Six Species in Two Days for Joe Gunja aboard Fire Hatt
Six Species in Two Days for Joe Gunja aboard Fire Hatt. Now and then a person enters your life and it is almost as if they were sent for a reason. Joe Gunja called me and we discussed a two day fishing Charter on FIRE HATT, fishing for Blue Marlin in Kona Hawaii in November 2017. A little history on our adventure, Joe is from Springfield Missouri. I was born in Harrisonville about 90 miles away about the same time. Joe is a retired high ranking Federal Bureau of Prisons Regional Supervisor, effectively making him the second in Command, supervising over 20 Wardens. Myself as a retired Chief Officer in the Fire Department we both had a lot of stories to share on our Public Service times and experiences.
Joe had fished many of the Lakes and rivers I had as a youth and he updated me on the new (40 year old) Harry S. Truman Dam and Reservoir that is in the middle of the Southern Missouri Fishing and Hunting Region. Joe’s wife passed away suddenly this past year with no previous illnesses and he himself had suffered Leukemia and is now in remission. Joe is a former Army Military Policemen and then rose through the ranks of the Federal Prison System including being the Warden at three prisons. While a disciplined and structured Man, Joe has a love for adventure and fishing.
Joe, my backup Captain Joe Schumaker and I set out and started combing the waters off Kona Hawaii and shortly later caught a 40 pound Shortbilled Spearfish, a rare species World Wide and only found in the waters of the Central Pacific. Many Anglers throughout the World come to Kona to try to capture this rarest of Billfish as they had caught most of the other Billfish Species that lived in their Ocean waters. This turned out to be just openers as over the next two days Joe caught six different species of Gamefish that reside here in Kona Hawaii. Finishing off our first day adventure was a 20 pound Skip Jack and later a 15 pound Barracuda.
Day two began with an early morning bite with the first species being an Ono, also called “Wahoo”, followed by a small Mahi Mahi and then came the Big Pacific Blue Marlin. Estimated at 300 pounds while being released, it was by far Joe’s biggest fish of his life, so far. Attached are some glimpses of the Blue Marlin as we hooked up brought it to the FIRE HATT.
Joe Gunja and I have become solid friends and we will share many more of these adventures as time goes by. Thanks Joe for coming out to fish FIRE HATT in Kona Hawaii!
Fire Hatt is a proud member of the AFTCO Pro Fishing Team. You can go to AFTCO.com and 
read their amazing story.