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

May 15, 2012 – Glenn And The Boys Get Big Ahis and Ono!

nittas2010 — Thu, 17 May 2012 09:50:36 +0000

Glenn, Dexter and Travis from Oahu flew over with their family for some R&R and a day of fishing with me. Since we did so well on the spearfish yesterday, we decided to head out into the deep and try for them again. We headed straight out of the harbor and worked our way towards the 2000 fathom line. There was lots of flying fish and the signs were prime for spearfish and other predators. It wasn’t long before I spotted a lone frigate bird circling far on the horizon. The frigates typically follow porpoise so I got on the binoculars and scanned the water below the bird. I stared in that direction for a long time and finally saw a porpoise jump. I ran downstairs and switched over to some smaller bullets in hopes that there was some ahi swimming with the pod. I had just set out three bullets when the short bait fired off! Travis was up and landed a nice 30lb ono! As we approached the school was spread out far and wide chasing flying fish in all directions. We trolled for about an hour and I finally saw an ahi jump with a flying fish firmly sticking out of it’s mouth. The pod slowly came together and I put up the greenstick. On our first pass, Travis was sitting with me up top and I told him, “watch right in here, this looks good on this pass…” Moments later a nice ahi exploded on the squids! All three of the guys saw the bite as the ahi left a big hole in the water. Travis was up first and landed his first ahi in about 15 minutes. His ahi would weigh 97lbs! We set up again and worked the porpoise. The pod started to spread out again and chase more flying fish and it was hard to locate the fish, if any in the school. The porpoise started feeding pretty heavy on flyers just ahead of us and I pulled the squids right in the frenzy hoping an ahi was in there feeding too. A big explosion signalled the bite and line ripped off the reel as Dexter got strapped into the harness. Dexter worked hard fighting the fish and at one time almost got pulled in! He fought his ahi to the boat in about 15 minutes. It weighed 100lbs! After a few photos we set up again and worked the pile. Again the porpoise piled up a school of flying fish and started feeding. I was able to get the squids in the frenzy and another big ahi blasted one of the squids! Dexter was up again and clipped into the harness. This fish gave him a much harder time than the first one but he made quick work of it. Our third ahi of the day would weigh 140lbs!

May 14, 2012 – Todd and Teresa 3 for 4 on Spearfish!

nittas2010 — Thu, 17 May 2012 09:25:38 +0000

Todd and his wife Teresa joined me for a full day on the Lepika. The short nose spearfish have shown up in pretty good numbers lately so that was our target species today. It seems like every boat out has been getting at least one bite from these small billfish. We worked our way south of the harbor down the 1000 fathom line. Outside of Keauhou we got our first bite from a nice sized spearfish on the long rigger. This was Todd’s fishing trip so he was first up and quickly landed his first shortnose spearfish in about 10 minutes! After taking some quick pictures alongside the boat we safely released it to fight another day! It weighed about 35lbs. We continued south and the current was perfect for some of the ledges off of Milolii, 30 miles south of the harbor. We worked outside the village and hooked up to another nice spearfish. Todd also reeled this one in, his second spear of the day! It also weighed about 35lbs. I reset the lines and as I went up to the flying bridge another spearfish inhaled the stinger lure. This time Todd was using the head so Teresa jumped in the chair and brought her first spearfish to the boat in about 15 minutes. As I leadered the fish closer to the boat we noticed the hook went into the corner of it’s mouth and out it’s eye. It wasn’t going to make it so we all agreed to take it. As we trolled back up to the harbor we had another spearfish bite that wouldn’t stick. All in all it was a great day with two spearfish releases and one in the cooler for dinner. Todd and Teresa just sent me this picture of some seared spearfish they made at their condo….Yum!

May 11, 2012 – More Big Ahi and Spearfish!

nittas2010 — Sun, 13 May 2012 20:18:11 +0000

Yesterday, we had some unseasonably stormy weather but today started out without a cloud in the sky and flat water. Mike and his wife Alyssa joined me for a 3/4 day charter. Since we had some nice spearfish bites the day before we decided to head out into the deep and see if they were still around. We left early and headed far past the ledge where we had trolled yesterday. There were flying fish all around the area and it looked really good but the spearfish weren’t around. We continued farther down the coast and ran into a small porpoise school. I switched over to my ahi trolling pattern and made a pass in front the school. As I came across the middle of the school a nice ahi inhaled the lure on the long corner position just 20 yards behind the boat! It stalled out on the surface and I could see it’s big yellow sickles as it swam away on the surface. It only took out about 10 yards of line by the time I had Mike strapped into the harness! Usually, an ahi of this size will clear a quarter of the spool but this fish stayed REALLY close. By the time I cleared two lines, Mike had the swivel almost to the rod tip. I was shocked! I knew it was a big fish but he had the leader to me in about 5 minutes! Of all the ahi I have caught, I have never seen one come in that fast! His ahi would scale out at 134 1/2 lbs! On our next pass in the porpoise a nice spearfish decided to eat one of our lures which we quickly took pictures of and released! It weighed about 35lbs! Over all, it was a great day and we were back in the harbor at 12pm!

May 9-10, 2012 – Jeff and Rick Catch Ahi!

nittas2010 — Sun, 13 May 2012 20:00:20 +0000

Jeff, Rick and their wives Carol and Jennifer, joined me for another day fishing Kona. A few days ago, Jeff and Jennifer fished with me and we caught a nice ahi in the porpoise so today we decided to target spearfish while we searched in the deep. Jeff and Rick are avid albacore fishermen from Oregon. Jeff had been telling Rick about the greenstick so we were determined to find a porpoise school holding tuna. We trolled far from the harbor but couldn’t get a spearfish bite. The porpoise were even proving to be elusive and I was worried we wouldn’t find them. As I scanned the horizon with the binoculars I saw a porpoise jump a few miles ahead. As we neared the pile it looked pretty big and scattered everywhere chasing flying fish. I didn’t mark any fish right away but I decided to put up the greenstick and give it a try. It took a while but I finallly marked two fish holding deep in the school. Finally, after several passes an ahi blew-up on one of the squids. Jeff was up and landed his first ahi of his 2 day trip! It weighed 131lbs, 25lbs bigger than the one Jennifer caught a few days prior! It will be interesting to see which one they put on their wall! The next day we awoke to some bad weather. It stormed most of the night and rain clouds were on the horizon. We decided to fish anyway and Rick caught a small mahimahi and ahi which they took home for dinner. We also had two short-nose spearfish bites and missed them both. One of them was over 45lbs! The spearfish are definitely moving in!

May 4, 2012 – Fishing Kona Yields Big Ahi!

nittas2010 — Sun, 06 May 2012 19:26:30 +0000

Jeff and Jennifer from Oregon joined me today for some deep sea Kona fishing. The last few days I’ve caught a few ahi in some really nice porpoise schools far south of the harbor so we decided to leave the dock early and head that way. We ran pretty far and set up trolling just outside Keauhou. I headed out to some areas where I thought the porpoise would be and they weren’t there. A few other boats came running up from the south and I started to get worried that we wouldn’t find them. We continued down…way down, off the small village of Milolii and there they were! At first they were spread out for a few miles and as I made trolling passes I marked two nice ahi holding deep in the school. An hour into it, still no bites and the school started to get tighter so we put up the greenstick. We made pass after pass and the fish were still deep at 50-60 fathoms. Finally, after a few hours in the school and ahi exploded on one of our squids. We were on! Jennifer was first up and got strapped into the harness. She made quick work of her first ahi that weighed 106lbs! They decided to mount it and have a perfect spot for it….next to a 150lb blue marlin they caught last year! Jeff and Jennifer will be fishing with me on Wednesday and Thursday so hopefully I can get them into more action!

April 25, 2012 – Dan and Danny Fishing Kona

nittas2010 — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 07:08:48 +0000

Danny and his wife Stacy of Woodinville, WA, along with his cousin Tanya and her husband Dan of Phoenix, AZ fished on the Lepika with me today. We started right at the harbor mouth for ono early in the morning. We made pass after pass on the ledge without a bite. As the sun rose higher over Hualalai Volcano we decided to head offshore insearch of bigger game. For the next four hours we would struggle to get a bite. We only heard of one other boat that caught a blue marlin so we headed in that direction and worked the area. Everywhere we went sheets of flying fish bolted in front of the boat…a good sign at least that there was a lot of feed for predators, but where were they? At about 1:30pm I headed straight out off of Red Hill when the starboard outrigger flexed back signaling a bite but it quickly straightened out as whatever it was let go of the lure. By the size of the boil it was either a small mahimahi or a timid spearfish. We continued to work the area when the long rigger rod started to scream followed instantaneously by the stinger. It was a double strike! In the distance two nice striped marlin started a series of jumps. Dan was first up and got in the fighting chair with the stinger rod as Danny stood next to the long rigger rod and started fighting his fish with the rod in the holder. Danny’s fish came to leader first and we quickly released his 70lb stripey in about 10 minutes. Soon after, Dan got his stripey to leader and after a few quick pictures we safely released his stripey which weighed about 80lbs! Persistence definitely payed off today! At the end of the day we found out that Dan and Stacy’s offer on a condo in Waikoloa was accepted so it sounds like we will hopefully be seeing more of them in the future!

April 22, 2012 – Ono and Spearfish are Biting!

nittas2010 — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 07:36:27 +0000

Today I took my good friend Dave, his daughter Maluhia and my son Fisher out on the Lepika. My youngest son Kai had a football game so we planned to fish just a half day. Since the kids were on board we opted for lighter tackle and went with my Fin-Nor 30W with 50lb line. Maluhia had chosen two lures which we opted to run on the stinger and long rigger position. The next few hours would reveal those lures were hot! The ono have been biting pretty good lately so we tried that first. It was barely light as we made our first pass down the ledge when the short bait took off first with a screaming run (that was one of my lures – Maluhia!). Unfortunately, it quickly came off before we could get to the rod but the stinger lure fired off a few seconds later with another ono bite. Maluhia was first up and quickly got to the rod as Fisher and I cleared the inside rods. She chose to fight the fish out of the rod holder as Dave gave her words of encouragement. Maluhia fought the fish unassisted and landed her 30lb ono in about 15 minutes on her hand picked lure! More and more boats tried their luck near us so we headed offshore to look for a spearfish for Fisher. He and I have been practicing all IGFA angling techniques lately which means he must take the rod from the holder and strap himself in the chair unassisted. The only time someone can assist him is leadering and gaffing/releasing the fish. We traveled south where we had several bites the last few days. We worked the 1000 fathom line without any bites. Other boats in the area also reported slow fishing so we decided to call it a day and work our way back up towards the harbor. As we neared the harbor we couldn’t believe we didn’t get a bite. Suddenly, the long rigger bullet that Maluhia had picked out came down hard and the Fin-Nor 30W screamed as the fish took a long run! Fisher got himself buckled into the fighting chair and got to work. Dave helped me clear lines as Fisher fought the fish. In about 10 minutes the leader was at the rod tip and Dave wired the spearfish into gaffing range. Fisher’s spearfish would scale out at 33lbs! Overall, it was a great day with the kids getting some nice fish and all on light tackle!

April 20, 2012 – Don (Day 2) and Fisher Get Bit!!

nittas2010 — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 04:41:04 +0000

After catching a nice ahi a few days ago Don joined me again along with my son Fisher. As I have stated before, he is the luckiest kid in the world when it comes to catching fish! We left the harbor early at around 5:30am to get the jump on a pretty good ono bite which started the day before. We set lines up at the harbor mouth and Fisher drove the boat up the 45 fathom line towards the airport while I adjusted and rigged the lines. On our first pass up the coast we had nice signs of bait and onos on the sounder. The short rigger was the first to fire off as a big 30lb ono crashed the lure. Don got in the chair and caught his first ono in about 10 minutes! We set up again and made another pass over the same spot. Fisher and I watched the sounder and again saw signs of bait and onos in almost the same spot. We turned to watch the lures as another big ono erupted on the bait but didn’t hook up. As we worked ourt way farther north we saw lots of good signs of fish but no bites. We were about to give up when another ono ate the short bait running deep off the corner. This time, Don was nice enough to let Fisher fight one so he got in the chair and made quick work of a nice 40lb ono! With enough fish to eat we decided to head offshore and look for Don’s big blue marlin. We headed straight out and ran straight into a huge porpoise school. It was one of the biggest piles I had seen in a long time but as we worked the pile I didn’t mark any fish on the sounder. Regardless, we continued to work the school when the stinger took off and then the short rigger as well. It was a double! Don jumped in the chair as Fisher fought the other in the rod holder. Line wasn’t peeling off the reel like an ahi would run and we weren’t sure what it was until Fisher’s came up jumping – double spearfish! Fisher got his in first and we released it unharmed it weighed about 30lbs. Don quickly got his to leader and we released his 35lb spearfish soon after. We set up again and worked the school but just didn’t see any signs to warrant spending more time there. We trolled back towards the harbor and worked the shallower ledges. Just outside the harbor as we were headed in another big spearfish pile on the bullet on the stinger. Don got in the chair and landed another really nice spearfish that was probably close to 40lbs! What a great day – a 30lb and 40lb ono and 3 short nose spearfish releasesd that went 30lbs-40lbs! I guess Fisher is good luck!

April 18, 2012 – Don’s Back For More Action! Day 1

nittas2010 — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 04:13:46 +0000

My neighbor Cara, along with her father Don, and children Sierena and Dominique fished with me today. Last year, Don had his mind set on a big blue marlin but we couldn’t find one but we did catch a nice 35lb short-nose spearfish. Today, we decided to go straight offshore and look for the north porpoise school. The trolling bite overall has been pretty slow with only one or two boats in the entire fleet finding big fish. We needed to find a porpoise school that held fish to have a shot at catching something. About 8 miles outside of F buoy we saw porpoise jumping on the horizon. It looked promising as shearwaters and terns worked ahead of the pile. We made a nice first pass and I marked a fish at 30 fathoms. I watched the spread but nothing came to the lures. I switched over to the greenstick right away before the fish I marked went deeper and out of range of surface lures. As I made passes with the greenstick I no longer saw the single fish I had earlier marked. For two hours I made pass after pass, jigging the squids in and out of the water. I had thoughts of leaving but I knew there was a fish somewhere in the pod. Then, out of no where an ahi exploded on one of our squids. Don was first up and got into the chair. He made quick work of his first and largest ahi that weighed 98lbs! To date, that’s his biggest fish but we will be fishing again on Friday when my son Fisher (my good luck charm) will be crewing for us!

April 13, 2012 – Another Big Spearfish

nittas2010 — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 03:59:31 +0000

Today my kids had the day off from school so Fisher and I decided to go looking for ahi in the porpoise school. We trolled our way south working our way down the 1800 fathom contour. The ahi haven’t really been holding in the porpoise school lately but you have to keep checking to stay on top of what’s going on. One day the porpoise may not have any fish and the next day it could be loaded so you just never know unless you go looking. As we passed outside of Kealakekua the stinger came down and Fisher got settled into the chair to fight our first bite of the day. It ended up being a really nice short-nosed spearfish about 25lbs which he managed to get to the leader in about 10 minutes. We hadn’t caught a spearfish since winter so we decided to take it for the dinner table! Unfortunately, we never found the porpoise school today but there’s always tomorrow!

April 2, 2012 – Scott Scores Big Time Fishing Kona!

nittas2010 — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 19:04:43 +0000

Scott, a commercial fisherman from Alaska chartered the Lepika for a full day. A few years ago he fished Kona on a different boat without success so the pressure was on to get him something. He had also been following my blogs for the last several months so the pressure was REALLY on! I decided to head south today because the current was right and the fishing up north had slowed. We worked out way down and found a nice porpoise school. There were about 8 boats fishing the school and I made a pass with my sounder on but didn’t mark any fish. I made a few more passes just to make sure and again, no fish were swimming with the porpoise. I decided to go back to trolling and pointed the Lepika away from the school. I set up the pattern and went upstairs to put the last lure out. I pushed the drag up on the Fin-Nor 80 and as I turned back to the helm Scott yeld out, “FISH!” I whipped around and watched as a big blue marlin piled on the lure I had just set! Line went screaming off the reel….FAST! Scott got in the chair and we watched as a big blue marlin tailwalked across the surface and headed straight for the horizon. By the time I cleared the 2nd line out of the water Scott was into the backing which means he had at least 500yards of line out. I started backing down hard on the fish and we slowly gained line back on the reel. Scott did a great job keeping good pressure on the fish. After a 25 minute fight we finally got the fish to leader for a clean release. I estimated his blue at 350lbs! We again set the pattern back out and headed out to the deep. About an hour later we were on the bridge talking when we spotted a small log floating on the water straight ahead of us. Usually mahimahi will hang around floating debri but this log was so small I really didn’t think anything would come of it. As I made a pass two nice mahimahi came charging in and ate the stinger and long rigger lures. Scott fought one of the mahimahi and I fought the other. I cleared a few lines and as I reeled them in more mahimahi charged in trying to eat the lures right in the wash! The water was literally neon blue with mahimahi. There were easily a hundred mahimahi around this tiny log floating in the middle of the ocean! We got to work and switched over to some lighter tackle. In the next 2 hours we would catch 20 mahimahi to 27lbs! We probably could have caught more but we eventually lost track of the log. We were both pretty wore anyway out after all that action!

March 30, 2012 – Fisher Gets Lucky, Again!

nittas2010 — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 19:02:16 +0000

Today my charter cancelled on me. It happens maybe once or twice a year and since I had already fueled up and loaded ice, I decided to go anyway. My son Fisher is 13 and deckhands for me on Fridays as part of his school’s mentorship program. I wish I had a mentorship program at my school when I was growing up so I could fish on Fridays! Fisher by-the-way is one of the luckiest kids I know when it comes to fishing. We ALWAYS catch something when he’s on board! We left the harbor early around 6am and headed north. The water was getting a little choppy so we decided to work our way back south in search of porpoise. We’ve been doing really good on the big ahi the last few days and the school had been holding a lot of fish. It didn’t take long before we spotted a lone frigate bird working bait scared to the surface by hungry porpoise and hopefully fedding ahi. The porpoise were spread out for about a mile and on our first pass I marked a fish at 35 fathoms. I pointed it out to Fisher and we both turned to watch the lures. The short rigger fired off as a nice ahi inhaled the lure. Fisher got into the chair as I brought the rod over to him. He quickly had our first 100lb ahi to leader but it appeared to be snagged in the belly. As I reached out for the leader the fish came off and we both watched in disgust as it righted itself and swam into the blue. We quickly set up again and continued to troll. Two other boats arrived and worked the school with us. I looked at my sounder and saw two nice marks at 45 fathoms and again Fisher and I turned to watch the spread. This time the fish were really aggressive and came in on the short bait and the long corner. Both those lures run well inside the whitewater of the boat’s wash.. Unfortunately, the one of the long corner came off but Fisher was still fighting the one on the short bait. He landed our first ahi to the boat in about 15 minutes – 139lb-er! More boats had shown up and none of them had a trolling bite so we decided to change our strategy and go to the greenstick. On our 5th pass I saw a fish shallow on the sounder. I jigged the squids and watched as another big ahi came skyrocketing out of the water with one of our squids in it’s mouth. Fisher got in the chair and got to work on our third bite if the day. He had our second ahi to leader in about 20 minutes and this fish went 146lbs! I got the fish packed in ice and off we went to the front of the school for another ahi. By now there were eight boats fishing the pile and only one other ahi had been caught by another boat. We worked the school for a few more hours and the fish just wouldn’t bite. I told Fisher, “Last pass and we are out of here”. I continued on as another boat crossed in front of us. We were just to the outside section of the porpoise when a really nice ahi exploded on the squid closest to the boat! Fisher came running out of the head just in time to see the bite. This was a bigger fish and Fisher chose to fight this one out of the gunnel instead of the chair. He did a great job and landed his biggest ahi yet in about 15 minutes. Our last ahi of the day weighed 177lbs! We called it a day and made it back to the harbor before 2pm with three big ahi! Too bad our charter cancelled! I think they really missed out!

March 27, 2012 – Bayard Gets 2 Big Ahi Fishing Kona!

nittas2010 — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 19:01:23 +0000

Bayard, Dave and John joined me today for a full day of fishing on the Lepika. The ahi are biting in the porpoise school so we headed out in search of porpoise. We trolled our way north of the harbor out past the 1000 fathom line and scanned the horizon for signs of life. At about 9am we spotted a nice pod working their way south out of the wind. Our first few passes never got a look but the ahi were showing on the sounder so it was just a matter of time before they bit. Pass after pass I marked fish shallow but they wouldn’t bite the typical trolling lures so we switched over to the greenstick. Again however the fish were shalllow and just wouldn’t jump on the squids. Bayard and his friends were really patient as we worked the school. Then, out from under the porpoise a big ahi exploded on one of the squids! Bayard was first up and landed his first big ahi weighing 105lbs in about 15 minutes! We immediately set back up and worked the school. The fish were still shallow but we had to be patient. I made pass after pass over fish that should have bit. Then, almost when we were about to give up another big ahi blew up on one of our squids! This time Dave was in the chair and the fight was on! Dave also landed his first big ahi which weighed 136 1/2 lbs in about 20 minutes!

March 24 and 25, 2012 – Trent Fishes An Overnighter

nittas2010 — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 18:58:52 +0000

Trent works on a charter boat out of southern california. He wanted to fish an overnighter and hopefully get some fish to take home for dinner. The ono bite has just started up so we headed south in hopes of making it to South Point. On our way down we ran into a small pile of porpoise that just didn’t have any fish in it so we decided to head offshore insearch of more productive water. About 20 miles offhshore we ran into a nice cargo net that was holding small big-eye tuna in the 10-20lb range. We pulled in the heavy gear and brought out my new 30lb Fin-Nor Marquesa outfits. Trent loves to jig so he tied on some of his chrome jigs and sent them down. There were so many big-eyes and yellowfin tuna that he couldn’t get his jig more than 20 feet down before he was bit. Fish were everywhere and we could see them swimming just a few feet under the boat. He even caught one just dangling his jig of the rod tip while we were taking a break! After catching about 40 ahi in the 10-20lb range we decided to head back inshore and anchor for the night. On the way back in we had a nice short bait bite that screamed out about 30 yards before coming off. We never saw the fish but we thought it might have been a nice size bigeye tuna. Later in the evening we finally made it to Okoe Bay where we set anchor and had a nice dinner. We got a good nights rest and woke-up early the next morning to hit the 40 fathom ledge for ono. There were already boats fishing the lane and we just couldn’t get an ono bite nor did we see anyone else get any. So again we headed offshore insearch of marlin and ahi. As luck would have it we ran into a big pile of porpoise that was holding fish. We trolled the school for about an hour and marked two fish down deep. We went to the greenstick and started to work the school. We made pass after pass without a bite when finally a nice ahi exploded out of the water and ate one of the squids. Trent got in the chair and landed his ahi in about 15 minutes that weighed 135lbs! It was getting late so we worked our way back to tthe harbor where I filleted a few big-eyes for Trent to take home.

February 29, 2012 Big Ahi Are Here!

nittas2010 — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 05:48:21 +0000

Today Shell and Cathy joined my deckhand Keith and me for a full day charter. Yesterday we caught a nice ahi in the porpoise school so our game plan was again to look for porpoise. Shell and Cathy met us 30 minutes early at the boat…6am! They were both really excited and wanted to get a jump on the action. It was still dark but we left the harbor early and headed north. About an hour out Keith and I saw a small mark (hopefully a marlin) on our sounder. Usually a fish will rise to the lures pretty quick but we waited a few minutes with nothing showing. Then a small blue marlin swirled on the stinger lure and missed it. It came back three more times and we just couldn’t hook it. Frustrated we continued on. The water was starting to get rough, a good sign that the porpoise would be near. We searched farther offshore and then I saw the tell-tale splash of a jumping porpoise. We switched over to our ahi pattern and made passes on the school. I saw a nice mark at 40 fathoms but no bite. More boats started to arrive in the pile. We made pass after pass and finally the long rigger came down hard! Cathy jumped in the chair as line peeled off the reel. Keith coached her on fighting the fish and cleared the lines. Cathy did a great job and landed her first and biggest fish of her life in about 30 minutes! Her ahi weighed 141lbs! Unfortunately, Shell wasn’t feeling to good but he got to see her land a really nice fish. We set up again and worked the porpoise school. On our next pass I had mark at 40 fathoms and again the long rigger came down. This time, line screamed off the reel even faster! Cathy was still pretty tired from her fight and Shell was still a little quezzy so Keith jumped in the chair and started working on the fish. This fish fought a lot harder than the first and Keith and I looked at each other and both agreed this was a big one. Keith worked the fish like a pro and finally got it to leader in about 40 minutes. Lucky for him this was also his biggest ahi he has ever landed which weighed a whopping 209lbs, beating his largest by 4 lbs!

February 28, 2012 Big Ahi and Blue Marlin!

nittas2010 — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 05:55:41 +0000

Bob, Mark and his wife Amy of Kansas City, Missouri, fished with me today on a 3/4 day. I decided again to go north since we had some luck that way the last few days and there was a good chance of finding the porpoise. We worked our way up to the grounds and up the ledge without a bite. I headed out into deeper water out towards the 1000 fathom line. I was watching the lures when a dorsal popped up behind the stinger lure. A small blue marlin charged in and ate the lure. Mark was first up and got settled in the chair. The marlin took a few nice jumps in the distance as Mark worked it closer to the boat. As I grabbed the leader the blue came to life and gave us a good series of jumps around the boat before we let it go. Marks blue marlin weighed about 100lbs. We continued trolling south from the grounds and a friend of mine told me he had just found a big pile of porpoise just a few miles from our position. We headed that way and as we entered the pile I had a mark on my sounder at 45 fathoms and 55 fathoms….ahi! We trolled them for a few passes but no takers so I went to the greenstick. On our second pass we all watched as a big ahi came halfway out of the water and ate one of our squids! Amy jumped in the chair and with the assistance of Mark, landed her first ahi weighing 150lbs!

February 27, 2012 Patty and Jack Get Mahis!

nittas2010 — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 05:40:21 +0000

Alaska residents Patty and Jack joined me today. They are both die-hard fishermen and have been coming to Kona for the past 3 years. Today we headed out to look for porpoise since the big yellowfin tuna had been around the last few days. We found a big pile right outside the harbor and the fish were there but really deep. We trolled the porpoise for most of the day without a bite and the fish stayed deep. It was getting late and on the way back we took a double mahimahi bite! Patty got in the chair and Jack fought his fish out of the gunnel. Their mahimahis weighed 15 and 20lbs! When we got back I filleted their mahimahis for them to take back to Alaska!

February 21, 2012 Alan Makes the Big Fish List

nittas2010 — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 05:30:33 +0000

Richard and Dorothy fish a few times a year with me. Richard is one of the luckiest anglers I have ever fished with. Today, he brought along his friend Alan and his wife Barbara for a half day fishing on the Lepika. The marlin bite was spotty so I decided to fish north of the harbor where the bait was more likely to stack up. We worked our way up to the Grounds and as we got near the top corner a big shortnose spearfish ate the stinger lure. Barbara was up and she fought her first ever spearfish to the boat in under 15 minutes. I estimated it at 40lbs! We continued on and worked the area. A freind of mine was nearby and called me to tell me he had a big porpoise school that might be holding ahi. We headed that way and as we neared the school another shortnose spearfish attacked the stinger but came off. We worked the porpoise school but didn’t have much luck. Another group of porpoise joined in from the north and my friends had a good pass on this new school. They took a double strike from 2 big ahi that would end up weighing 187 and 95lbs! I made a pass on the porpoise near them and marked a fish at 45 fathoms. The short rigger bait got bit and line started to peel off the reel. Alan was up and got in the chair. I thought it was a big ahi at first but the fish quickly gave up and made its way to the boat. It ended up being areally big aku (skipjack tuna) that weighed 27lbs! It is so far the largest aku caught by the kona fleet this year. There is a good chance it will remain the biggest aku caught until the end of the year. We left the porpoise school and worked our way back to the harbor. On our way we would miss 4 striped marlin and a spearfish! UGH! The fish are here and it should only get better as the moon gets bigger!

February 18, 2012 Hospice of Kona Tournament

nittas2010 — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 05:01:18 +0000

My wife Melissa joined me today along with Fisher, Kai, Marina and our good friend Keith for the Valentines tournament benefiting Hospice of Kona. 48 teams entered the tournament each with their own strategy of where to go and what to fish for. The prize money was split equally between all four flag fish (mahimahi, ono, ahi and marlin). The blue marlin bite had been slow and since we thought everyone was going to fish for them we would go ono fishing. We ran south…far south to Pebble Beach and started trolling. The swell was big and the nearshore water was green, not good for ono. As we passed Milolii the water began to clear and we hoped we would find a big ono. We trolled further on to Kauna Point and still no bite. It was getting late so we headed back and as we again passed Milolii the short bait took off. Melissa got in the chair and made quick work of a 15lb ono! Not big enough to win the tournament but we got one. My good friend Dave and Aina won with a 42lb ono.

February 17, 2012 Fisher Gets Another Blue Marlin

nittas2010 — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 04:50:59 +0000

I took my son Fisher out today to try for an IGFA world record short-nose spearfish. My good friend Keith also joined us. There has been a pretty good bite as of late for record size spears so we decided to give it a try. We left the harbor early and set up lines about 10 minutes outside the harbor. We had just put out the last line when Fisher noticed something chasing the stinger lure. The fish came bolting in and knocked the line off the outrigger. Fisher reeled the lure back into position and it came back for the lure again. This time the hooks stuck and the fight was on. We all saw the bite and thought it was a big spearfish. Fisher transferred the rod to the chair and clipped himself in. The fish never jumped and he fought the fish to about 20 yards away. The it bolted and came up jumping just a few yards alongside the boat. It looked like a big stripey and we were all disappointed that it wasn’t a spearfish. Fisher finally worked it to the boat and as I grabbed the leader to my surprise it was a little blue marlin about 80lbs! We are going to keep trying for the record and one day we’ll get it!

February 13, 2012 Mahimahi For Trent And Meghan

nittas2010 — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 04:32:13 +0000

Trent and Meghan of Nevada joined me for a full day of fishing. The fishing had been spotty the last few days with the new moon but we tried hard. We worked the area just north of the airport and were lucky enough to catch a nice mahimahi for Trent!

February 10, 2012 Brett’s Hawaiian Billfish Slam!

nittas2010 — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 08:46:44 +0000

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!

February 9, 2012 Brett’s IGFA Billfish Royal Slam

nittas2010 — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 08:00:13 +0000

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!

February 7, 2012 Brett’s First Blue Marlin

nittas2010 — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 03:38:58 +0000

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!

February 6, 2012 Mark and Mike Day 2

nittas2010 — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 02:59:09 +0000

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.

February 5, 2012 Mark And Mike Day 1

nittas2010 — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 02:33:22 +0000

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!

January 30, 2012 Team Fin-Nor Day 2

nittas2010 — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 21:36:58 +0000

After a great day yesterday, we had high hopes for today. Victor did not join us today since he had an afternoon flight home so it was just Rob. The current had slowed so instead of heading south we went north towards the airport. Our first bite came early in the day when a nice short nose spearfish yanked down the long rigger and never came back for a second look. Unfortunately this would not be the only fish we miss today. Soon after we found a nice porpoise school but the fsih were really deep so decided to go back to trolling the ledge. Just outside the 1000 fathom line we missed either a nice stripey or a small blue marlin. This time of year the fish tend to cluster in small areas so we continued to work a 2 square mile area around where we missed this fish. On our next pass just a quarter mile away from the spot we took a double striped marlin bite. Rob got in the chair and started fighting the first fish. We had two nice stripeys jumping all around the boat. One of them eventually came off and we successfully released the other. I got set up again and we continued pounding the area. Shortly after we caught a small mahimahi which went into the cooler for dinner. The fish are definitely starting to show up more and more and should only get better as the full moon gets closer. Lots of action today but not many to the boat unfortunately but all-in-all it was a great day!

January 29, 2012 Team Fin-Nor Day 1

nittas2010 — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 21:20:35 +0000

Last year I had the privilege of fishing with Rob and Dave from Fin-Nor tackle company. I tested one of their 130lb class reels for them last season and was very impressed by it’s quality and durability on big fish. Since then, I have upgraded all of my reels to Fin-Nor. Rob was joined by one of their sales reps Victor and booked two consecutive days. We wanted to see just how strong their new Fin-Nor 30w handled. The fishing has been really good lately for striped marlin and short nose spearfish – so it was perfect for running smaller gear like the 30w. On our first day we headed south and immediately ran into a small porpoise school right in front of the harbor. Our first pass yielded nothing and my sounder didn’t show any fish down deep so we continued on. About one mile away was a bigger pile of porpoise and on our first pass again, my sounder showed nothing below. Frustrated, I turned to make our second pass when the long rigger came slamming down with the screaming run that could only mean ahi! The Fin-Nor 30w handled the run – no problem. Victor was first up so he strapped into the fighting chair and got to work. We were at close to 300yds of line out before the fish slowed. Victor did a great job and landed his largest ahi in about 35 minutes that weighed 131lbs! We ran back to the porpoise school but again we didn’t see anymore fish so we went back to trolling. Later in the day, on the 700 fathom line the Fin-Nor 30w would be tested again as a nice blue marlin blew up on the short rigger. The blue made a long run straight away and then came up jumping alongside the boat leaving only half the spool. The Fin Nor held up great once again and the drag remained smooth and steady. Rob got to work on the fish as we took the belly out of the line. We backed down hard trying to regain line and in about 20 minutes Rob landed his first blue marlin that we released and estimated at 200lbs!

January 18, 2012 John Rainey’s Spearfish

nittas2010 — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 20:38:27 +0000

I had to cancel the last three charters due to weather. In Kona, we are lucky enough to have four massive volcanoes that block the tradewinds. It can be blowing 20-25mph on the Hilo side of the island and our waters will be as flat as a lake. The last few days however the wind blew straight out of the north at 20mph and it just made difficult and unpleasant to fish. John Rainey fishes every year with me and today we got a small window of calm water so we decided to give it a try. The fishing wasn’t great but we did manage to get a nice short nose spearfish for dinner that weighed about 25lbs!

January 8-10, 2012 George And Steve Back For More Action!

nittas2010 — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 20:30:16 +0000

George and Steve are bottom fishing fanatics! This is their third year fishing with me in search of bottom fishing IGFA world records. George and Steve both hold several IGFA records and a few were taken on the Lepika. On this trip, we decided to fish 3 consecutive days but instead of fishing in the day we would fish on the full moon at night. George and Steve have very specialized gear for deep dropping to well over 200 fathoms (1,200 feet) and on this trip, Steve designed a special reel handle that would allow him to crank his line up with the use of an electric drill. It really helped them get more drops in since we were fishing in an average of 450 feet of water. Each night we averaged about 60-70lbs of Opakapaka and Lehi. Unfortunately, we did not catch any records on this trip but we proved Steve’s drill inventioned work without a hitch and I’m sure they will be using it on their many other bottom fishing trips around the world!