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Kona Hawaii
Fishing
Kona Fishing forecast for March 2008
DATE April 28, 2008
The
Kona deep sea fishing is beginning it's springtime
fishing. Springtime in Kona can mean a variety of
big game fish from giant Blue Marlin to great tasting
Wahoo. We also have Mahi Mahi, Striped
Marlin and Spearfish in the waters off the Kona Coast
during April/May. Also April - July is a good time for Wahoo as these great
tasting speedsters come in to the ledges to feed on the opelu....a baitfish found in Hawaii. In Kona, we start fishing immediately upon leaving
the harbor since a mile outside the harbor it is 4000
feet deep...thus there is no run to the fishing grounds.
Fishing Kona Hawaii is something special....both for
experienced and novice anglers. Most of the world
record Blue Marlin have been caught in Kona due to the
calm seas and perfect fishing conditions.
A typical Kona deep sea
fishing charter would be to troll the rocky point just
outside the harbor or try try "Ono Lane" for some Wahoo
(Ono in Hawaii). Then we can either troll or live
bait depending upon the fishing conditions. If we
live bait, I generally go to a ledge or a FAD bouy where
there are some skipjack tuna. After we catch a
couple, I then
can put them out for live bait for Marlin
and other big game fish. After slow trolling these for a
while, we can change back over to lures for the final
runs of the day. I try to keep things interesting
and fish a variety of techniques. If one method
seems slow, we can change our fishing tactics.
The water in Kona is generally very calm. A great
place to relax, watch the beautiful scenery and sea life
while waiting for that one strike that can turn a
ordinary day into something to remember for a lifetime.
4th largest Kona Blue Marlin in 2007
In 2006. HighNoon
landed in the third largest Blue Marlin of the year in Kona... 963
lbs. Rick, Debbie and Erica Sperling
from Burlington, Ontario, Canada chartered HighNoon for
a full day of fishing. Rick is an experienced
fresh water fisherman, but this was his first time big
game fishing. His wife, Debbie told me she prayed
the night before that Rick would have a chance at a big
Blue Marlin. Boy, were her prayers were answered!
First we hooked up a smaller Blue about a 150 lbs right
outside the harbor. It came off in about 5
minutes, however in retrospect, this was a good thing as
it gave Rick a chance to acquainted himself with
fighting a big fish like a marlin. About an hour
later we hooked up a Spearfish about 40 lbs, however
that came off as I handed the rod and reel to Rick.
A few seconds later, the same lure went off and started
slowing pulling line from the reel. I first
thought it was that small Spearfish. again. As I handed the
rod to Rick, I tightened the drag a bit to set the hook.
The fish started pulling line a bit stronger and I said
"this isn't a Spearfish, probably a small Blue".
All of a sudden, it took off on it's initial run
screaming out about 700 yards of line. Then it
leaped out of the water nearly half mile away and I
could tell it was a pretty big fish. We backed
down on this fish for about 20 minutes with Rick in the
fighting chair and the rod tip almost pulled down into the
water. The fish went down but Rick did a
great job of putting lots of pressure on this fish and
we gained back about 600 yards of line in about an hour.
Suddenly about a 100 yards from the boat, the Marlin
erupted in a series of spectacular jumps and I said
"this is a REALLY big fish". The next hour was a
give and take as we would gain line only to see the fish
take it back again. Back and forth we went - time
after time. Finally, the fish came up right behind
the boat and I grabbed leader and pulled it along side
of HighNoon. After pulling this giant fish half way
through the transom door, Rick said "I think I've done
enough fishing for the day, lets go home". This was Rick's first
time big game fishing and he ended up with a once in a
lifetime catch.
Below is a photo a a 460 lb Pacific Blue Marlin. Rick
and Theresa Ramsey from Bend, Oregon chartered HighNoon for a full day of fishing off the Kona Coast of
Hawaii. Theresa was
very concerned that her six year old son Colton would
catch some fish. So, the first thing we did was
travel south a bit to the Keauhou ledge, about a half
hour troll from the harbor, Colton landed two
fish, one a yellowfin tuna weighing about 12 pounds and
the other was a skipjack tuna about 7 lbs. We
bridled up the skipjack as live bait for a Blue Marlin
and spent a few hours slow trolling this great live
bait. Unfortunately, nothing hit this bait, so
about noon we began trolling. We did catch a 20 lb
Mahi Mahi about 1pm. At 2:15 pm, we turned in
toward the harbor thinking our day was over. Boy,
were we wrong!! The long corner lure suddenly was
slammed by a huge Pacific Blue Marlin which exploded
into the air in a geyser of white water as it
greyhounded right by the boat. This billfish
ripped out about 800 yards of line before we finally
stopped the initial run. Rick did an absolutely
great job fighting this fish! We landed this
Marlin in about 30 minutes. Below is the photo
taken at the weigh in.
There are also
Wahoo on the rocky points just minutes outside the
harbor. I
generally start the morning with a quick Ono run for a
few of these great tasting gamefish. Also, on the ledges, there
can be small yellowfin Tuna to 40 lbs. These
are fun to catch...plus the tuna under 10 lbs make a live bait for
Blue Marlin and giant yellowfin Tuna. A typical
full day Kona fishing charter might include catching a few of these on
light tackle and then bridling them up as live bait for
the marlin.
I also
release most of my billfish such as Blue Marlin,
Striped Marlin and Spearfish. Below is
HighNoon returning from a successful day off the
beautiful Kona Coast of Hawaii.
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