing in Kona

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Ono Fishing in Kona

Fun, Fun, Fun! I know most of you will not get the pleasure of fishing in Kona with this group. Words can’t describe how much fun they were. At one point we were entertained by Doug Casady with a guitar number to try to raise a fish. No monster fish were caught.  One mystery fish was lost one ono caught. Lisa Tallman (right) works and giggles as she is fighting the mystery fish that came off  just minutes into the fight. Her sister-in-law, Mary Casady hooked into a 30lb ono and brought it to the boat as her husband Doug encouraged her on! Great team effort!  I go with lady luck any day. Mary’s ono is featured in center photo and we look forward to more fishing in Kona with them.