# Kona, Hawaii trip on 2/21/2009



## Trott04

:usaflag

Greetings from the Big Island of Hawaii:

I had the good fortune of being able to fish the world famous Kona coast this past weekend and it proved to be one of the most exciting fishing trips ive ever been on. Fishing here is much different than fishing in the Gulf of Mexico. You rarely see boats over 20 ft. or so out fishing and the ones that are that big are just charters. There are very few tuna towers on boats as well and alot of people use their hands as a their reels. 

Anyway on tothe trip. We left Keauhou Bay boat launch around 6 a.m. headed to some bouys a little less than 10 miles from shore hoping to catch some bait for Marlin or Ahi (yellow fin tuna). On the way out 2 humpback whales graced our presence which to me meant a sign of good luck for the day. As we arrived to the 1st buoy we dropped a single squid spreader into the water and began trolling . After about 10 minutes of nothing we reeled in the line and to our surprise was about a 10 lb. Ahi. After that we caught several good eating size Ahi but the Stenos (dolphin/porpoises) quickly ate several as we were reeling them in. That meant it was time to change locations.

On to the next buoy. Same song differnt verse. Just some small Ahi that are good eating size. After no luck there we decided to troll back towards to boat launch as it was a little after noon Hawaii time. We put out a 4 lines hoping to attract at marlin or a anything that would bit. Sure enough, a big blue marlin clobbered a soft head purple/silver/black squid, npt sure the name brand though. Anyway this thing put on quite a show, jumping and flopping all over the place trying to spit the hook. He took about 500 yds of line before I could start reeling him in any at all and then the fight was on...

I started fighting aroun 1:30 pm and that went on for a least 45 more mintues, maybe longer :hotsuni didnt have time to look at my watch as i was paying attention to the line and everything else. Finally, we could see the fish as i cranked him in closer and closer to the boat. We got the leader and pulled him up to the side of the boat as we were going to release him anyway. The closer he got we noticed the leader was wrapped around his bill and right after that, he gave a nice tail slap to the boat and SNAP went the leader and off he went. So a successful catch and release in my book. Captain said it was at least 300 lbs. maybe even over 400 lbs. it felt like that much i assure you.

For my 1st Blue marlin i'd say im quite happy to be able to feel so much adrealine as i was fighting it and to know how awesome it is to catch and release such a beautiful animal.

:takephotoHopefully there are pictures attached of the Ahi, i didnt get a chance to take a picture of the marlin.:banghead


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## SouthernAngler

welcome to the forum and congrats on the marlin.


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## Xiphius

Ive allways wanted to fish Kona...how much was the charter I fyou don't mind me asking?


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## seacapt

Congrats on the Marlin!!! We got to visit the Big Islandthis winter. Theblue water fishing is pretty cool there, drag baits and still keep an eye on the bikinis on the beach. Welcome to the forum.


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## atlantacapt

The charters are not too pricey by gulf coast standards there. However it is a big fish fishery. It is not like here where you often have wahoos and mahi also attacking baits. Most boats just troll 4 lures on 130 wides in hopes for Big Julie. It can be just a boat ride or could be the fishing trip of a lifetime...just my 2 cents. I'd consider it an 8 hour booze cruise and if you get a fish it is bonus time.

We trolled two days there and had one bite that came unglued after about 10 seconds....that was it. It seems that 1-5 boats get a fish each day, but it is by no means consistent.


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## Trott04

Well, i got lucky, and one of my co-workers has a friend that has a boat in Kona, so all i paid for was fuel and called it even with the captain,andthat was $100. I am not sure how much a charter is.


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## recess

We moved to pcola about 4 years ago from oahu Hawaii, and all i can say in "HANA PA'A" brudda , good catch you got to love them FADS over there first one to them gets the dolphin and some good chances at marlin. ALOHA

KIMO {TIM}


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## bigruss

> *recess (2/26/2009)*We moved to pcola about 4 years ago from oahu Hawaii, and all i can say in "HANA PA'A" brudda , good catch you got to love them FADS over there first one to them gets the dolphin and some good chances at marlin. ALOHA
> 
> 
> 
> KIMO {TIM}




Did you do any Ulua fishing there? I was born and raised in Hawaii. I moved here about 4 years ago also.


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## recess

-


Did you do any Ulua fishing there? I was born and raised in Hawaii. I moved here about 4 years ago also.[/quote]

Yeah brudda we did some ulua and alua fishing on the leeward side after school i oio{bonefish] fished and moi [kind of like a catfish}fished but as you know you dont catch alot but it still fun.Good to know i have a fellow DA KINE brudda on here.

TIM


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## kahala boy

get one bruddah ova hea in navarre. check out da boat name......


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## Trott04

well i am no bruddah out here on the big island, im a good ol' southern boy from Alabama who is out here working for a little while and got lucky to go fishing with some bruddahs who know where the fish are, thats how i know about the Pensacola Fishing Forum and check it quite often to see reports from the friendly confines of the Gulf of Mexico


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## recess

> *Trott04 (2/27/2009)*well i am no bruddah out here on the big island, im a good ol' southern boy from Alabama who is out here working for a little while and got lucky to go fishing with some bruddahs who know where the fish are, thats how i know about the Pensacola Fishing Forum and check it quite often to see reports from the friendly confines of the Gulf of Mexico


Trott next time you get out get some pics and send us all a report again, its our second home. Keep them coming.


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## recess

> *kahala boy (2/27/2009)*get one bruddah ova hea in navarre. check out da boat name......


Sweet A$$ , what a perfect name, dident know to many guys spoke pigeon over here. SWEET 

KIMO{TIM}


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## bigruss

> *recess (2/27/2009)*-
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Did you do any Ulua fishing there? I was born and raised in Hawaii. I moved here about 4 years ago also.




Yeah brudda we did some ulua and alua fishing on the leeward side after school i oio{bonefish] fished and moi [kind of like a catfish}fished but as you know you dont catch alot but it still fun.Good to know i have a fellow DA KINE brudda on here.



TIM[/quote]



Yeah fishing from the shore back on Oahu is quite a challenge unless you got some secret spots. I went back home in December and caught some oio and moi. I never caught an Ulua yet. The closest I came was 8.8 pounds. I had one strike a couple years ago on a weke ula. Smoked out over 100 yards of line within 50 seconds then it cut me against the reef. Yea we got a few bruddas out here in the panhandle area. It's nice to meet people from back home.


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## lb3

Great post Will

Have fun at the Buffett concert tonight


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## The_REAL_Pole_benda

Ho wassup braddahs, we get choke up hea in PC. Russ holla at me! You my uncles- aunties- braddahs- cousins- nephews- son but no relation.


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## PensacolaEd

Nice report. The second tuna from the left on the first picture is really an Aku (skipjack tuna). The Ahi and Akus often travel in the same school, so it's common to catch both. They are both really good eating the aku is alittle more red, rather than pink.

Ed


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## Trott04

yeah, i thought i may have mis-identified a few, i think we caught a couple of Big Eye tunas on another one of my posts, but i cant really tell the difference, they all taste the same and are delicious


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## jdhkingfisher

yea i dont look at that boat and think tuna and marlin lol


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