July and August are generally the best months of the year to be
fishing in Kona. The surface ocean temperature is normally
above 80 degrees F. The warm currents bring in Blue Marlin,
Yellow Fin Tuna, Mahimahi, and Ono (Wahoo). We will also see an
occasional Black Marlin caught. There are also lots of smaller
Skipjack and Yellow Fin Tuna around the fish aggregation bouys.
Averaging 2 to 6 pounds, these make for great sport on light
tackle, especially for kids.
July 2008
Hosted the George and
Levi Dieruf families from Bozeman, Montana for a full day of fishing.
After pulling a pair of live Skipjack tuna around in the morning
with no success, we trolled lures out to the 1,000 fathom (6,000 feet)
depths four miles from shore where a 150 lb. Pacific Blue Marlin
grabbed the short corner lure. George brought the fish to the
boat in about five minutes in very fresh condition. After being
photographed and tagged with a National Marine Fisheries Services tag
the fish decided it had not shown off enough. It took off away
from the boat in a series of eight to ten jumps, screaming line off the
reel. Ten minutes later, we were finally able to get it back
boatside where the hook was removed. George's son Levi cought a
25 lb. Pacific Shortnose Spearfish. A rare fish in all the world's
oceans. If you want to catch one of these, you need to come to
Kona where the chances are the best. This fish was also tagged
and released. The tags were mailed in to the National Marine
Fisheries Service. In the event either fish is recaptured in
another part of the world and the information submitted to NNFS, they
will notify both the angler and myself of the date, time and size of
the fish.
Hosted the Lance
Sherwood families from New Mexico for 2 half day trips. It was
most important to the Sherwoods that everyone on board (6 passengers
each day) caught a fish. Catching a real big fish was not a
priority. We headed out to one of the offshore buoys which was
loaded with small Skipjack and Yellowfin tuna. These three to
eight pound fish are great sport on the light tackle we were using.
We fished until each person caught one, then another, and
another. When you're used to catching trout, fish that we tend to
think of as live bait can be a pretty big deal.
J
