October 31-Nov. 1, 2013, Two Days With Alaskan Capts!

Andy, Nik and Steve are all charter captains in Seward, Alaska.  They are the best at what they do and target king salmon, lingcod, rockfish and monster halibut pushing 33olbs! They are hardcore fishermen and know that if you put your time in you’ll get a fish of a lifetime.  Some of their runs to prime trophy halibut grounds can take them more than three hours and when they get there it may take an hour or more to get a bite.  When you do, it’s probably going to be a fish of a lifetime!  Patience and persistence is the key to any successful fishing trip!  You can checkout their website at www.crackerjackcharters.com .

On day one we left the harbor at first light and ran down the coast and caught some live bait before heading offshore.  We trolled our way south without a bite.  We were about 26 miles south of the harbor when we spotted a skiff fishing a nice pod of porpoise. As we entered the porpoise the skiff hooked a nice ahi next to us so we hoped they were on the bite. We went right to the greenstick and marked a few fish in the school.  Another skiff had joined the school and came trolling into the pile.  Right next to us he hooked a decent sized blue marlin!  Ugh!  Frustration was getting the best of me!  We stuck to the greenstick and marked a few fish shallow but they wouldn’t bite.  I decided late in the day to go to live bait and give it a try.  I made several tries and we missed, (what I think) two small blue marlin that were with the porpoise.  Finally, at almost the end of our time a nice ahi charged the bait leaving a big hole on the surface that everyone saw.  We were on!  Andy was up and fought his ahi to the boat in about 15 minutes!  It scaled out at 143lbs!

On day 2, again we left the harbor at first light and again we caught some fresh live bait.  I ran far offshore and set up trolling down the 1300 fathom line in search of the porpoise we had found the day before.  Today they were farther down the coast.  I went right to the greenstick since the ahi had been biting that first thing in the morning.  On our first pass, a nice ahi blew up on one of our squids!  This time Nik was in the chair.  He made quick work of his first ahi in about 10 minutes!  His ahi would hit the scales at 146lbs!  After a few photos we ran back to the porpoise and reset the greenstick.  On our next pass another big ahi piled on one of the squids!  This time Steve was up and fought his first ahi tot he boat in about 10 minutes.  His fish would weigh 124lbs!  We worked the pile for a few more hours without a bite.  There were a couple more fish there but they stayed deep for the rest of the day.  If you ever go to Seward, Alaska look these guys up!  They are true fisherman and from talking to them they really try hard to put their clients on fish!

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October 29, 2013 Big Ahi’s and Mahi’s Still Here!

Mike and his father Bob joined me for a full day today.  It’s my first charter since dry dock so I was anxious to see how the boat fished.  The boat is running great!  I ran pretty far south today before fishing.  We trolled down to Milolii (about 28 miles south) and caught a nice 20lb mahimahi on the way.  Mike was up first and made quick work of it!  Dinner was in the box!  We made a few passes just north of Milolii and decided to head back up the line.  Just outside of Keauhou we found a nice pod of porpoise and marked one or two fish swimming with them.  We went right to the greenstick after they refused our trolled lures.  Near the end of our time a big ahi inhaled one of our squids!  This time Bob was up and got strapped into the chair.  I don’t think he expected such a hard fight!  Soon after he buckled in the fish made a hard run and he almost went overboard!  I was right next to him and anticipated what was about to happen as he lifted out of the chair.  I lunged for him and caught his harness as he went past his center of gravity!  He was a little shook up but stuck with the fight.  He worked his fish to the boa in about 15 minutes!  His first and biggest ahi would scale out at 124lbs!

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October 7-24, 2013 Lepika Out of Drydock!

We are finally out of drydock!  It was a hot and nasty 2 1/2 weeks but the crew that helped me did some great work!  I want to thank my dad Owen, my son Fisher, Martin Romero, Sherwin, Justin, Mike Akazawa, Wayne, Lito, and Kaula for helping me get her back in the water in record time!  The big part of this drydock was repowering the Lepika with new twin Cummins 6bta 330hp engines.  Originally, she was powered by twin Cummins 6bta 270s so she has a lot more power and should get us to and from the fishing grounds even faster.  On day one Justin made quick work of taking the old 270s out of the boat.  Sherwin and Kaula did an awesome job on the new engine install and alignment.  She is super smooth at trolling speed and full throttle!  If you have fished before with me you will feel the difference the next time you’re on her.  Mike Akazawa also did some fiberglass work and repainting and the boat looks great.  Martin, Fisher and my dad Owen prepped the bridge area for new gauges and repainting.  Martin did an incredible job hooking up my gauges and re-installing all electronic equipment on the bridge.  Kaula did a lot of “miracle” work on the boat.  He got into some tight spots to tighten her up and make sure the new engines were aligned just right.  Wayne was responsible for fabricating and refurbishing a lot of the engine brackets we used to mount the engine.  I can’t say enough about all of these guys!  I really appreciate how dedicated they all were and also how quickly they got the job done!  Thanks to all of you so much!

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October 6, 2013 Kids Score Onos and Bottomfish!

Since I will be going into drydock in a few days, I decided to take my kids, Fisher and Kai and dad out for a day of “whatever” bites kind of fishing.  We hi-speed trolled two lures at 14knots north of the harbor to one of my shallow bottom fishing spots.  It was only 15minutes into hi-speed trolling when both Fin Nor 130s went screaming off!  My oldest son Fisher and my dad fought two nice onos to the boat and we were on the board!  The both weighed about 30lbs!  Nice to see some off season onos around right now!  We got to our bottom fishing spot and sent down a live bait.  It was on the bottom for about 5 minutes before a nice Bluefin Trevally (omilu) took the bait!  Fisher fought it to the boat in about 15 minutes and quickly released it after a few photos!  On our Hi-speed troll back to the harbor yet another ono piled on one of our lures!  We fought that one to the boat and called it a day with plenty of fish for the table!

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October 4, 2013 Big Ahi’s Continue To Bite!

Francis and Andre booked me for a full day today!  We had been seeing some nice ahi in the porpoise school the past few days and that’s what Francis and Andre came for!  First thing in the morning we caught some live bait and headed out looking for porpoise.  About an hour into trolling we saw splashes on the horizon and a few boats working a small pile of porpoise.  I trolled thru and marked a few fish but the pile was so small I decided to continue down the coasty looking for another pile.  As I pasted Hookena beach I realized I should probably go back to the other pile and try our luck.  More boats had found the pile but no one had caught a fish yet according to one of my friends in there.  I went right to the greenstick and on our first pass a nice ahi flew out of the water and ate one of our squids!  Francis saw the whole thing and was shocked to see a fish fly out of the water on the bite!  Andre was first up and battled his first ever ahi to the boat in 15 minutes!  It weighed 103lbs!  After a few pictures we reset our rig and headed back into the school.  It took some time but as always persistence paid off!  Near the end of the day a big explosion on the last squid signaled the bite as a big ahi exploded thru a group of porpoise and was on!  Both Andre and Francis saw this bite too and Francis quickly buckled in for a 10 minute fight on his first ever ahi!  His ahi would scale out at 124lbs!  With two nice ahi in the box we called it a day and trolled back to the harbor!

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