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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!

One Day Was Not Enough Fishing in Kona

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A swing and a miss!  Sightings of fish either jumping in front of us or in the distance, we could not get one to go!  This group of six friends and family came to fish Kona last week.  They booked their family fishing trip a few months ahead of time and anticipated the trip from then on.  The group arrived early and we headed out.  We had so much fun with this group from the time they boarded till they departed that afternoon.  Linda was the deckhand today, she was a busy girl. The day was just getting started when one of the girls spotted a tuna roll out to the side of the boat, I turned that way and in seconds we are hooked up with the line peeling off the reel. Unfortunately it dropped it after a couple of seconds. We ended up having an excellent day with porpoises swimming beside the boat, great snorkeling in Captain Cook Bay and many sightings of fish, even a huge blue marlin jumping 50 feet in front of boat.  This proved to be so much fun for them that they called the next day and ask if we had an opening so they could go again because one day was not enough fishing in Kona ….we did!  Needless to say, the second day was equally fun with no fish to report.  They are good sports and assured us they are avid fishermen and women and understand you don’t catch all the time.

Teen Tenacity and Tuna

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Teen Tenacity and Tuna were the equation for the new family record fish!  15 year old Jamie was the first angler today and this would be her first fish EVER.  (I always lean toward Lady Luck and first timers as good omens.)  Back home in Florida, Jamie is a Varsity Cheerleader and is very strong.  This proved to be helpful today when she jumped in the chair as the stinger line is screaming off.  We were making a pass on the 500 fathom line straight out from the cruise ship when we hooked up.  They even commented on that because they arrived today on that same ship.  Jamie fought this fish with everything she had and never tired.  Her Dad, Ron was beside her the whole time coaching her on keeping the line going back on the reel even and encouraging her to keep winding until the tuna was landed.  When the fish came to the boat, we were not actually expecting a Tuna, the fish did not sound into the deep as tuna tend to do, it stayed pretty shallow.  (Maybe because Jamie did not give it a chance to dive.)  It was too heavy for a Spearfish and it never jumped like a Marlin…needless to say, she set the bar pretty high for the rest of the family.  With lines back in the water our goal is to get her older brother Justin a fish too.  The day is almost over and we have to get the family back to the Cruise Ship.  Justin will have to wait to claim a new family record.  We are looking forward to having this family back soon.

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.

 

Fishing From One Extreme to Another

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Fishing From One Extreme to Another is not a challenge for Mark and his family from Fairbanks Alaska.  It is an adventure.  Mark, his wife and daughters are on a return trip to fish Kona Hawaii on Fire Hatt.  Last time around Mark brought in a few small Tunas.  This time around it was a nice Shortbill Spearfish…. next time he is wanting a nice Big Blue Marlin.  Mark and his family are avid fishermen/ladies in their home state with numerous Salmon over 20 lbs and many, many Halibut.  The largest Halibut weighing in at over 50lbs on light tackle… As I looked at the photos proudly presented on their camera I couldn’t help but comment on how many layers of clothing they were wearing and how happy they looked fishing in the bitter cold!  As they are putting aloe on this weeks sunburns they are thinking how much they don’t want to leave the beautiful tropical sun behind.  Actually, they have another day booked to fish before they head home. Mark really wants a Blue Marlin, I Hope the Fish Gods are listening.