Kona Fishing Charter Yields 921 Pound Marlin!
Four Hour Hawaii Fishing Adventure Extended Into a Full Day on the Water.
Five passengers set out to do some serious Kona Hawaii fishing on the Bite Me 1 from Honokohau Harbor at 10:30 a.m. on May 6th, 2012. The passengers included Jim Baker from Half Moon Bay, California and four friends, Chris Vo, Lawrence Melbourne, James Ta and John "J.D." Doung from the San Fernando Valley in California. They all requested to try for Ahi (Yellow Fin Tuna) so Bite Me 1 headed out to F Buoy for their Kona deep sea fishing experience.
On the way out there was one bite without hooking up. An hour and 15 minutes after leaving the harbor they arrived at F Buoy and proceeded to catch Ahi. After succeeding in catching enough dinner for everyone, it was decided to search for something even bigger!
Fishing in Kona yields some amazing things!
The big sportfishing lures were put into the sea and, for eight miles out, Bite Me 1 started to head towards the Kona shore. Around the 1000 fathom line, a fish came in on the long corner lure and missed it. Moments later, the fish returned and, while they couldn't see the fish itself, it was clear from the wave it produced from under the water how large the blue marlin (aka kajiki) might be. The fish got behind the lure, but wouldn’t bite. The deckhand teased the marlin and got it to bite. The fish took out small bits of line, not realizing it was hooked. Then, it came bolting out of the water countless times. Everyone was shocked at the size of the monster fish!
Jim Baker got into the chair while the marlin danced and took out yards of line. He did his utmost, working the fish for about 40 minutes until he was physically exhausted and asked for relief.
That's when the Captain put the "most fit" guy of the four friends, J.D., into the chair, who then proceeded to fight the marlin for 3 more hours with 65 pounds of drag. Chris, Lawrence & James assisted during the fight by spinning the fighting chair to the most advantageous direction for J.D. and by supplying the angler with whatever he needed. The marlin was in sight the entire time, 40 feet below the boat in its comfort zone. This angler hung tough for 3 hours and did a great job!
Finally, the marlin turned on its side. It was getting tired. It turned on its side again and was finished. The Bite Me 1 crew brought the fish up to the boat, but it was not possible to revive the marlin.
Everyone was amazed at the size of this kajiki:
The marlin was too big to bring through the stern door, so it was towed back to Honokohau Harbor for the weigh in behind Bite Me Fish Market Bar and Grill Restaurant.
The scale read a thrilling 921 pounds!
It was a fishing trip of a lifetime for all involved, crew and passengers. Long live the Bite Me 1! Want to try your hand at some Kona sportfishing action? Bite Me Sportfishing offers half and full day fishing charters every day from Kailua-Kona.
