Katchman Brothers (11/20/09)

The Katchman brothers decided to charter us after meeting me at the harbor near our slip. They struck up a conversation with me as I was going home from a day of maintenance on the boat. After talking with me about the fishing and my experience they quickly entertained the idea of chartering the KILA KILA.

They picked today, with my advice we decided to try our luck in the afternoon rather then the morning. The tides and moon seamed to look better towards the afternoon. They met my crew Nate and I at the boat at 11:00 a.m. After an introduction to the boat, we started our way to the fishing grounds. I headed north with a plan to go after something big the first half of the afternoon, then try our luck for wahoo and mahi mahi along the shoreline.

Our plan payed off the first hour, hooking a blue marlin, total surprise for us all this time of the year. After a great fight, lots of jumps near the boat and some tricky maneuvering by the KILA KILA, we estimated the marlin at 250-275 pounds and let it go. That fish made the two brothers trip to Hawaii unforgettable, but the day's not over. After trolling around a couple more hours with no luck we switched tactics and went after something smaller near shore. Nate rigged up some ballyhoo for a slow troll after mahi mahi. Not long after we switched over we had a triple from three big mahi mahi. One mahi mahi fell off right away but two of them stuck. They weighed in at 38 and 39 pounds, trophy size mahi mahi, well above average size. We missed one more on a bait after those two fish, great afternoon of fishing.

Aloha, Capt. Teddy Hoogs

www.kilakilasportfishing.com

Friends Dave and Sio from Seattle big blue (10/28/09)

A couple of friends of my girlfriend and I, chartered us today, total novice anglers just enjoying the experience of big game fishing. My goal was to show them a good time on the water and maybe hook them into some small tuna around a buoy. Not promising them any luck on a 1/2 day with anything big we went out of the harbor at 9:00 a.m. After my co-Captain Jason Holtz, normally the Captain of the Marlin Magic, gave Dave and family a run down of the tackle and angling techniques they were ready.

We missed about a 400 pound marlin after the run down, total bonus for them to at least see the excitement that happens when a fish is up after a lure. That one got away, just when the buzz was wearing off of that fish, up we raise another one. Jason yells out, "there she is on the long corner". I get my eyes out of the binoculars just in time to see it eat. Great bite inside out, head and shoulders out of the water, all time bite! Does a lot of beautiful jumps after it gets hooked, 20 minute fight we get her on leader for some pictures. We took the hooks out and estimated the fish at 575-600 pounds. Great bonus for some good friends of ours.

I'm glad Jason and I were able to exceed their expectations, and ours for that matter!

Aloha, Capt. Teddy Hoogs

www.kilakilasportfishing.com

Nice winter time Ahi (10/19/09)

3/4 day today, once again pretty slow inside here, clients would be happy with any sort of action. Started out trolling north and missed a blue outside the light house off the airport. That started the morning out well. Got to the North grounds and we caught a half dozen good size skip jack, 6-to-10 pounders, good fight on light tackle.

Clients decided we should try for something bigger, so I started to roam out wide looking for the porpoise school. while we were looking we caught a 15# Ono for the dinner table. After searching for an hour we found the school about 10 miles of the airport. The porpoise school looked great, no one in them, all to ourselves. We fished it a while with lures no luck so we switched to the rig. After about 45 minutes fishing with the rig we finally tricked one to eat. 147 pound yellow fin tuna grabbed the rig leaving a great big hole in the water where the dancing squids were. Nice fish for our just turned golf professional angler.

Aloha, Capt. Teddy Hoogs

www.kilakilasportfishing.com

Lets Go Fishing TV Show (10/11/09)

Ben Wong from Lets Go Fishing, a TV show here in Hawaii chartered us with one of his buddy's from Honolulu. They wanted to get any sort of action to possibly make a show with.

The fishing was tough inside so I opted to go offshore to the tsunami buoy 28 miles offshore, just about the only place any bait was holding. The plan sounded good with them so off we went. We got there around 9:00 a.m. caught plenty of action for the kids with us. Small Big Eye Tuna, Yellowfin Tuna, and Skipjack Tuna kept them busy for a while. They wore them selfs out with all the action from the small stuff and let us rig on of them up in hopes of something bigger. 10 minutes after rigging it up a 275# marlin grabbed it, just what we hoped for.

Ben was happy, he was able to put together a show with some action to keep the Hawaii fans wanting more.

Here's the link to watch the Lets Go Fishing show aboard Kila Kila, http://www.benwongtv.com/episodes.php?id=64

Aloha, Capt. Teddy Hoogs

www.kilakilasportfishing.com

Perez family (10/8/09)

Fishing has been pretty slow, typical for the offseason, but in Hawaii even when its slow you never know your luck. We went out this morning not expecting to see a thing, if we did, it would be a bonus. Well we became one of the lucky few today. We entered a porpoise school outside Keahou, the school looked pretty good. They were charging along, birds working overhead, we were hoping for a nice winter time tuna. The short bait went off, instead of an Ahi we hooked an elusive winter time blue marlin. Great surprise, did some fantastic jumps near the boat, came in for a healthy release calling it 200 pounds.

After that great surprise making our day, and some of the other boats around us just for seeing a blue. We went trolling again, working some loose porpoise schools offshore we missed what seemed to be a Ahi on the short rigger. It knocked it out hard, left a big explosion but came off right away, no real markings on the lure.

Good day for the offseason.

Aloha, Capt. Teddy Hoogs

www.kilakilasportfishing.com

McNameney Family 1/2 day (9/1/09)

Had some kids onboard and clients who just wanted some action. Fishing was a little on the slow side so I decided to check out C buoy. There was some small bait fish hanging by the buoy, and the longer we stayed we started to see some picky Mahi Mahi around it. I just so had the trick to catch those picky Mahi Mahi, a small bait fish in our live well called a Goggle eye, or in Hawaii we call it a Akule. We quickly rigged it up and got it in the water, as soon as it got away from the boat we were bit! But it wasn't a Mahi Mahi like we expected, it turned out to be a 120 pound blue. We weren't disappointed with the surprise, the live bait was rigged on a stand up 50# outfit, which gave Dad a great fight.

After the marlin we caught a micro bait around the buoy which was pretty tough and as soon as that got rigged we caught a 20# Mahi Mahi. After the Mahi Mahi it was time to go in for the half day. Our family had fun with the action and enjoyed the Mahi for dinner.

Aloha, Capt. Teddy Hoogs

www.kilakilasportfishing.com

Ralph Bodin and fishing pals (8/30/09, 8/31/08,and 9/2/09)

Great trip with Mr. Bodin and his two fishing pals. They chartered us for three days, and had a great time catch and releasing two blues and boating two good size Mahi Mahi.

First day we went 1 for three on blues, second day 1 for 1 on blues, and third day we got two Mahi Mahi one of which was close to the biggest of the year. The Mahi Mahi weighed in at 52#s and 22#s, beautiful trophy size Mahi Mahi.

They got some awesome pictures as you can see!

Aloha, Capt. Teddy Hoogs

www.kilakilasportfishing.com

Last minute charter (8/27/09)

Yesterday a couple showed up behind our boat asking if we were available tomorrow, someone had recommended they charter us. Just so happened we were available today so here we go. Mr. Muhern and his wife are from Florida, there pretty experienced marlin fishing in some of the hot spots in the Atlantic. We didn't disappoint them catching a blue first thing this morning. The fish ate the short bait putting on a great show before we released it, estimating it at 130 pounds.

We fished the rest of the day with no such luck. We told them its not over till its over, we have hooked fish right outside the harbor at the end of the day. And what happened, we hooked one right at the end of the day. This fish was a very healthy 250 pounder, ripping out 400 yards of line on us quick. Great fight, lots of boat driving, great way to end the day.

Aloha, Capt. Teddy Hoogs

www.kilakilasportfishing.com

Big Island Marlin Tournament (8/21/09-to-8/23/09)

Gary Carruthers and his brother entered the tournament with us this weekend, the boys were feeling lucky. The tournament ended we'll for us, we tied for first for total points releasing four blues over the three day tournament. We got lucky the last day tagging two when everyone else had one for the day getting us most of the side daily money for the tournament. It was a long couple hours the last afternoon hearing other boats hook up. A handful of other boats could of tagged one more fish for the day and shared most of the pot with us, or one big fish could of won it all. In the end it worked out in our favor, winning a good chunk of the side money.

Total winning for the tournament $76,648.00, Gary already booked us for the tournament next year. All of us were pretty happy with the outcome and the luck we had this weekend.

John and Chris Gamrot were fishing on the "Huntress", they did really well in the tournament also, tagging four blues for the weekend, three of which were in one day! They won over $20,000 and were extremely excited with the results. They can't wait to come next year!

Aloha, Capt. Teddy Hoogs

www.kilakilasportfishing.com

Meat fishing action (8/20/09)

Couple of guys chartered us just wanting some action, not interested in marlin or anything big, just action and something to eat. I went to Otec buoy and gave them what they wanted. We spent most of the morning catching 5-to-15 pound tuna around the buoy on light tackle. They had a blast catching one after another and getting something they could throw on the grill. We trolled all the way back home, lost two marlin, one of which was very close to being tagged and we lost two spearfish. They had a fun day, can't wait to be back.

Aloha, Capt. Teddy Hoogs

www.kilakilasportfishing.com

Pre Tournament fish (8/19/09)

Today we have Gary Carruthers, his brother and their wife's fishing with us, Gary's been coming to Kona as long as I can remember fishing with my father. He's got pictures of me when I was just a little fella running around the cockpit.

He chartered us for four days, one pre fish day before the tournament, and three days during the Big Island Marlin Tournament.

Today was pretty relaxed, we just wanted to test the waters to see where we should fish during the tournament, if we catch one great if not no big deal. We'll we caught one, right during lunch, all of us were enjoying fresh sashimi that Josh cut up in the galley when the marlin hooked up. Nice warm up for Gary, little 140 pounder to refresh his angling techniques. We lost a Short-nose spearfish after that. I marked a few fish during the day giving me a good idea of the latest conditions to help my decision this weekend.

Wish us luck!

Aloha, Capt. Teddy Hoogs

www.kilakilasportfishing.com

Scotts day five (8/17/09)

Last day for the Scotts, its been a great trip for them with us this year.

Today started out by losing a blue right at the back of the boat before we could get a tag in it. Had another one up, and tagged a 130 pound blue. John and Chris could not have been happier with there results with fishing this year.

They're total for the 5 days of fishing; 10 blue marlin (120#-400#) 1 30# Short-nose Spearfish, 7 Mahi Mahi and 1- 40# Albacore tuna.

There fishing on the Huntress this coming weekend for the Big Island Marlin Tournament. If they continue there lucky streak they'll be hard to beat!

Aloha, Capt. Teddy Hoogs

www.kilakilasportfishing.com

Scotts day four for four blues! (8/16/09)

Most of the morning it was a spectator sport, boats seemed to be hooking up all around us. We lost a couple early, including a really nice one over 700, but again couldn't get a hook in one. Our luck changed about mid day, we went on a stretch, releasing four blues from 120#s to 400#s. Most of the other boats went quiet in the afternoon but we switched on, and now the other boats are watching us get all the action. The tally for the day was an incredible 4 for 11 bites! Great day of fishing!

Aloha, Capt. Teddy Hoogs

www.kilakilasportfishing.com

3/4 day (8/15/09)

Fun group of people onboard today, most of them were golf course superintendents at some of our local courses.

We missed two blues around 10:30-11:00 a.m. then on our way in right outside the harbor at 1:00 p.m. A big mark showed up on the recorder. I waited anticipation for it to come up and sure enough, big hole on the long corner! It ripped out some line and came off, then the short rigger came down, this time I got to see it decent enough. Hard to put a exact weight on the fish, but it looked to be over 700. The hook fell out, tough luck, but thats fishing.

Aloha, Capt. Teddy Hoogs

www.kilakilasportfishing.com

No rest for the wicked! Scotts day three 8/14/09

The morning started off already out from fishing the night before. So we just pulled the chute (sea anchor), threw the lures in the water and started trolling back home. We missed a blue before we regrouped back at the harbor. A quick clean up, off loaded our Albacore, grabbed coffee & lunch and went back out for the day. A couple people watching us started to shake there heads wondering if we were nuts! :) No were not nuts, we just love to fish!

Today we saw some great fishing, 3 for 8 on blues. One of the fish we lost looked to be 500 or better. The day started out slow but by the time everyone gave in to the urge to close there eyes (including my crew Josh; with my permission:) and get some rest after pulling an all night-er the action began. We tagged two blues back to back then had a string of bites in our little honey hole we found. That woke everyone up and gave us an awesome day on the water. All of us slept very well that night!

Aloha, Capt. Teddy Hoogs

www.kilakilasportfishing.com

Scotts day two + night fishing 8/13/09

We decided to skip a day due to weather around the islands caused by a diminishing hurricane south east of the Big Island. We gambled our odds by traveling 29 miles offshore to check out the tsunami buoy. With the recent high winds, we were hoping the buoy would hold some action, Mahi Mahi if nothing else. We ran most of the way out, putting the lures in about 8 miles away from the buoy. The area started to look fishy by the way the birds were working the area. It was for good reason, one of our lines went off with a small blue. We estimated it at 120 pounds and let it go. Hoping that was a sign of more to come at the buoy, but the buoy was dead. No bait, no birds, no Mahi Mahi. So plan B, we started to make our way back towards the island. On the way in we found a roaming Mahi Mahi school catching one 25# Mahi and loosing another at the back of the boat. We caught another Mahi in the blind. A little while later we came across a floating log that had at least 60 Mahi Mahi around it but none of them would bite with all the boats around it. The day sounded pretty slow for most everyone, so we considered our self's lucky for the action we got.

We got back in to the harbor with enough time to check our night fishing gear, load up with ice and go back out to sea for the evening. We left around 6:15 p.m. set up our drift out side town and started chumming. It was a beautiful night, and the night life came in full force. Squid kept us busy, catching them, using them for bait and changing bait because of their appetite. All in hopes of getting one good strike out of a tuna or broad-bill. The night was pretty slow, we had to wait right up until first light the next day. A few marks came under us and one of the lines went off. We got a nice 40 pound Albacore tuna, these fish usually feed in packs but this one ate alone. Nice way to end the night with a great eating fish.

Aloha, Capt. Teddy Hoogs

www.kilakilasportfishing.com

The Scotts! 8/11/09

John and Chris Gamrot, father and son from Scotland. These guy's love to fish as much as I do! Both have been loyal clients back when I crewed with my father on the "Pamela". They have fished with us in a number of tournaments and keep coming back for more fish story's to tell there friends back home. Today is the first of five days of fishing total plus a night trip for swordfish and tuna.

We started the luck out right this morning tagging a short-nose spearfish 30# (John's first one under his belt). Then we caught two back to back Mahi Mahi at VV buoy. Chris tagged a 170 # blue around 11:00 a.m. We then followed there already great day catching 3 more Mahi Mahi around a floating log. We missed a couple more blues heading home, great way to start their trip.

Aloha, Capt. Teddy Hoogs

www.kilakilasportfishing.com

Mr. Kravitz 8/9/09

I decided to fish the same area we fished the day before. The morning turned out to be exciting at first, missing three blues in a row but no hook ups. We pounded the area with no luck for a few hours. Just when I was ready to start making our way back I decided to make one last pass off the first lava flow. Short bait went off, but again the fish was lost. 5 minutes later we caught our first blue, the 200 pounder put up a great fight for Mr. Kravitz. After releasing that fish we hooked up shortly after setting the lures back out. This time we estimated the blue at 170 lbs. nice fish and a exciting hook up after seeing the fish on the recorder. We lost a few more marlin that afternoon before we called it a day, 2 for 7 was our last count. Great action for one of loyal clients!

Aloha, Capt. Teddy Hoogs

www.kilakilasportfishing.com

Birthday wish 8/8/09

Today it's my birthday, yes I chose to go fishing today. I rounded up my girlfriend Amy and a couple friends and we went fishing. The tide was a little later in the morning so we left around 8:30 a.m. We got a short-nose spearfish shortly after leaving to start the day off. Then we got Amy and our friend Shawna's first marlin. We went 3 for 6 on blues and ended the day with a nice 25 pound Ono for the grill that evening.

One of my better birthday's!

Aloha, Capt. Teddy Hoogs

www.kilakilasportfishing.com

The Glenns 8/5/09

Today we went to Otec buoy, the buoy was alive with life. Bait was foaming everywhere, we were marking some big Ahi and were seeing a couple marlin feeding. But nothing wanted to bite our hooks. Watching a couple Ahi get hooked and marlin around us we waited patiently for our turn. Just about when we were ready to leave a marlin took our short live bait. The fish ate it funny only to get lassoed in the process. A fish that's lassoed gives you no leverage as an angler, allowing the marlin to go where it pleases. Our young female angler did a great job to get the 200 pound blue to the boat in 20 minutes only to have the hook pull right at the back of the boat. Tough luck, but still fun for her to have the thrill of the fight.

We lost another blue on the way home outside the harbor.

Aloha, Capt. Teddy Hoogs

www.kilakilasportfishing.com

Wahine Tournament (Team Love at First Bite) 8/1/09

This years Wahine tournament we decided to enter ourselves, our team included my girlfriend Amy and her friend Shawna. We hooked the winning marlin in the first hour, it looked to be every bit of 500 pounds but after a quick fight the hook pulled. We had a couple more strikes from marlin but couldn't stick em. The girls had a blast and are ready to do it again next year!

Aloha, Capt. Teddy Hoogs

www.kilakilasportfishing.com

Andrew Mcloed 7/29/09

Another great day, fishing is really hot at the moment. Andrew went solo for his last day while the rest of the family choose to play some golf and relax. We left around 6:00 a.m. making our way to the North where we had good action yesterday. Fishing was still pretty hot but once again we were unlucky with our hook ups. We lost about 8 blues by 12:00 p.m. but we weren't giving up. We hooked a Short-nose spearfish, Andrew's first, the short-nose is one of the rarest billfish in the world so he was pretty stoked to get one under his belt.

After the Short-nose I decided to take a look at Otec buoy again this afternoon. Making our first pass with lures we hooked and released a small blue, getting our confidence back up that we still can hook em.

Otec looked pretty good, good enough to make me want to try live baiting to see if anymore marlin were there. Josh rigged a nice 2 pound skip jack and we towed it around up current of the buoy. I started seeing lots of marks on the recorder that looked like big yellow fin tuna and shortly after the bait went off! Andrew angled a nice 130 pound Ahi, and we quickly tried for another bait. We then proceeded to catch three more in the next hour before we ran out of ice and space. The biggest one weighed in at 182 pounds. We also caught a Mahi Mahi around the buoy to round off the day with a mixed bag of trophy fish.

The rest of the gang met us when we got in to see the good catch, all of them wished they went fishing instead of golfing. But they plan on coming back soon to play some more with us!

Aloha, Capt. Teddy Hoogs

www.kilakilasportfishing.com

McLoed Family outing. 7/28/09

Mike Mcloed enjoyed the other day so much with his son and brother in-law, he wanted to show his wife and daughter how much fun they really were having in Kona. We mixed it up a little with the wife on board giving them a little snorkel in Kealakekua bay before targeting the blue marlin action.

After the swim we quickly set the lures out for the morning tide change in hopes to see one. We had the lures in just a few minutes when the short bait starting peeling out line. All we saw was a hole in the water where the lure used to be and a decent size shape. It quickly pulled hook before we really got to see it. I estimated it to be around 500 pounds. We were all wishing we got to see more of it when it came up for another look at the short rigger. Now I got to see it pretty well and it looked every bit of 800 pounds. It just knocked the lure out of the rigger and that was the end of her. I made a circle around in hopes to raise it again but this time the male beat her to it. The average size blue put on a great show for the family, but we would of liked to get the bigger one.

We worked that same area awhile with no more luck and decided to venture to the North grounds where I heard of good reports from my Father on the "Pamela". We ran up to the area he was fishing a saw some pretty good action almost immediately, catching 1 from about 5 bites in a couple hours. The fish were eating a little funny to get good hook ups but lots of fun to see great action.

Another good day fishing for the Mcloed's, good enough Mikes son Andrew wanted to fish one more day before they left.

Aloha, Capt. Teddy Hoogs

www.kilakilasportfishing.com

Same area, different day... 7/27/09

Morning started off the same as yesterday -beautiful. Our family of four was excited to get in on some of the action we saw yesterday. We caught a Mahi Mahi in the same spot the first blue was released yesterday. Our family was happy about that catch, as that was their request: something to eat, preferably a Mahi Mahi to cook at their house during the week. So with that out of the way, all we needed now was the heart pumping action from a blue marlin. We worked the same area all of our action was yesterday with no luck, in, out, all around working the bottom structure. Finally I marked one at 40 fathoms, I was able to show the family the mark and get everyone to watch the lures for the bite. We didn't have to wait long. The marlin exploded on the stinger but didn't get hooked up. After that strike we worked around a little longer, with no luck. Josh whipped up a great lunch, cooking some fresh ono we caught.

The long troll home was uneventful, with five minutes to go before Josh pulled the lines in we saw a ripple on the long corner. That ripple was one about 500#s. We had a bite out of her, and as it was screaming out line another one eats the long rigger. Too continue our luck both fish fell off.

Aloha, Capt. Teddy Hoogs

www.kilakilasportfishing.com

Mike and Andrew McLoed 7/26/09

Beautiful Kona morning, glass calm as we trolled our way South. As we watched the sun rise over Hualalai and Mauna Loa we had our first bite of the day, releasing a feisty little blue. Our plan was to fish our way south off the lava flows, about 30 miles down the coast. The current has been flowing south for a while now, and has been stacking numbers of blues in that area. The first blue was a good sign , and it got better from there. As we got to the zone I really wanted to fish we caught another small blue. We had some steady action throughout the day, ending our tally at 3 for 8 on blues. Couple off the fish we missed were decent size. Not a bad day fishing by anyones standards, and certainly a great day fishing for the Mcloed's, so good they booked us another day this week.

Aloha, Capt. Teddy Hoogs

www.kilakilasportfishing.com

Hawaiian International BIllfish Tournament 7/19/09-7/24/09

First day of the billfish we tied for the lead tagging two blues out of 3 bites. Second day we had two blues on, but couldn't keep a hook in em. Third day we didn't have any strikes, but were right in the middle of allot of action. Forth day still pretty slow for us, we got a strike out of one late in the afternoon. Fifth day I decided to change tactics and go the opisite way I was fishing and it worked out. We tagged a 200# blue and had another one two leader but it shook off before we got a tag in it.

The three blues we tagged gave us 900 points, we were in the hunt to place in the tournament only if we had a little more luck. Thats fishing, fun week of fishing with some great teams from around the world, look forward to next year.

Aloha, Capt. Teddy Hoogs

www.kilakilasportfishing.com

Three Blues 7/19/09

Our charter this morning weren't really interested in targeting marlin. They were more interested in getting some action for their young daughter and if we hook anything big its a bonus. On our way to the north grounds we got lucky catching a little 120# blue which was their bonus for the day. We put the lures back out, with another couple miles before we get to the ledge, where lots of bait fish were assessable for some action. We had the lures in the water maybe 10 minutes when we hooked another blue around 500 lbs. The big blue put on a great show, and after a 15 minute fight we released it in great shape. All this action was before 8:00 a.m. The family of six were pretty impressed and must have thought this sort of thing happens everyday. After getting their young daughter action in on the ledge with some skipjack tuna it was time to turn around an d head back to the harbor. I made one more pass in the area we got our strikes earlier in the day and it payed off with another blue around 170#s. Not a bad day for not even focusing on blue marlin.

Aloha, Capt. Teddy Hoogs

www.kilakilasportfishing.com

Skins Marlin Tournament 7/10/09-7/12/09

The Skins tournament started off pretty well, angler David Pilgrim tagged a 160# blue first thing friday. We hooked another blue in the afternoon but lost it near the boat. We were on the board with one, which gave us a good chance for the next two days.

Saturday morning we raised a fish that looked to be 4-500#s that wouldn't eat. Then later that day we had another decent fish knock the short rigger out really hard but didn't stick. Had our chances at two decent fish that could of won a lot of money.

Sunday the fishing really slowed down with no bites for us. Most of the fleet struggled this weekend, with a lot of boat not even seeing a fish the whole weekend. We considered our-selfs lucky to have some shots at money fish.

The tournament was won with one nice fish that took the whole pot.

Aloha, Capt. Teddy Hoogs

www.kilakilasportfishing.com

First Blue Marlin 7/8/09

17 year old Hunter Habetz caught his first blue marlin today. He's been fishing with his father, Chad a few years now in Kona. Chad, has had some good success in various tournaments over the years and wants his son to join in on the fun. Hunter has had a handful of blues on but has been unlucky getting one to the boat.

Hunters fish hit when we were on our way home after spending a night at Okoe bay, about 40 miles south of the harbor with two other boats, "Wild Hooker" and "Strong Persuader". The trip ended on a high note by catching a feisty little blue for Hunter, who also did great following I.G.F.A. rules. We estimated the fish at 180 lbs. and after we got some great video and still shots of the fish we released it.

Father Chad was happy to finally get Hunter his first blue. Father and son already are looking forward to next summer.

Aloha, Capt. Teddy Hoogs

www.kilakilasportfishing.com

KILA KILA takes biggest Ahi of the year 6/29/09

Right out of the harbor this morning started of well.  I ran out to the 500 fathom ledge and Josh put the lines in the water.  I spotted a group of shear waters winging over a particular area and turned out to make a pass near them.  Shortly before reaching the middle of the birds Josh's morning lesson was spoiled.  Angler Justin Johnson, from Seattle, soon got his heart pumping when the line started ripping out from the rod and reel he was already clipped into the chair with.  Josh was teaching him what to expect and techniques on angling when the fish struck.  After a 15 minute fight we had it within sight.  The long Allison yellow-fins streaming from the tuna were the first sign it was a bigger fish.  The fish gave Josh a good tug on leader before we secured it with the gaffs.  The beautiful Ahi weighed in at 233 1/2 lbs.  largest of the year on rod and reel for 2009.  

Aloha, Capt. Teddy Hoogs

www.kilakilasportfishing.com

Kona Classic Tournament 6/27/09 -to- 6/28/09

David Pilgrim of Texas started off his string of tournaments with us with a bang.  We tagged one of the first blues of the tournament getting us in contention to win some money.  We didn't know at the time of releasing a 200# blue that it would be worth as much as it was.  Turned out fishing was a little on the slow side and if you had one of the first blues released you were sitting in the money.  Sunday we lost a fish around 300#s and then hooked another blue in the afternoon only to lose it at the back of the boat.  If one of those two fish held on we could have doubled our winnings.  We tied for second and can't complain with our winnings totaling $26,622.00.

Aloha, Capt. Teddy Hoogs

www.kilakilasportfishing.com  

Repeat Clients 6/25/09

The Conboy's have fished with us for a number of years.  This year was pretty special, we started the morning off with marking a cluster of marlin, yes a cluster.  At first I didn't know what I was looking at on the depth sounder, but I soon learned my first guess was correct.  We raised a blue up on the short-bait, shortly after one was up on the short rigger, and before I knew it we had one up on every single lure.  That something I've never seen from blue marlin before, having more then two up at once is pretty rare, and five up at once is pretty special.  One of the five we had up looked to be around 500#'s, one female and 4 males.  We managed to only stick one of the five and tag & release it.  We went through the day to miss a couple more marlin, and see another special sight.  We came across one of the smallest whale sharks I've seen, about 12 feet in length.  We got Mr. Conboy and Josh in the water swimming with it.  They were pretty excited to end the day swimming with a whale shark!

Aloha, Capt. Teddy Hoogs

www.kilakilasportfishing.com 

3/4 day off the cruise ship 6/24/09

Morning started out uneventful, but we got lucky around 11:30 a.m. hooking a 166# Ahi on a lure.  We had one other bite around 2:00 p.m. before they had to be in to meet the ship.  We hooked a blue around 300#'s but pulled hook near the boat.  The fish put on a great show and a good fight.  Everyone got to see it, and experience the thrill of the fight to make it a successful trip.

1/2 day 6/22/09

Lost a big Ahi early on a lure, signs of life are still showing.  Saw a couple marlin caught around us and marked a few with no luck.  Last half an hour of our trip we caught a nice 30# short-nose spearfish, just what our local customers wanted, something to put on the grill.  Spearfish are very tasty, one of the best eating fish here.  We sent the clients home with bags of fish to go around.

Aloha, Capt. Teddy Hoogs

www.kilakilasportfishing.com

2nd place Rock-n-Reel Tournament 6/20/09 -to- 6/21/09

We decided to enter the Rock-n-Reel fishing tournament this weekend our selfs.  The tournament this year fell on Father's Day so Josh and I thought how better to spend it then with both our fathers fishing with us.  We got together my Father, Capt. Peter Hoogs and Josh's Father, Duayne Bunch (our angler) to join us for the weekend.  We have been fishing pretty well so I wasn't worried betting on our selfs, knowing we had a good chance to win our money back.  

Saturday morning started off slow but by the 10:00 round up we started to see our action.  Shortly after missing a little one on the short bait, I spotted a feeder on the surface.  As soon as I got near it, the small blue grabbed our short bait.  Duane made short work of the little blue to get us on the board with one tag.  10 minutes after getting the lures back in the water we hooked our second blue and successfully tagged and released it.  Now were leading the tournament with two tags.  We then preceded to raise three more blues, one of which looked every bit of 500 lbs.  We also tagged another blue after stop fishing to give us three tagged blues for the day.  Unfortunately our lead slipped away to the FIVE STAR releasing four blues for the day.   

Sunday morning we knew we had some catching up to do, we missed one early then hooked our first blue around 10:30 a.m.  We got it all the way to leader reaching out to tag it the fish shook of the hook making it not count as a release.  Fishing the same grounds as we did the day before we weren't seeing the same results.  By 1:00 p.m. I knew the fish had moved to another area, so I went looking.  It payed off, about 2 miles south of where we were working all morning signs of life started to show again.  We tagged two more blues that afternoon to lock us in second place with four tags, and to win over $9,000.  

      

Early Bite 6/13/09

Lines were wet right at first light for the early bite we hoped, not even 5 minutes after all the lines were set we hooked our first blue. This little 150 pounder gave us a hard time because of were he was hooked, in the belly, giving us no leverage or pulling power to lead it. 20 minutes of fight we got it in time to release it to swim away healthy.  Setting the lines back out after the release we hooked up again, this time the fish was hooked up right and showed us a little more size. after a 10 minute fight and a fantastic show close to the boat we estimated and released it at 450-500lbs. Back at the docks by 8:00 a.m. already with two tags.

Aloha, Capt. Teddy Hoogs
www.kilakilasportfishing.com

Junior anglers 6/11/09

Another good day of fishing, 10 minutes out of the harbor we already had 11 year old Austin Hoagland hooked up to his first marlin! We successfully released an estimated 80 pound striped marlin, starting the morning off with a bang. With some of the pressure of my shoulder as captain I knew I had two more fish to catch for younger brother Tristen (8yrs), and don't forget Dad who really wants a marlin too! Luckily, Mom was a happy camper just watching the boys have fun. An hour later we caught a barracuda for Tristen, which some what got him of the hook leaving me able to focus on Dads marlin. With the tide lowering most of the morning we predicted if we had any action it was going to be after the tide started rising around 11:00 a.m. The marlin had the same mind set, almost on the hour we had our first marlin hooked. After a aerial display the feisty little blue shook off the hook. That fish set the bite on for us, we went zero for four blue marlin bites leaving Josh and I pulling our hair out, not being able to get a hook in one. Mr. Hoagland was very understanding, and appreciated the experience of the hunt. We gave him some extra time trying for one more in hopes to not lose the next one. That extra time bought his youngest another chance at a real trophy pelagic. Young Tristen reeled in a Ono bigger then himself that made the smile on his face priceless.

Mr. Hoagland is already planning his trip back for another shot at his big blue.

Aloha, Capt. Teddy Hoogs
www.kilakilasportfishing.com

Mixed Bag 6/1/09

Newly wed couple joined us on their honeymoon for a little excitement on the water. Fishing's been slow on the inside, so we wandered offshore looking for anymore floaters or possible action from Ahi feeding in porpoise schools. We found our self's 20 miles offshore and near a buoy due west of the harbor. Being that the buoy is so far offshore (28 miles), it doesn't get alot of pressure from most of the fleet. So we decided to check it out since we were close. We made one pass with the lures out and caught a couple 25 pound big eye tuna. Another pass caught us an Ono, another pass gave us a double hook up, one Ono and a 50 pound big eye. This went on for a couple hours giving our total for the afternoon, 8 Mahi Mahi, 3 Ono, and various size big eye tuna up to 50 pounds.
The newly weds were pretty excited with the action, giving that we caught his and hers first and largest fish together.

Aloha, Capt. Teddy Hoogs

Mahi Mahi Action Continued 5/31/09

Another good day for Mahi Mahi, we came across another nice floater in an offshore current line. This time it was a scrap piece of cargo net, and without even trying to hard we caught 27 Mahi Mahi. Our family of six were thrilled with the action to top off their trip to the BIg Island.

Aloha, Capt. Teddy Hoogs
www.kilakilasportfishing.com

Floater mayhem! 5/29/09

The Huchteman family arrived at the dock @ 6:00 a.m., not knowing what to expect, and ready for a good time. We set out looking for action for the party of six and action was what we got. Just 20 minutes after the lines went in the water we came across half a pallet floating on the surface. With one pass by the floating object we got covered up with Mahi Mahi on just about every lure. We decided to stick around and take full advantage of the frenzy, and all the big smiles that followed. After an hour and a half we caught 41 Mahi Mahi, and created a few sore arms from all the reeling. The action slowed down a bit, so the Huchtemans wanted to try their luck with something bigger since the action part was out of the way.

No luck with the bigger fish, but still a great day fishing for this Missouri family.

Aloha, Capt. Teddy Hoogs
www.kilakilasportfishing.com

Biggest Ahi of the week 5/19/09

Two couples from Florida joined us for a full day.  They told us they would be happy with any sort of action we could find.  We set out, trolling the coast for Ono.  We came across some great grounds where we marked clouds of bait all in the right spots on the ledge.  But to no avail, we decided to try our luck offshore.  

After changing out our ono lures rigged on cable, with our offshore spread, rigged on mono.  It didn't take long for a big pelagic to find one of our lures irresistible.  The stinger position started screaming out line into the depths, a dead give away for the powerful yellow-fin tuna.  After a 10 minute fight the trophy tuna was secured along side.  High fives all around and high hopes for the rest of the day, as it was only 8:00 a.m.

We continued to work the area we hooked the big tuna, signs looked good with a couple more fish marked, but no one else was hungry.  On the way back toward the harbor we spotted some birds working on the horizon, schools of big skip-jack were exploding, feeding on the surface.  We hooked a couple 20 pound skip-jack for the wives on lighter tackle for a fun challenge to end the day on a high note.

The big tuna hit the scales at 175 pounds, making it the largest weighed that week.

Fishing's getting better and better as the weeks move toward summer, water has really warmed up the last couple weeks and signs are promising for good fishing to come.

Aloha, Capt. Teddy Hoogs
www.kilakilasportfishing.com

Oceanic white tip shark 5/8/09

Mr. Moraga, and son Michael from California, were excited to get out on the water.  Unfortunately the fish knew they were coming, and hid in fear.  Fishing was extremely slow, but we managed to have a good time anyway.  Sightseeing along the coastline heading south, we checked out historical Hawaiian sites, recent lava flows, and rugged points.  Ono fishing was very slow, only hooking one fish that shook loose near the boat.

We looked at TT buoy off Kauna point, and grabbed a live bait in hopes to entice a big predator.  The only one interested was a 5 foot oceanic white tip shark.  Son Michael was thrilled to see it chasing our bait on the surface.  We decided to give the kid a pull from the man in the grey suit, and hook him something twice his size.  With sweat dripping from his brow, and all smiles, he reeled it in for a closer look.  Josh held it on leader, long enough for dad to get a couple pictures for the family album before release.  

Slow fishing for the prized pelagic species, but fun experiences for a father and son outing.

Aloha, Capt. Teddy Hoogs

www.kilakilasportfishing.com       

Ono and Ahi action 4/16/09

Mr. John Brady, and friends joined us for a full day, looking for action and a good time.  The good time came easy for them, but Josh and I had to work extra hard for the action part.  We opted to go Ono (Wahoo) fishing along the coast line, as april and may, are usually great months for the toothy gamefish.  As it turned out they weren't in the mood to bite any of our lures most of the day.  But we did luck out catching one 20 pounder after trolling and sightseeing 30 miles of coastline.  We decided it wasn't our day in Ono lane, so we changed plans, and went towards the deeper waters for something bigger.  

After going offshore we spotted a school of dolphin just outside Kauna point.  Normally a good sign for feeding yellow fin tuna in the area, we wanted to have a closer look and see if tuna were present.  First pass through we marked a fish 40 fathoms down, the school of dolphin were tight and moving good.  Shortly after reaching the school the surface erupted with 100 pound-plus size tuna feeding.  We quickly swapped our spread of lures, for our green stick rig.  We missed one Ahi right away, and then hooked one a little while later.  Our tuna wound up weighing 120 pounds.  So with a little patience, we got them the action they wanted, by never giving up. 

Aloha, Capt. Teddy Hoogs

www.kilakilasportfishing.com  

Father and son team 4/14/09

On Tuesday, we hosted Mr. Dave Carver and his 14 year old son, Sam.  Both of which have been fishing in Kona before.  With a blue marlin release, and some Mahi Mahi action under their belt, they were ready to see what Josh and I could offer.  

We decided to go north, after reviewing a recent temperature chart which showed a patch of warm water over the 1000 fathom curve.   After running for about 10 minutes, we set the pattern of lures not knowing what me may encounter.  

We came across a small log floating on the surface at 8:00 a.m., and Sam picked off a resident 15# Mahi Mahi to start the morning off.  

Groups of shearwaters were flying north to keep us thinking we were heading the right direction.  My Father Captain Peter Hoogs on the Pamela was also searching the North grounds, and came across a porpoise school just outside of us and called us over.  He was marking big tuna on his sounder, and missed one Ahi trolling shortly after he got in the school.  We picked the lures up, and ran his way, hoping to get in on the action.  Josh and I decided to put our green stick rig out and after working the school for about an hour we got bit.  14 year old Sam was in the chair again, this time with a nice big yellow-fin tuna which weighed 117#.  

We sent Dave & Sam home with Mahi Mahi fillets, and smiles from a memorable day of fishing!  They're already checking the calender to see when they can get back to fish with us again! 

Aloha, Capt. Teddy Hoogs

www.kilakilasportfishing.com

Fishing with Gary & Ellie Speirs 3/31/09

The day started by leaving Honokohau harbor at 6:00 a.m., with long time clients and family friends, Gary & Ellie Speirs.  

We took a right turn, heading North shortly after leaving the harbor in hopes of finding a porpoise school, which have been holding big Yellow-fin Tuna (Ahi) the last couple weeks.  After an hour search of scanning the horizon we spotted the tell tale sign with a couple splashes from playful spotted dolphins.  The porpoise school looked good, with signs of tuna below, and as soon as we got the lures near the school we got bit on the stinger position.  

After a 15 minute fight Gary brought a beautiful 130# tuna to gaff.  

We quickly got back up to trolling speed and put our spread of lures back out to their positions.  Just in time to get one more pass in front of the feeding tuna school while two other charter boats were closing in.  The long rigger, and short corner positions went off simultaneously, both screaming out line from our Shimano reels.  This time Gary, and Ellie were hooked up on a double, Gary in the chair and Ellie fighting her fish from the rod holder.  After 20 minutes we managed to get both 100 + trophy size tuna on board.  The school shut off, when four other commercial and charter boats arrived on the scene.  

We waited patiently all day trolling the school while other boats tried various techniques to get the Ahi to bite, with no one hooking up, we knew everyone had to leave before we would have another chance.  

Sure enough, everyone left by 2:00 p.m., the school came together and we saw another opportunity.  We switched technique's, and traded out five lures for our green stick rig.  Five minutes later the tuna where fighting over who could catch the dancing squids first.  With about 3 misses from big tuna the forth explosion grabbed our third squid in line to top off our already great day of fishing, with our forth tuna of the day!

After an hour run home we came to the weigh station to get the official weights and take a few pictures of Gary & and Ellie's best day of Ahi fishing with us.  The weights were 140, 136, 122, and 96.   

Aloha, Capt. Teddy Hoogs

www.kilakilasportfishing.com