2/10/10 Double Strike Surprise!

Husband and wife, John and Christina from Chicago joined us today. The couple had never been deep-sea fishing before; they were up for the adventure.

Fishing, still slow for most, urged me to take another look offshore. On our way to tsunami buoy, 28 miles out, we had a strike from a spearfish on the stinger. Reaching the buoy, John picked up a small big eye tuna. Josh switched out to some lighter gear for a little more sport with the tuna. The tuna didn't care to play; we missed a couple but they weren't biting.

So back to having a look around, the offshore waters looked decent. Some birds and loose bait roaming the depths looked promising.

Josh was just about finished making lunch when the long corner started screaming. A few seconds later, the long rigger came down, peeling out line. Josh and I didn't think they were yellow-fin by the way the fish were acting. Given that one of them struck a bigger lure, we now thought they could be a pair of big eye tuna.

John got his fish up first: nice healthy 150 pound big eye tuna. Christina's gave us a little more trouble. She fought the second big eye another 10 minutes before it came to leader. Our eyes just about popped out of our head when it came into view. Josh and I secured the fish, and let's just say, Christina has bragging rights at this point! The second fish looked to be close to 200 pounds, a rare and great catch in Hawaii.

Big eye tuna are spotted only a few times per year; they travel in deep water and mainly feed at night. Catching big eye tuna this size doesn't happen too often.

Coming off the rush of our catch, we had another big strike on the long corner. A quick scream from the reel and it was off. No marks on the lure, but from the hole it left, it looked to be a nice blue, or possibly another big eye.

We made it back to port and the pair weighed in at; 153# and 211.5#.

Congratulations John and Christina, your on top the board for the largest big eye tuna of the year! I don't see this catch being topped anytime soon.

Aloha, Capt. Teddy Hoogs

www.kilakilasportfishing.com

2/4/10 Glynn Ferrell

Glynn, and family have been fishing with my father and I, for as long as I can remember. Glynn still shakes his head with a smile, remembering when I was only 3 or 4 years old; trolling a string of lures with no hooks over the transom of our family boat "Pamela". Waiting patiently for a strike... Now skippering the Kila Kila, he's seen me progress through the years, and thrilled to still be fishing with me.

He booked us for a full day, knowing how slow the fishing was; he understands you have to put the time in. Through the years we have had some great days fishing. He always arrives in the morning with no expectations, just enjoys the trip. This day he really enjoyed fishing, loving the extra comfort that the Kila Kila has to offer.

Again, fishing was very slow; we checked all the far to reach spots, searching for the fish. We got lucky towards the end of the afternoon catching a 30 pound short-nose spearfish for his son. Our spearfish, was the only fish caught out of the whole fleet today. That gives you an idea of how slow the fishing is at the moment.

We felt pretty fortunate to have a great fish for the grill, and another chance at a grander.

Aloha, Capt. Teddy Hoogs

www.kilakilasportfishing.com

2/2/10 Colin Clark

Very patient and understanding couple today. The fishing was extremely slow for the fleet, but there's always hope. We opted to wonder around offshore, keeping our eye's peeled for tuna or something floating.

Colin and his wife, were happy to spend the day trying, and maintained a great attitude throughout the day. Josh and I thoroughly enjoyed their company, and really would have loved to get them into some action. Unfortunately, the tune for us and most of the fleet, was a sad story, of how slow it was.

They still had fun spending the day with us. Colin's going to try and make it in the summer, when odds of the fish being here are higher. I hope we can hook him into some good action next time.

Aloha, Capt. Teddy Hoogs

www.kilakilasportfishing.com

1/27/10 Larry Smith and family

Old time client and former partner with my fathers boat "Pamela", Larry Smith fished with us today. He was excited to get out on the water again, interested in having a good time and secretly hoping to catch a spearfish (his wife's favorite fish to eat). Not even 10 minutes after putting the lines in, we made his wife very happy, catching a 30 pound short-nose spearfish. Spearfish can be hard to hook sometimes, especially when you really want one, but there mild white fillets are some of the best eating.

After that we had some luck around a buoy offshore, catching a 15 pound Mahi Mahi, and loosing a bigger one close to the boat. More luck with some small tuna and it was time to get back home. Great day for filling up the fridge with fresh fish. We later meet up with the rest of the family and had the day's catch prepared every way imaginable.

Larry, and son are fishing the Rock-n-Reel tournament with us in June. We got second place last year, hope we can do it again this year.

Aloha, Capt. Teddy Hoogs

www.kilakilasportfishing.com