Kona Hawaii Sportfishing - Thrill Seeker Sportfishing, Kona Hawaii

Update July 30, 2009

Since July 19th over 180 Blue Marlin and Pacific Shortnose Spearfish have been reported tagged and released by the Kona charter boat fleet. This does not come close to representing the total amount of fish caught. Many boats, particularly private boats, do not report catches. This also does not include any catches of Ono (Wahoo), Mahimahi, or Ahi (Yellowfin Tuna). It's a good time to be out fishing.

Some of the Blue Marlin tagged and released aboard the THRILL SEEKER are as follows:

7/19/09 Bill Field from Scottsdale, Arizona released a Pacific Blue Marlin estimated at 230 lbs.

7/24/09 Tyler Scarafiotti from Nagal, New Mexico captured and released a Pacific Blue Marlin weighing approximately 120 lbs.

7/27/09 Jim Eaton from Carnation, WA captured and released a Pacific Blue Marlin weighing approximately 150 lbs.

7/30/09 13 year old Marcus Bernardino from Diamond Bar, CA successfully fought a 150 lb. Yellowfin Tuna with a little help from his grandfather Manuel Jacobs from Walnut, CA.

These are just highlights of catches aboard the THRILL SEEKER in the last two weeks as it has been so busy I have not been able to report everything.

Aloha,
Captain Bob

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June/July Forecast

IIf you ever wanted to fish Kona, the months of June and July are some of the best. The fishing for Ono (Wahoo) has been good since late April. Sea surface temperatures are now up to 81 degrees F. Along with the warmer currents have come the Pacific Blue Marlin Kona is famous for.
Cody Richman of Randoph Utah tagged and released an estimated 185 lb. Blue Marlin on a half day trip after a 15 minute fight.
The second half of June has produced some of the best Marlin fishing I've witnessed in years. Almost every boat is catching fish. On one 3/4 day trip we had a double Spearfish strike, tagging and releasing both fish. Then we headed inside (water less than 600 feet deep) to fish for Ono (Wahoo) and had a double strike, boating both fish in the 20 to 30 lb. range. On the way in, 1.85 miles from the harbor at a depth of 3,000 feet, we had a giant Blue Marlin come in and grab the short corner lure running only 30 feet behind the boat. This fish headed for the horizon like a bullet train, dumping line off the reel so fast it almost spooled us before we could clear line, turn the boat and give chase. We were able to get all our line back and after a 55 minute fight the fish was brought along side the boat and relased. It was estimated at over 700 lbs.We are all anxiously awaiting the arrival of the annual migration of giant Yellow Fin Tuna (Ahi). They have shown up on Oahu in large numbers and are expected here any time. There have been some caught here and there in "the blind" meaning there was no signs or indication we might get a strike.
Anytime now!
Aloha,
Captain Bob

March/April Forecast

The excellent winter trolling bite tapered off a bit in March but April is on the upsurge. April is one of the peak months in Hawaii for Mahi mahi and it looks like it's going to be good this year. We've boated Mahi mahi in the 25 to 40 lb. range in the first 10 days of April. The Ono (Wahoo) are also starting to show up with big numbers expected by the end of April, peaking in May and remaining steady through July and into August.
The sea surface temperatures have begun to warm up from lows of 72.4 to 73.8 degrees in March, the lowest I've ever seen. I am now recording sea surface temperatures of 75.3 to 76.4 degrees. As the sea surface temperatures warm up into spring and summer the fishing will only get better.
There have been some football sized tuna along the ledges and around some of the buoys. These are most likely Big Eye tuna given the low water temperatures. The larger Yellowfin tuna (ahi) will start showing up towards the end of April and increase in numbers throughout the summer months. There has also been an unusual run of large Big Eye tuna in the last two weeks with most being caught in the blind while trolling. These fish have been weighing between 140 to 220 lbs.
March and April are also good months to look for large Blue Fin Marlin in Kona waters. We have captured and released four in the last week, with the largest estimated at over 500 lbs.
If you are serious about big game fishing, as you probably already know, a full day charter is the way to go. This gives us the maximum amount of time and the most opportunity to find the fish you want.

January/February Forecast

2/9/09

This past week has been busy. We have caught, tagged and released numerous Spearfish, Striped Marlin, and two Blue Marlin. We have also boated several Mahimahi and a large number of Yellowfin Tuna in the 10 to 20 lb. class. The seawater temperatures are getting down to 76 degrees F and we are starting to see more Striped Marlin caught. Humpback whales are everywhere now. It seems like they showed up all at once. When we are fishing near shore in depths of less than 100 fathoms it's almost impossible not to see them.

1/31/09
Hosted Melvin and Sharon Miller from Billings, Montana for a half day charter. Back on October 15, 2008, their son Steve Miller was out with me for a half day (scroll down through the reports to see what happened then). The Millers wanted to catch a bigger fish than the 625 plus pound Blue Marlin Steve and friend Lonnie Walker had caught in October.
About 45 minutes out of the harbor, the longer rigger went off with a Blue Marlin jumping all over the ocean. It was Sharon's turn and she was already in the fighting chair when the fish hit. After a fifteen minute fight which I am sure to Sharon must have seemed much longer, a 150 pound Blue Marlin was brought alongside the boat. I placed a National Marine Fisheries Service tag in the fish while numerous photos were taken (proof to Steve that his mom really caught a marlin). The fish was released in good condition. Although Sharon didn't catch a bigger fish than son Steve, I think she was very happy she didn't have to slug it out with a 625 plus pound fish.
Aloha, Captain Bob

January and February are the best months of the year to fish for Striped Marlin and Spearfish. Mahi mahi continue to be plentiful. Big Blue Marlin are always around as they will hunt down and eat the smaller species of fish mentioned above. This is also a time when migrating Humpback whales arrive in large numbers to their winter breeding grounds in Hawaii. We will often spend some time whale watching on our trips this time of year. This is also the time of year you can be fishing in glass calm seas and 80 degree temperatures in Kona and look up at snow capped mountains in the distance.
1/8/09
Hosted Dan Martin and his wife Joan for a 3/4 day charter including whale watching and snorkeling at the Captain Cook monument, a marine preserve in beautiful Kealakekua Bay. We headed down to the bay close to shore looking for Humpback whales. When the Humpbacks are in Hawaii, they are almost always found close to shore in shallower water. Half way down to the bay we came upon a pod of six whales frolicing on the surface. We stayed and observed the whales until Dan and his wife were satisfied they had enough photographs, then headed on down to the bay. There they spent about an hour snorkeling in the pristine waters fronting the Captain Cook monument. With the whale watching and snorkeling out of the way, the rest of the trip was spent fishing in the deeper water 3 to 4 miles offshore. About 3 miles offshore we were attacked by a pack of Spearfish. At one point they simultaneously attacked each one of the 5 lures being pulled behind the boat. When things settled down we ended up hooking 2 out of the 5 fish. Each fish was fought to the boat, photographed, tagged and released. We also wound up with a nice Mahimahi for dinner.

1/4/09

Hosted Stanley Marshall from Illinois for a half day charter. As we cruised up to a popular fishing area known as "The Grounds" we started getting some light tugs on the small lure placed out far away from the boat on the long rigger. This type of activity was indicative of a Spearfish or Striped Marlin swatting the lure with it's tail in an attempt to stun it. The response to this is to tease the fish into eating the lure. After 5 minutes of teasing, we hooked up but it was not the Spearfish we expected. Out of the water lept a 250 pound Blue Marlin, greyhounding straight for the boat. Stanley wound up with the fish fight of a lifetime and brought the biggest fish he had ever caught to the boat. The fish was photographed, tagged and released. If recaptured in another part of the world someday, National Marine Fisheries Service will let us know.

November and December Forecast

November is a peak month for Mahimahi. We should continue to see Mahimahi through November, December and into January. December will also bring increasing numbers of Spearfish and Striped Marlin. Though not as plentifull as in the summer months, big Blue Marlin will continue to be around.

10/30/08

Hosted Bob Carlson and his wife Nancy for a full day charter.
The first order of the day was to catch something good to eat. Since the month of November is usually one of the better months of the year to fish for Mahimahi in Kona, this was our target fish. We set out a spread of seasoned 5 to 7 inch lures covered with the scars from numerous Mahimahi catches over the years. I also brought along a stash of dead bait. Sometimes when a Mahimahi is hooked on a lure and brought into the stern of the boat, it is followed by the school of Mahimahi it was part of. If you have bait ready to go you can end up catching a lot of fish.
We trolled out to the 6,000 foot depth three miles outside the harbor and headed South. An hour and thirty minutes later we got our first strike, a 30 pound Mahimahi. As Bob fought the fish, I cleared lines and dropped a dead bait back in case there were others. It turned out to be a loner.
We continued South along the 6,000 foot depth for another hour before we got our next bite. This turned out to be a bull Mahimahi that tipped the scales at 37 pounds. This fish gave Nancy a very hard fight until we were finally able to subdue it and get it into the brine box to chill out. It was another lone Mahimahi.
After trolling for another hour we had a big strike. A Pacific Blue Marlin between 400 to 450 pounds hit the lure on the long corner rod and stripped about 100 yards of line off the reel before exploding out of the water in a series of jumps behind the boat. As I cleared the lines, Bob jumped into the fighting chair and clipped the bucket harness to the reel. The fish took about 300 yards of line before settling down. I backed up after it to make it easier for Bob to regain line and to get as close to the fish as possible before it could go deep. Within 15 minutes, Bob had the fish to within 40 feet behind the boat. What happened next was one of the most amazing things I've seen in all the years I've been fishing. A large pod of Pilot Whales passed by us headed North. We needed to get the marlin up to leader and tagged and released as soon as possible. Pilot Whales are toothed whales up to 20 feet in length found year round in Kona waters. While they could have easily attacked and killed the marlin, I really wasn't too worried about that happening.
The problem is that pods of Pilot Whales like this are often accompanied by Oceanic White Tip Sharks. Sure enough, after the pod of whales passed, two Oceanic White Tips appeared behind the marlin. Oceanic White Tip sharks are aggressive. You would not want to be floating in the ocean with a couple of them around you. If we were hooked up to a tuna it would have been all over in seconds and we probably would have ended up with some shredded leader. But this was a large malin with a long dangerous bill and the sharks were very cautious. The large shark, about 8 feet plus, swam alongside the marlin keeping a distance of about 10 feet off the marlin's right side. The smaller shark, about 6 feet plus, trailed about 50 feet behind.
My original intent was to release the marlin, but now things were complicated. If the marlin was too exhausted, releasing it meant that the sharks would ultimately track it down and eat it. I did not feel like feeding the sharks. I had Bob back off on the reel drag setting in the event the sharks made a move on the marlin. This would allow the fish to take line more easily and possibly escape the jaws of the sharks.
What happened next was incredible and it happened in a little more than the blink of an eye. Instead of trying to escape, the marlin charged the large shark on its right and ran it through with its bill. As it shook its head violently, it ripped a large hole in the sharks side. The mortally wounded shark spiraled into the depths with its insides trailing out of the wound. The smaller shark had disappeared. The marlin was all lit up neon blue and still hooked up 30 feet below the boat. It was senseless to pull her all the way back to the surface just to put a tag in her. She had just demonstrated that she had more than enough energy left to be released. We were able to get the swivel to the surface and I cut her loose leaving her with the hook and about 18 feet of leader.
As many years as I've run charters, I've seen numerous marlin feeding on the surface, and I've had marlin inhale a live bait right at the back of the boat, but I've never seen one attack and kill a large fish like this. It was spectacular!
Aloha, Captain Bob

September and October Forecast

September and October are some of the best months of the year to fish for Blue Marlin in Kona. On the first half of September over 90% of all fish captured and released or brought in and weighed were Blue Marlin between 120 to over 700 pounds! Eighty five percent were tagged and released. There were also Yellow Fin Tuna (Ahi) between 115 and 155 pounds weighed. As we move into October, we will see increasing numbers of Mahimahi caught as November is one of the best months for catching Mahimahi.

People often ask "How far do we have to go to catch fish?" The answer: About 100 yards to the harbor entrance buoy. Just past the buoy the bottom drops off precipitously to over 6,000 feet three miles from shore. We put our lines in the water just past the buoy and bring them in there at the end of the trip so there is no run to the fishing grounds.

The Kona coast has some of the calmest seas you will find anywhere in the world. In a normal year, I may only have to cancel 2 to 3 trips due to bad weather.

October 14, 2008

Hosted John Joren and his wife from Las Vegas, Nevada for an afternoon half day trip. After trolling the inside and then bombing the bottom with bait with no luck, I decided to put out a spread of lures and fish the deep water (6,000 feet) outside a popular Kona fishing area known as "The Grounds".

The pattern of lures consisted of two smaller lures on the long lines designed to catch Mahimahi, Spearfish, and Tuna. The lures on the corner rods were larger (up to 13 inches) and run close to the boat to catch Blue Marlin.

Sometimes the fish just don't play by the "rules". After trolling south along the 6,000 foot depth for 30 minutes, the two long lines went off. The first fish to strike was a big female Pacific Blue Marlin in excess of 600 pounds. She came up jumping straight for the stern of the boat. A split second later, a male of about 175 pounds hit the other long line and took off leapfrogging in the opposite direction away from the boat. As a captain this is an impossible situation to deal with as the manuevers necessary to deal with one fish are the opposite required to deal with the other fish.

In the end, it didn't matter. The female jumped off and the male which by now had burned about 600 yards of a total of 800 yards of line off the reel, broke off. It was all over in 15 seconds. Even though John didn't get his fish, he got to feel the enormous power and witness the incredible speed of a Pacific Blue Marlin. Sometimes you're just fishing and not catching.

October 15, 2008
Hosted Steve Miller and Lonnie Walker and family from Billings, Montana for a morning half day trip. After briefing them at the dock and explaining the previous days events, we headed out of the marina and up North where we had action the day before. We never made it. One of the small lures running on the long lines the day before got whacked by a fish. Line peeled off the reel at a steady but not alarming rate for about 100 yards and then slowed to almost a stop. There was not a strong indication as to exactly what species of fish it was. All the lines were cleared and I backed the boat up towards the fish so Lonnie, the angler could easily regain line. Once we had retrieved almost all the line, I fully expected to see a large Spearfish or small Blue Marlin behind the boat. Instead what appeared was a large dark sinister looking shape. Within second, an enormous Blue Marlin in excess of 625 pounds exploded out of the water and took off away from the boat rampaging across the surface of the ocean like a runaway train. Within seconds, the reel packed with 800 yards of 100 pound test line was down to 400 yards and line was rapidly disappearing off the reel.

With both engines in reverse I backed up after the fish as fast as I could get the boat to go stern first, but it quickly became apparent this was not going to work. We could not go after the fish fast enough. I raced down off the flybridge, released the brake on the fighting chair and had Lonnie's partner Steve turn the chair towards the port (left) side of the boat. I spun the boat around and raced after the fish in forward. Now we had a chance to get some line back.

When you have to run down a big fish, it helps to have your reel packed with high visability line. We got about half the line back when it began slicing through the water across the port bow. I could see it looping around to the starboard side. The fish had doubled back on us. I executed a 180 degree turn to starboard and continued to follow the fish until we were within 100 yards. We were now able to back up on the fish and begin an hour long battle of tug o' war.

When fighting large Marlin, it's imperative that you do not allow the fish to get too far away from the boat for too long. When this happens, the fish will invariably dive down to depths too great to survive. The enormous pressure at those depths will kill the fish within minutes. Now what you're stuck with is a whole lot of dead weight on the end of the line and that's a lot less cooperative that a large stubborn live fish. Even though it's sometimes possible to plane a dead fish up to the surface, my policy is to always tag and release billfish whenever possible.

After fighting the fish for 45 minutes Lonnie decided to let his buddy Steve finish the fight. With a fresh angler in the fighting chair we were able to increase pressure on the fish and she slowly came up to the surface. It took several attempts at leadering the fish before I was able to place a National Marine Fisheries Service tag into it. She reacted to the tag by pulling 30 feet of line off the reel and sulking beneath the boat for the next five minutes. It took three more failed leader attemps before I could retrieve my lure and cut the 500 pound test leader.

This was an extraordinarily strong fish. She swam away upright and in very good condition with five feet of leader and the hook which will fall out on its own eventually.

Marlin are oceanic nomads. They follow the warm ocean currents and you never know where they will show up next. Lonnie, Steve and I put our names and addresses on the tag. Even though we let her go in the world's largest ocean, in the remote possiblity this fish is recaptured in another part of the woeld and the NMFS is contacted, they will let us know the date, time, location and weight of the fish.

We left the harbor at 7:00 AM and returned at 11:00 AM. The fish struck 3 miles north of the harbor and 2 miles straight offshore in 3,000 feet of water. Surface water temerature was 80.3 degrees F. Kona, Hawaii is one of the few places in the world where you can book a half day fishing charter and enjoy this type of action. But you don't have to fish for Marlin, afterall, I put that small lure out for Mahimahi. It's just that sometimes the fish don't play by the "rules".
Aloha,
Captain Bob

Today we started off fishing inshore on a morning half day trip and caught two nice Ono (Wahoo) right in front of the harbor for Stan Lovell from San Diego, CA. We then headed two miles offshore looking for Ahi (Yellow Fin Tuna) and managed to capture, tag and release two Shortnose Spearfish estimated at 25 lbs. each on our tuna lures. We try to tag and release all billfish whenever possible. The Ono are a great eating fish, and they were filleted for all to enjoy.
Aloha
Captain Bob

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