Start of summer...

My crew and I have had some decent fishing aboard Bwana the past couple weeks.  Fishing in a whole has been pretty quiet for most but a few of us have been seeing some big fish and a couple days where we stumble across the action.

We had a catch of a lifetime on 6/21/12, releasing a estimated 900 + lb blue marlin on 50# test tackle!  We got some great pictures and go-pro footage of the capture which I will be posted video on my youtube page soon.

A week or so later we lost another slob for the boss that I called over a 1000 pounds on the bite, it took a couple hundred yards out on us then pulled hook when she made her first jump!

The fleet has been seeing some good ones too, 974 lb blue was weighed last week, a couple 800 + marlin lost and a handful of 500-700 released.

Our first wave of summer fish haven't shown up yet, it could be any day now when the numbers start coming thru.  Were just now seeing some debris floating close to the island with mahi mahi and ono, which is a good sign that the right current is hitting us.  Plenty of big ahi around as well, makings of a good summer when everything comes together!

Still have some time available so please inquire about your next fishing trip with us aboard Bwana!

Aloha, Capt. Teddy Hoogs
www.teddyhoogs.com

Big ahi catch! 5/28/12

Husband and wife anglers Paul and Thora Theisen joined us for an exciting day fishing for tuna!  We found the north school all to our selfs and immediately starting to catch!  We went 6 for about 9 bites out of big yellow-fin tuna or Ahi.  The weights ranged from 50 lbs -to- 150 lbs.

Great way to start summer off, looking forward to the months ahead coming into our fishing season.

Still some great openings available during the next couple months.  Check our availability aboard Bwana from my website www.teddyhoogs.com and click on reservations to view open dates.

Aloha, Capt. Teddy Hoogs

www.teddyhoogs.com  

Bwana Sportfishing 650 lb Blue Marlin Released

March madness and April's good one!

March gave us some good action from all species, stripe marlin, ahi, few blues and a bunch of mahi mahi. Included in the post are some pics of the mahi madness and if you log onto my youtube account you can see some videos we made from our gopro of the recent action.

April gave us a good one, we released a blue estimated around 650 lbs and lost another one the same size or bigger that same day!  Again check out my youtube channel for some blood pumping video of that fish!  Youtube channel link: http://www.youtube.com/user/TeddyHoogs

The action has its good weeks and slow weeks this winter/spring, but all and all has been a decent year for fishing.

Aloha, Capt. Teddy Hoogs
www.teddyhoogs.com

Been awhile...

For all you loyal followers and new visitors to Bwana sportfishing blog, I apologize for the lack of updating our blog with new adventures. A series of events had me pretty busy, now were just starting to settle back into all the new things in my life!

Back in June 2011 there was a lot of talk of our old boat Kila Kila coming back to Kona, also word of a new opportunity in the harbor and a captains position. I was fortunate enough to have the best of both worlds, still having access to the boat I fished and loved for a few years, Kila Kila, and I got the new captains position running a 2008 46' Gamefisherman, now named Bwana.

For a few months it was go go go, with the shipping of the new boat, relocation of Kila Kila from Oahu to Kona, and summer tournament season my crew Joe Thrasher and I were flat out.

Also to add to the new events, on January 22nd, 2012 my wife and I had our first child, Lillian Lehua Hoogs! We feel very fortunate with life's blessings and are very excited for the present and future.

We are still accepting bookings for sportfishing charters, now aboard Bwana. Fishing has been pretty good this year so far with two grander blue marlin already weighed and lots of winter time action, stripe marlin, ahi, mahi mahi and a few blues around.

We still have a couple tournaments this summer open, and blocks of time that should produce good fishing this year. Please check out our calender on our website www.teddyhoogs.com to check availability.

Look forward to reconnecting with my past clients and fishing with new ones, aboard the new operation!

Aloha, Capt. Teddy Hoogs

www.teddyhoogs.com

Blog revisited with recent fishing report

Sorry, it has been awhile since I last blogged! Been a busy couple months, lots on the plate...

I'll make this short and let you enjoy the awesome pictures from the last couple months of fishing. We have had some great new clients and some of our loyal regulars fishing with us recently.

My crew Joe Thrasher and I have been lucky enough to produce the action as you can see from the pictures. Couple big blues, striped marlin, mahi mahi, wahoo, and some big yellow-fin tuna!

Our spring bite has continued to keep us excited to fish and our clients excited to catch!

Enjoy the pictures!

Buoy action, Mahi Mahi and Big eye tuna! 12/22/10

Great fishing with one of "Play Time's " longtime clients. Capt. Wayne and I decided to head offshore to a fad buoy. We lucked out being the first and only one there and found great action. We picked up a couple good size mahi mahi and proceeded to catch as many 10-25# tuna as we wanted. We also missed a spearfish and a small blue in the same area.

Good fishing by anyone's standards. Enough action to put a smile on everyones faces, and keep our bellies full of good eating fish for Christmas!

Aloha, Capt. Teddy Hoogs

www.teddyhoogs.com

First day aboard "Play Time"

Capt. Wayne Knight and I hosted husband and wife return clients from Colorado. They were excited to get back out on the ocean aboard Play Time, hopeing for a little luck too!

We set the lines out, gave a angling refresher course and it didn't take long for a reel to go off! We got lucky catching a 15# Mahi Mahi, just what we needed full-filling there order for something to eat during there stay.

Capt. Wayne continued North coming up to O-tec buoy. We picked up two more resident Mahi Mahi around the buoy and decided to take a look around after that bite slowed.

I just set the lures back in position and the long rigger started screaming! This fish was no Mahi Mahi, it had enough weight on the other end to be a marlin. We quickly got the rod to the chair in time to see a small blue marlin breaking the surface. We fought the fish up to the back of the boat in 10 minutes and released it in great shape.

Aloha, Capt. Teddy Hoogs

www.teddyhoogs.com

New beginning!

For those of you that haven't heard, Kila Kila and I are parting ways. Its owner has sold Kila Kila's slip in the harbor, and I have received the unfortunate news to deliver Kila Kila to Honolulu. The majestic 53' Merritt now sits in the Ala Wai harbor awaiting its future for a new owner.

As all of my faithful clients know, running Kila Kila was a lifetime dream. I took great pride skippering such a special operation for three and a half years. I thank Kila Kila's owner, Jimmy Day, for such a great opportunity and all his support he offered. Our successful run now comes to an end, but when one door closes another opens.

When news echoed of my job and Kila Kila coming to an end, fellow skippers and clients extended their support. I'm very fortunate to have a close community that stands by my side.

I've decided to combine talents with good friend Wayne Knight, and owner of "Play Time". He's been so kind to offer his 38' Buddy Davis for me to skipper. Aboard "Play Time" I'm still able to offer the same first class service and fishing experience that customers have learned to expect. I'm very excited to carry clients over to this new operation, and continue our successes.

We will be updating our website soon with info, pictures and 2011 rates. We're accepting bookings for "Play Time", and the 2011 season is quickly filling up.

Thanks to all for your continued support and I look forward to a successful 2011 aboard the new operation!

Below are a couple shots of Kila Kila delivered to Honolulu, freshly polished inside and out, ready and listed for sale. Bottom picture is the stb. profile of Play Time. It has the beautiful lines and classic Carolina flare Buddy Davis, the boat builder, is known for.

Aloha, Capt. Teddy Hoogs

www.teddyhogs.com

Charlie Yancey 11/18/10

Charlie fished with me while I crewed on a boat in Cairns, Australia in 2006. He was coming to Kona with his wife and looked me up a few weeks ago to go fishing. He understood the fishing lately has been slow, but also knows, while fishing, you never know your luck.

We searched high and low, found lots of great floaters that should be loaded with mahi this time of the year, but nothing. We did manage to catch one mahi mahi trolling along a current slick, so a least we weren't skunked!

Charlie also had a rare find, one of the sea's treasures, a glass ball. Glass balls were made mainly by Japanese long line vessels while at sea. They would blow them right on the ship to save on deck space. They preferred glass floats because they wouldn't implode under pressure, when fish would drag them under the sea surface. A rare find, considering some of these floats have been floating around the sea for 50-to-80 years!

Aloha, Capt. Teddy Hoogs

www.teddyhoogs.com

1/2 day 11/18/10

The Chang family, booked us from a recommendation, they had two young kids, and just wanted some action.

We went to the grounds, and caught a nice skipjack right away. After we caught one, the skipjack decided to shut off. So we switched tactics, and went offshore. Shortly after setting the lures back out we ran across a nice size floater. Some fishy marks came on the sounder telling me mahi mahi were under it. The fish were spooked for some reason, and were very hard to course into biting. We tried all the tricks to get them up with no success.

Time was running out and we needed to head back to port. Putting the lures back in the wate the short rigger went off! We caught a 24 # mahi mahi for Jay's son departing the floater!

The family's first fishing experience was a success, they had a lot of fun and can't wait to try there luck with us again!

Aloha, Capt. Teddy Hoogs

www.teddyhoogs.com

Evan Rappoport bachelor party 11/10/10

Evan Rappoport is getting married this Saturday. All his buddies hooked him up with a fishing trip with us to relax and hang out on the water. They lined the trip up earlier in the year and were very excited to get out on the water and try there luck.

We worked a porpoise school most of the day, marking tuna on the sounder; watching them feed from time to time on the surface. Couple moments I thought for sure we would get blasted, seems to be the way the fishing is for everyone at the moment.

Heading back to the dock late in the afternoon, when all hope pretty much left us, a mark appeared on the sounder at 40 fathoms. Evan asked me if we ever get bites out of fish we mark deep like that? I said, normally in the summer when a bunch of fish are around, I would say yes! But given the fishing has been so slow, and the fish just aren't in the mood to feed, I don't have much faith this one will come up... I was proven wrong as the stinger started ripping out as soon as those words left my mouth! Unfortunately, the fish didn't stick, but everyone got the excitement of the hook up!

Aloha, Capt. Teddy Hoogs

www.teddyhoogs.com

Biggest Skipjack of the year! 11/6/10

Fishing's extremely slow this past month, so seeing a fish is a bonus right now. We set out with one of our local clients and some of his good friends. They just wanted to spend the day on the water, if we catch that's a bonus.

We set out heading South, and found a porpoise school. Couple marks appeared on the sounder, but the school was pretty spread out. There where already a couple boats working the school, so odds weren't with us for getting a shot out of a big tuna. But we got another kind of tuna that sometimes travel with the school: a skipjack tuna. Not really a rare catch, we mainly use skipjacks for live bait during the summer season, but this one was a dozer! It was in contention for biggest of the year!

Later that afternoon on the scale, it weighed in at 24.5 lbs. Enough to beat the second biggest by half a pound!:)

Aloha, Capt. Teddy Hoogs

www.teddyhoogs.com

Kelly Cowlishaw 10/20/10

Repeat client, Mr. Cowlishaw and his wife joined us again this month. There thinking of moving to Kona, and are searching for a house during there visit as well. We took him out hunting for his marlin, his last trip was in the spring, we caught him a bunch of Ono.

We didn't have any luck from a marlin but scored a nice deep sea Ono! Cutting the fish back at the dock, there was plenty fish to go around. Kelly and his wife were able to prepare the catch at a condo they rented during their stay. Both of them couldn't stop raving about how good eating it was!

Aloha, Capt. Teddy Hoogs

www.teddyhoogs.com

September, Wedding time!

Amy (my fiancee) and I left early September to begin our three weeks of wedding travels. First leg began arriving in Elmira, NY, to visit Amy's family and attend a send off party for our next phase of the trip to Ireland. About 75, close family, relatives and one of my long time clients gathered to celebrate our future together. They all gave us their best wishes and the next morning we were off to Ireland.

We arrived about a week before our wedding date to arrange all the last minute details; meet with our photographer, florist, food details, list goes on! Our guests started filtering in during the week, and slowly but surely we all started meeting up, and traveling the sights. We travelled to Dublin, Blarney, Bunratty castle for a mid evil dinner, Cliffs of Moher, Aran Islands, Adare, Golf with the boys at Castletroy golf club, and ending at Kilshane House in Tipperary for the wedding celebration.

Kilshane house was unbelievable, staff and grounds were magnificent, couldn't ask for a better venue! We had a wonderful rehearsal dinner in the grand dinning room, then hung out downstairs in the "mens lair" as I called it, awesome snooker and game room. We prayed for blue skies the next day and called it a night.

The next day was great, more guests arrived and the anticipation of seeing my soon to be, was a great feeling! Everything went without a snag, all the planning from so many miles away payed off with some fantastic help and recommendations from our wedding planner. The weather was grand and we got our outdoor wedding we hoped for! About 30 close friends and family attended, which made it an ideal setting for a intimate day. We got some beautiful pictures of the special day, and will cherish the experience for the rest of our years.

We ended the three week marathon in Santorini, a little island in the Aegean sea off Greece for our honeymoon. Crazy beautiful place, very romantic, and peaceful setting. Most of the island is built right on the edge of shear cliffs, which gives it a very dramatic feel, and makes for some awesome pictures. Looking forward to getting home, but I could get used to this!