Lepika Sportfishing, Kailua Kona, HI 96740 • 808-960-0068

This was Brett’s 4th and final day fishing with me.  Yesterday, we completed his IGFA Billfish Royal Slam and today we decided to just have fun and see what we could get into.  It was also Brett’s birthday so we had a lot of luck on our side before the day even started.  Brett arrrived at the boat around 6:15am.  A good friend of mine Keith and my son Fisher joined us.  Keith has deckhand for me before and my son Fisher is on a school mentorship program so he decided to fish today too.  The ocean calmed down since yesterday and our plan was to head right back to where we were getting good bites in the last few days.  The nice thing about fishing almost everyday is you know where to go and where not to go to put your clients on fish.  We worked our way back up to the Grounds without a bite.  As we turned towards the backside of the Grounds we saw good signs of bait so we switched over from lures to live bait.  We caught two nice baits and sent them back.  As we got into deeper water we got bit.  Again, as we had seen in the previous days, a big shark was at the other end.  Brett worked the big white-tip to the boat and we cut it free.  Back to the ledge we went to catch more bait.  It didn’t take long and we sent two fresh baits back.  Moments later the short bait went wild as a short-nose spearfish charged in.  Brett fought the 35lb spear to the boat in about 10 minutes.  We ran back to the ledge and caught two more baits and  sent them back.  It took a while but again the short bait was inhaled by a striped marlin just a few yards behind the boat.  Brett fought the 45lb stripey to the boat in under 15 minutes.  There was bait all over the ledge, more than I had seen in the last week and I just knew more fish were in the area.  We ran back to the ledge and put the bait rods back out.  We hooked another bait and Brett started to fight it when he yelled, “this is something different!”  I looked back and saw a nice short nose spearfish jumping behind the boat!  I backed down hard on the fish trying not to put too much pressure on the light leader on the bait rod.  Brett did a great job of putting light pressure on the fish as to not break the 20lb leader.  After a 15 minute fight, Brett landed his second short nose spearfish that weighed about 35lbs.  I didn’t realize it until Keith said, “All we need is a blue marlin to get a Hawaiian Slam” (Blue marlin, striped marlin and spearfish).  We ran back to the ledge and caught two more baits.  It was getting late but I knew somewhere in all this bait there was a blue marlin…there just had to be!  We worked our way down the ledge and then it happened…the long bait was inhaled.  After letting the fish run with the bait, we throttled up to set the hook but nothing was there….Keith grabbed the line to “feel” for a bite.  As he held the bait he felt a distinct pull of a big fish and put the reel in free spool to feed it.  I pushed the boat forward and the line came tight with the tell-tale signs of a fish.  Brett buckled in and we watched as  small blue marlin came to the surface.  Brett fought the fish and in about 10 minutes had it to leader.  Unfortunately, the blue had swallowed the hook so we decide to kill it.  Brett’s blue marlin weighed 154lbs!  So, not only did Brett complete his IGFA Billfish Royal Slam, he also got his first Hawaiian Slam on his birthday!

Brett fished on the 7th with me and we were lucky enough to get a nice blue marlin to help him get closer to completing his IGFA Billfish Royal Slam.  An IGFA Billfish Royal Slam consists of catching an Atlantic and Pacific Sailfish, Atlantic and Pacific Blue Marlin, Black Marlin, Striped Marlin, White Marlin, Swordfish and Spearfish.  Now Brett needed just a short nose spearfish to complete his IGFA Billfish Slam.  Today the weather was pretty rough but better than the day before.  We headed north to the Grounds and found decent water conditions but it was still fairly uncomfortable to fish in.  I zig-zagged my way into the wind trying to make it as comfortable as possible and as we got closer to the ledge the waves got steeper and steeper.  It just wasn’t looking good so I made a pass on the Middle Grounds and as we neared the ledge the long line 50lb outfit started to scream.  Brett got in the chair and started to fight the fish.  With the waves getting steeper, I turned the booat downwind so we wouldn’t rock-n-roll so bad.  The fish never surfaced and for  awhile I thought maybe we had hooked a 30-40lb yellowfin tuna.  The leader finally popped up and there it was…a 35lb short nose spearfish!!!  Exactly what we were fishing for to complete Brett’s IGFA Billfish Royal Slam!  It had taken Brett 2 years to find this elusive fish and we did it!  We see quite a few of these fish throughout the year and I can honestly say I have never been so happy to catch one!  Congratulations to Brett for capturing his final fish in his IGFA Billfish Royal Slam!

Brett and his wife Jodi joined me today on the Lepika.  Today was their second day fishing with me and unfortunately we missed all three billfish bites and caught a big shark on the previous time out.  Brett has fished here before on other boats looking for a blue marlin and a short nose spearfish to complete his billfish slam, but was unable to accomplish his goal.  Since we caught four blue marlin up on the Grounds the past two days I decided to go back there and live bait.  The weather today was rough.  We had a cold front move thru and the wind was out of the south at 15-20 knots.  This is VERY unusual for Kona but we decided to try and fish.  We went right back to live baiting and got bit almost immediately!  Brett got in the chair and we waited to see a big blue jumping in the distance.  After a 10 minute fight we all watched as another big shark came to the surface.  Brett couldn’t believe it…two sharks in a row after I just caught four blue marlin in the last two days without one shark bite!  The wind was picking up so we decided to go back to trolling.  I headed back towards the harbor just in case the weather got even more ugly.  It didn’t, so I made the decision to go back to the Grounds and live bait.  We were only able to catch one bait so I sent it back long.  Again, we were bit immediately!  This time the fish fought deep leading us to believe it was another shark!  I watched the line angle as the fish stayed deep.  The weather was picking up and I was concerned we were out of time to get a blue marlin on bait.  Frustration set in since I knew we were out of time to get another bait and the weather was getting worse.  We all began to think it was a shark until the line steadily rose higher and higher until about 100 yards away a blue marlin stuck his bill out of the water!  I throttled the Lepika back on the fish trying to get it close to leader.  Brett did a great job fighting the marlin as he was taking buckets of water over the transom as we backed down.  In about 15 minutes we had it alongside the boat.  The hook was buried deep in it’s throat so we decided to kill it.  This was Brett’s first blue marlin that weighed 195lbs!  Brett will be fishing two more days with me and hopefully the weather gets better!

After the great day we had yesterday up on the Grounds we decided to leave early and do exactly the same thing – live bait.  Mark and Mike met me at the harbor at 6:15am and we blasted out before the sun peeked over the volcano.  On our first pass on the ledge we had a nice blue marlin about 200lbs eat the short rigger and come off.  UGH!  After watching the blue harass the bait without any real interest in eating it we went to the ledge and caught two live baits.  Again, we got bit pretty quick!  This time, Mike was first up.  He strapped in the chair and fought his blue marlin to the boat in about 15 minutes.  After taking a few pictures boatside, we safely released his estimated 180lb blue marlin.  Back to the ledge we went to get more baits.  Mike and Mark did an amazing job catching these fragile baits without ripping their jaws off or killing them.  We baited two more baits and headed off the ledge.  It took a little longer this time but we hooked up again to another blue marlin.  Mark was up and got into the chair.  His blue took out a lot of line right off the bite and we chased it hard with the boat.  He fought his second blue marlin of the trip in under 25 minutes.  We estimated his blue at 190lbs!  Unfortunately, this would be the last trip of their vacation on the Lepika.  As I am writing this, I had to cancel their third day due to 25 knot winds.

Mark and Mike of Petaluma, CA were back to fish with me again this year.  Last year, Mike’s goal was to catch a fish heavier than his own weight…we’ll leave it at over 200lbs, per Mark.  On that trip, we didn’t beat that goal but we did catch he and Mike two nice ahis that weighed 107lbs and 108lbs.  This year, Mark booked me for 3 days in search of his elusive monster.  I headed to the “Grounds” north of the airport.  The striped and blue marlin had been biting pretty good up there so our chances were promising.  On our way up, we hooked a small striped marlin on the stinger and Mark jumped in the chair and made quick work of his 40lb stripey.  It wasn’t the monster he wanted but we were on the board!  I continued to work the ledge without any bites and other boats in the area also reported the same results.  There was a lot of bait fish feeding in the area so I decided to show the fish something different and live bait.  We quickly caught two perfect oioi (frigate mackerel) and bridled them up.  It didn’t take long!  A small blue marlin rushed in and ate one of the baits.  Mike was up and fought his 90lb blue marlin to the boat in about 10 minutes.  We ran back onto the ledge and caught two more baits and sent them back.  Again, it didn’t take long!  A nice blue marlin swirled on the long bait and missed it.  It rushed forward to the short bait just a few yards behind the boat and we all watched as it pushed water trying to eat the frightened bait on the surface.  This was the one Mark was waiting for!  The marlin peeled out 300 yards of line putting on an unbelievable aerial show behind the boat.  We backed down hard on the fish trying to keep it close.  Mark fought the fish for about 25 minutes before we safely released it behind the boat.  We estimated it at 250lbs!