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Family Fishing in Kona Hawaii at its Best

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DSC_0262Family Fishing in Kona Hawaii at its Best. The Dean Family from Eldorado Hills and Clear Lake California should purchase Lotto Tickets when they return home. Thats the kind of luck they had fishing the beautiful silky calm waters of Kona.  As we left the harbor we headed south.  The day started with the first bite, a nice Mahi Mahi just fifteen minutes out of the harbor.  Mike Dean is in the chair and although the fish came undone, it set the mood and pace for the rest of the day.  About forty five minutes later as we are headed farther south, we  have two lines come down, we are hooked up!  A double on Ono!  This time Mike Dean and Mike Dean Sr. are on the mark.  They each landed their fish.  Dinner for the family! Now just off Keahou Bay, we are patroling the area  and twenty minutes later the stinger line comes down,  and then wham, the long rigger line comes down.   We are hooked up again! A double on what turned out to be Blue Marlin.  Once again Mike and Mike Sr.  were the anglers.  The blue marlin were estimated at about 100 lbs and 40 lbs.  We are not done yet… as we were leaving the Captain Cook area we had anoher bite.  This one escaped, we think it was a Shortbill Spearfish.  And finally, after a two hour lull in activity, the stinger line is ripped down again, we are hooked up!  With Gina in the chair, she lands a Striped Marlin!  We sucessfully release it and we are now on our way back to the harbor. This is a banner day of fishing in Kona!  Going to need taller outriggers to hang this many flags.  A good problem to have.

Featured in the top photo is Fire Hatt First Mate Brett Lasenby with Gina Dean and her Shortbill Spearfish along with her husband Mike Dean and Mike Dean Sr. after landing their 20+ lb Onos.  The photo above is one of the Marlin that were sucessfully released.
Fire Hatt is a member of the AFTCO Pro Fishing Team

Spearfish Are Here and They Are Hungry.

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Sreve Dahl SpearfishSpearfish Are Here and They Are Hungry.  With fishing or should I say “catching” having been slow for a few weeks, the bite finally turned on.  There have been reports of Striped Marlin and Spearfish in numbers showing up daily.  We have had nice bites on Mahi Mahi too. Recently, on a half day afternoon family fishing trip,  Ken Shaw from Edmonton Alberta landed this impressive 35+ lb Shortbill Spearfish.  The past few days we have had multiple hookups.  We’ve had a good couple of days landing two nice Spearfish and a Mahi Mahi and an Ono.

 

Featured in the photo representing AFTCO as one of their Pro Teams is  First Mate Brett Lasenby with angler Ken Shaw.

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

Big Sky Big Ocean

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Big Sky Big Ocean for this family from Big Sky, Montana.  John and Laura Michel were here on the Big island visiting our neighbors Bruce and Kathy Wilson.  The four of them, long tme friends and business partners were hoping for a little action and maybe a food fish to take home.  For John, his biggest fish until now had been a Trout.  Not just any trout, but a 22″ Rainbow caught in Yellowstone Lake.  There was not a lot of action early in the day.  Linda was in the glasses looking for a floater that was reported earlier that morning around the area where “F” Buoy used to be.  On the horizon, we could see about six boats in that area and assumed they got the same information.  On the way to check it out we came through an area with a little life and birds.  Jackpot!  The long rigger line is bit.  John takes position in the chair and the fight is on.  There is a little weight there and we are thinking small tuna?  Then the fish shows itself and we see it’s a nice Shortbill Spearfish!  John has the fish to the boat in just a few minutes and Adam skillfully gaffs it and in the boat it comes.  We have the food fish they wanted.  With lines back in the water we are on our way to check out the area we were headed to.  As we approach we can see porpoise.  We made several passes and did not get any action.  With that, we left the area and tried to find the reported floater.  As we headed back north towards the harbor, the short rigger is bit, we are hooked up again!  This time Bruce was supposed to be in the chair.  The line was screaming and Bruce was not in the chair yet.  Soooo, John jumps in the chair and begins to fight the fish thinking he will give up the rod when Bruce get there.  Not so much!  John lands the nice Mahi Mahi and now has two of the biggest fish of his life, his first two Flag Fish and alot of memories to take home.  There was some mention of a new nickname for John…something like “Rod Hog”.  It was all in good fun and it turns out, Bruce did not want to bring in a fish, he wanted his friend to enjoy the opportunity to fish the beautiful Kona waters.  Truly a Family Fishing experience.

Featured in the photos above are Bruce and Kathy Wilson from Kona, Hawaii and Laura and John Michel from Big Sky, Momtana

Fire Hatt is a member of the AFTCO Pro Fishing Team

Banner Day Aboard Fire Hatt

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Banner Day Aboard Fire Hatt.  It just doesn’t get better than this!  Heather and Rob Dawson from Kamloops, Canada spend a few weeks a year here fishing in Kona.  The Dawson’s own a boat and are avid fishermen at home.  This year the two of them put in three full days of fishing.  The first day did not even produce one bite!  It has been a frustratiing couple of months for fishing here in Kona.  the bite has definately been off.  A few fish being caught each day is all that has been reported.  Every year that the Dawson’s arrive, Rob announces that he wants to go Shark Hunting.  A few years back we landed Rob a 300+ pound White Tip Shark that we tagged and released.  Last year we did not produce one for him.  So this year he wants to try again.  So on this day we head way south to “UU Buoy” to give it a try.  We head out and will troll to the area and hope to at least catch them a food fish on the way.  Then just10 minutes out of the harbor we are Hooked Up!  Four lines are screaming! A quadruple Stiped Marlin Bite!   Heather is in the chair and Rob is deciding what line HE wants.  Rob gets his fish to the boat first and it is successfully tagged and released.  The fish is estimated at about 50 pounds.  Heather brings her fish to the boat after about a 10 minute fight.  Hers is also successfully tagged and released.  Her fish is the bigger of the two estimated at about 80 pounds.  This is Heather’s first billfish ever.  Nice Work by these two anglers.  With lines back in the water we are under way for the anticipated shark encounter.  We are hooked up again.  Heather is in the chair and this time she lands her first Shortbill Spearfish.  Now we arrive at the buoy and there are a few boats fishing the area so we know there are bait fish around.  We stop outside of them and begin to put chum in the water and within a few short minutes we have our first shark sighting.  Looks like a White Tip Shark.  We bait a single hook and offer it.  One bump, two bumps, a short run and the bait is gone.  We try again and after about an hour, we have another visitor.  All we see is a big dark shape in the water and it is interested in the bait.  Again, the fish bumps the bait a few times, takes it for a short run and we set the hook.  Rob is in the chair with a huge grin on his face.  He got his Shark.  When we got it to the side of the boat, we were surprised to see that it was a “Blue Shark”.  They are known to be in the area, but not seen that often.  Rob wanted to be the one to release it, so with assistance from Adam our crewman, he held the leader and let Rob cut him loose. We photographed the fish and successfully released it back into the deep!  The score at the end of the day…Three Striped Marlin Releases, one Boated Shortbill Spearfish and one Released Blue Shark.  A Banner Day!

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

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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.

BIG Surprise for Tucson Family Fishing in Kona

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BIG Surprise for Tucson Family Fishing in Kona.  All the Roddy family wanted was some small fish for their children to pull on…. That’s how it goes in Kona, Hawaii.  The family from Tucson, AZ boarded Fire Hatt for a half day charter with the anticipation of entertaining the kids and letting them pull on some small fish.  We were headed offshore to “F” Buoy where there were some reports of bait holding.  With the idea we might catch something a little bigger for Mike (Dad) we had out a nice assortment of lures that might snag a nice Shortbill Spearfish or Mahi Mahi along the way.  Shortly after giving the family the “Chair Talk”  we settled in for the ride to the buoy.  At 8:15 Adam saw a dorsal fin slide up behind the short corner lure.  Adam quickly started teasing the fish by dropping the lure back and retreiving it a few times, finally after just a few seconds the fish opened his mouth and Adam dropped it right into its mouth.  GAME ON!  We are hooked up!  Mike is in the chair fighting the fish of a life time.  After a 55 minute fight, we have the Pacific Blue Marlin to the boat.  The fish is weak and not responding to the efforts to revive it.  It is evident we are not going to be able to save the fish, so we are boarding it and headed to the scales.  The Pacific Blue Marlin weighed in at 697.5 pounds and was 125 inches long.  Caught on a Bomboy Lure,  this is the biggest marlin for Fire Hatt this year.  The bittersweet of the story…it is two days before the start of the H.I.B.T (Hawaii International Billfish Tournament) and we would really love to have had this fish next week!  It was a good warm up.

I think they will be back to try for the small fish they promised the children.

Lucky Linda Lure is Back!

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Today we had the Sorenson’s,  a “Ready to Fish” family from Arizona aboard Fire Hatt full of energy and true Team Spirit, right down to the neon yellow team shirts they were sporting!  They self labeled themselves as the “Highlighters”.  Today it was all about Mom (Amy) getting a fish.  Sooo, Linda had Mom in the chair with the rest of the family closely listening while she went through the run down.  We are ready!  Now all we have to do is wait for the fish.  There had been a couple of Blue Marlin releases today and reports of Ahi and Spearfish too.  Nothing for us by lunchtime…..ouch.  There had been a lot of bait at “F” and “C” buoys the last few days so our plan was to check them out first.  As we approached each buoy and talked to a few of the other Captains, it was apparent that the Steno Dolphin were around both buoys today so we kept moving.  It is impossible to land a fish with these Rough Toothed thieves around.  We changed out lures a couple of times hoping to put something out that would interest a fish.  Finally, Amy ask which line had the Lucky Linda Lure on it?  Well, it wasn’t out.  It had not been bit in a couple of weeks and was not in the lineup.  So with the suggestion from Amy that we run it, it was put into the pattern on the long corner where it likes to run.  The family had gone to the bow of the boat to take a few photos and hang out for a while when the fish hit!   You can probably guess the rest of the story.  The Lucky Linda is bit!  We are Hooked Up!  Everyone is trying to get to the cockpit as line is screaming off.  With the bite almost into the backing, Mom suggests that Stephen aka Dad get in the chair.  Stephen fights the fish effortlessly and brings in the family’s prized Shortbill Spearfish!  The Lucky Linda Lure is Back!  Now we still have to satisfy the need for Amy to get her fish, I think they will be back to fish again in Kona Hawaii.

Featured in the photo above is the Sorenson Family proudly displaying their team colors and the Spearfish Flag.

Not Always Bigger in Texas

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Not Always Bigger in Texas.  When Chris, Jana, Nick and Tyler boarded FIRE HATT they were all smiles and full of anticipation for what the day might bring.  The 14 year old brothers, Nick and Tyler had just finished a Scouting trip at BSA Sea Base out of Marsh Harbor, Abacoa Island, the Bahamas. They lived and crewed on a 65′ catch for a week where they ate, slept, etc on boat. They got to snorkel, fish and visit the cays. Their boat caught 2 mackerel, 4 mutton snapper and 4 barracuda.  Until then the largest fish Tyler had ever caught was a Perch.  Now here they are, fishing in Kona Hawaii where we are home to some of the largest Blue Marlin, Ono, Spearfish, Tuna and Mahi Mahi in the world.  They have no idea what is about to happen.  (We don’t either)  Adam has given the chair talk to everyone.  Each having had a “lesson” in the chair it is determined that Dad will go first.  We are a couple of hours into the trip listening to the activity on the radio from a local tournament.  There are a few hook ups, and a few boated fish.  Nothing for us yet.  Then, the stinger line comes down screaming and we are Hooked Up!  Chris is in the chair and has the fish to the boat almost as fast as we can get the other lines cleared.  A nice Ono about 25 pounds.  Out in the deep!  Normally we are pounding the 40 fathom line close to shore hoping to get one.  With the fish subdued and put on ice, we are off for another fish.  This time Nick will be the angler.  Sure enough, about an hour later the long rigger is bit.  Nick is in the chair and the fight begins.  We aren’t sure what it is.  A blind strike on the 1000 fathom line.  As Nick gives all he has to bring in the fish, it is a Shortbill Spearfish!  A nice 30 pounder!  Not a bad day on the water for this Texas family.

 

Ono Becomes Last Minute Delight

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Ono Becomes Last Minute Delight for Brothers Rob and Ron along with their Dad Robert and his twin Brother Ron.  No kidding, all we had to remember was two names.  The day started with the usual anticipation.  We headed out of the Harbor with offshore lures in the water hoping for Tuna, Mahi Mahi, Shortbill Spearfish or Marlin.  These guys wanted a fish!  Period!  As mid morning arrived and no bite for us yet, the mood was changing along with the lures.  Still no bite.  There was a tournament going on and we were listening to the radio chatter.  Or lack of radio chatter.  Turns out, there just wasn’t any fish being caught.  Although, we had fun not catching!  These guys bantered back and forth with Adam, Linda and I all day.  They even joked about wanting to know the best place to buy fish.  Now the lures are being changed out again and we are headed in to “Ono Lane”.   We are still putting out the lures and we are Hooked Up!  (Never so happy to hear a line scream!)  Earlier in the day, Adam had spotted a lure we had not run before.  He rigged it up and had it ready for the afternoon Ono run.  This is the lure that got bit within a few minutes of being set.  We appropriately named it “Yummy“.  Robert Sr. is in the chair and fighting his fish.  After a short fight he had the fish to the boat.  Dinner Tonight!  As you can imagine, the mood quickly changes.  Smiles all around.