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