The Aloha Spirit...Part 1 of 3 (Maybe 4) 5/11

[Capt Josh]

This trip will go down in the JT encyclopedia with footnotes aplenty...in dire need of additional space...and subsequently more time with which to fill it...god only knows what sort of meandering adventure would spawn if i had a proper month to sit down and articulate everything...Freud would have a field day...

For starters my entire operation was almost derailed by a mosquito...billion year old little evolutionary coqsuckers...you know what they say...once a pole smoker...always a pole smoker...and they were right...

While Darwin may have his reasons i've yet to come to terms with why we need these pesky little bastards from Yakatat to Patagonia...i'm firmly planted on the "DDT THE BASTARDS" side of the fence and when Cath came down with Dengue fever i chalked another mark up to the Mosquito Magnet (tm) stock i should have bought...

After watching Cath deteroriate over the few days leading up to my trip i'd all but lost hope...miraculously the night before i'm supposed to fly she's stopped chasing us around the house screaming obscure dialects and the kids and i have finally agreed to cut the restraints we'd used to secure her to the bed...

Dengue is powerful dark vewdoo...and although the kids and i were happy to see mom coming around again short of an exorcism...i thought NO WAY am i going to California or Hawaii tomorrow for Ron's wedding...

Well i married Cath for many reasons...and her ability to not be able to tolerate me for more than a few weeks at a time no doubt lent a helping hand to her shooing me out of the house in time for my flight the following day...the kids looked worried as i was leaving...but it didn't take them long to come to their senses...afterall...they're pratically doctors now anyway...

So...despite it almost being against my better judgement...off i went...

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The flight up with Alaska was uneventful...no Steve O debauchery this time...and as per usual...ever faithful Bogii was there to meet me at LAX...waiting for me for over an hour as i drowned in never ending lines at customs...woe to the traveller whom arrives behind twin cross-oceanic jumbo jets carrying hundreds...if not thousands...of people with suspicious looking paperwork...

I do not envy the men and women of the US border patrol...nor do i envy us passengers stuck behind them...

TSA,NSA,USA checkpoints negotiated successfully Bogii and i finally speed off for a dynamite late night supper at a quaint little Japanese joint tucked in some obscure hole in the wall...it may have even been a construction zone...the kind of place you feel like unsheathing a samarai sword when you walk into...just...(SHLUCK)...in...case...but you guessed it...everyone knows Bogii and it's moshi moshi's all around...

Not once has Bogii taken me to a normal restaurant...each and every place he eats has a story behind it...Emerel would have to chew some mushrooms to get to the bottom of it but my god would that be a guide to LA dining we'd all want to get a hold of...superb nibbles and world class funkery...BAM!...couldn't resist...

We spend the next day chasing glass slippers around greater LA...parts, tackle, you name it...some places have this but not that...so now we have to go over to here but first we have to go back the way we came...405 to the 55 to the I-5 to the i don't know how we're still alive...LA traffic is NUTS...god those people up there have the reflects of a fighter pilot...

We manage a full day and it's pretty much non stop laughs...the stopping between laughs being snorting and all sorts of other gutteral effects because the laughing got carried away...between the music, the traffic and the gut wrenching laughter it's amazing we're still alive...

We wind up at SteveD's place...famished and in dire need of some oxygen and i'll have to defer to the footnotes for the remainder of the evening...although i will say Chopper wasn't impressed...

Steve and i head up to Avet Reels the next day in his top o' the line mercedes...it gets the job done but it's not as nice as his Aston Martin...neither of which i'm allowed to drive by the way...

Once at Avet it's always amazing to step foot in that factory and watch the magic happen...nice to meet the people behind the scenes and hear how much our efforts help them...and to let them know how much thiers help ours...

We'll be trying out some new reels this season and i'm really looking forward to getting my hands on the latest designs...Sarkis and Harry sure know how to bake a muffin...

Well about now you can tell we were all ready for some fishing...i'd been bugging Matt about DVL for days now...and since Mike and i were on the same flight from the OC to Kona the following thursday we decided it was DVL or nothin for wednesday...

Matt is a well oiled machine when it comes to bass fishing and all Mike and i do is fall into step behind him...getting the boat to, in, out and home from the lake is a chore unto itself but Matt has it down to a science...plus he already has the boat stocked with the appropriate tackle, rod and reel combos...you name it...all Mike and i have to do is but the beer and let me tell you that ain't all that hard...

While conditions were a-typically nasty for up there we managed a righteous afternoon...Mike struck first i believe but it didn't take long before we had them all snapping...yes...i did get the most...YES...i did get the biggest...but who's counting...we had a killer afternoon between the boys and racked up some serious digits...kudos to you Mattchew...thanks once again for taking us ol salty dogs out for a run...

Mike and I helped stow the boat and hit the trail...we had a lot of loose ends to cover before heading to Kona the next morning and we were both eager to get the next trip started...Ron was already throwing us bacon bits like...

"Oh...you know...we're just here on the Marlin Magic II talkin shop with Parker..."

or...

"Yeah let me get off the phone we're just pulling into Hensley's for a little hot tubber..."

SONOFA...Mike and i were dying...Ron was the groom to be so we couldn't give him too much chit about rubbing the lemons although we surely wanted to...we agreed to cut him some slack...at least for now...

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Mike and i made it to the OC airport the next morning thanks to the help of his girlfriend...nice work by the way there Mike...and before we know it Aloha Airlines flight 539 is airborne and hauling some aloha ass for distant pastures...it's been 10 years since i've been to hawaii and i clearly forgot how much blue water there is between here and there...

Mike gets the better end of the deal in the old unexpected candy in the vacant seat game...i actually have a super hottie sitting next to me that would put his to shame but she comes with a side of sausage...so i have to defer the win to Mike by default...it pays to be lucky sometimes...and while Mike has five and a half hours of uninterrupted quality groundwork time to look forward to JT is left to ponder the male pattern baldness laid out in front of him...scared to look right...or godforbid right AND down...lest he draw the attention of the aforementioned sausage lurking within striking distance...

When the deep cerulean blue waters of the open Pacific finally gave way to the windswept shores of Hawaii's east side i wasn't the only one to breath a sigh of relief i can assure you...Mike drug his heels getting off the plane but was quick to act at the rental car counter and in no time we were off and running...aloha Kona...

Ron and Beth had an allstar cast lined up for the wedding...captains and pirates from all corners of the globe had already either entrenched themselves deep within one of the world's most hallowed big fish grounds...or were steaming hard on thier way towards Kailua-Kona where Mr. and Mrs. PELAGIC...alright Kawaja...would soon bond thier fates...

With Mike and i checking in there remained only one guest yet accounted for...a true eastern pacific pirate...the one and only Tony Berkowitz...and as we made our way to the Kona marina to rendezvous with Ron, Mike and i vowed to return to the airport later that night to pick up Berki if all else failed...which it eventually did...but more on that later...

The Kona marina is as close to a modern day gamefishing collage as you're going to get...captains and craft from all over the world assemble here year after year to chase what are arguably the largest blue marlin in the pacific...more giant blues have been weighed here than any other single Pacific location...and as a result many great captains have been crowned here that've caught them...

For a guy like me Kailua-Kona is a place i've been wanting to get to for a long...long time...when i was 15 yrs old i used to write to captains in Kona that i found listed in the charter advertisements in the back of marlin magazine in hopes of scoring a job...something...anything to get me out of the canadian winter...most of them never wrote back...some of them did...but all i'm sure were thinking just what in the hell good a 15 yr old canadian in Kona would be...

Well needless to say i kept salmon fishing for a while...but thoughts of Kona remained...when i finally got there on my own fruition the satasfaction was encouraging...i'll admit that...but the prospect of spending the next week fishing and learning from some of the truly great captains was much more exciting than patting myself on the back...so it was with great eagerness and supreme humility that i set foot on the Marlin Magic II...

Marlin Parker is a legend in this industry...he's caught some big fish...sure...OK some really BIG fish...yes...he makes some of the finest handcrafted lures anywhere...yes...he's won the Bisbee's...yes...he has a successful charter operation etc. etc. etc...all obviously crowning achievements and worthy of praise...but that's not why he gets it...

Marlin is respected above all else because he is a true seaman...someone who could literally just about walk on water but chooses to remain in the tidepools poking at little creatures most of us would step on without ever seeing...you can see it in his eyes and believe you me there is no faking that look...you either have it or you don't...above a lot of other things...Marlin has that look...

He's trained some of the most respected captains in the industry and i am happy to report he continues to do so to this day...when Mike and i hit the dock he was the first to pull our arms about going fishing and believe you me he wasn't kidding...30 mins from the airport tarmac we are standing in the cockpit of the Marlin Magic II putting out of the harbor past 600# blue marlin already at the scales...what in the name of god just happened...24 hrs ago Mike and i were tossing 5" plastic worms to 5 lb largemouth bass...now we're turning the green buoy and listening to Marlin talk about how right over here...or there...or here...or there...or here...great fish were fought and weighed...all within a quarter mile and all numbers i've only dreamed of...1200...1300...1400 pounders...

Wake up little Suzy...WAKE UP...


I'm thinking to myself..."OK...this is one hell of a way to start a wedding weekend"...just as Marlin lowers the riggers and Carol deploys the spread...right outside the harbor...SONOFA...

In 15 minutes since stepping aboard i've already learned a lifetime of information from one of the best in the business...each and every motion is getting recorded...a simple little dance with a mountain of possibilities...i try to keep up but it's like cracking the rosetta stone...i'm getting one narrow glimpse of a much bigger picture but i'm not flinching...you can't absorb everything...but you certainly reap what you can...

Since it's just the 4 of us onboard Mike is elected angler...Carol is doing the tagging since we've agreed to release any marlin...i'm on the wire and Marlin is working his mojo at the helm...

Sure enough about an hour...and four thousand questions from me later...the stinger comes crashing down...Mike jumps the rod and immediately locks himself in the chair because as we'll come to learn knockdowns in Kona are serious business...two hundred or two thousand...you just never know...

Carol and i clear the lines as Mike grinds away and it's not long before we get a look at the fish...wahoo?...nope...it's a shortbilled spearfish...holy chit...i've been reading about these for 15 years but have never seen one in person...

I'm getting ready to wire the fish up when suddenly Marlin appears...takes two wraps...sends home the gaff he somehow materialized with...and before we know it we've got fresh chucker on the menue...

Marlin reads our thoughts and with a glint in his eye proclaims..."spearfish is not a marlin"...and who the hell can argue with that...

Later at Clay Hensley's house...or as it should be more aptly titled..."Clay Hensley's Ode To Better Living"...we enjoyed fresh spearfish served to the rythm of good friends...fine wine...and one hell of a Kona sunset...

Although we were all pretty much ready to say "I DO" at that point...we couldn't help but raise our glasses and toast our friends Ron and Beth whom brought all of us here together to celebrate many things...namely the wonderful life...where fishing and friendship...meet aloha and love...

There i go turning into my sister again...

Stay tuned...there's a lot more fishing and aloha to come...j

PPS...the last photo is a shot of the spot Marlin caught a 1200 plus pounder from...yes...that's traffic in the background...

[Capt_John]

Nice pics. Marlin is definately a great guy to learn from. Soak it all in.

[POON MAN]

Excellent report and nice read Josh

quite a writer you are !!!

[Captain Fred Archer]

Joshter,

Great stuff! Don't short circuit having all that fun now. I sure understand how great it must be for you to be spending up front and personal time with one of the truly great ones and to be wandering around a harbor where other legends lurk inside just about every transom. Kona. Valhalla. Land of the great blue ladies and those who hunt her.

I too went there for the first time as a not-so-young man in my early thirties. My goal back then was to learn as much as I could about the "new" game of fishing plastic lures and Kona was the birthplace. I'll not take away from what I am sure are going to be your great stories about the experiences you are about to have by telling any of mine, except to say, be sure to ask about the marlin a young captain (who looked about twelve) hooked up and fought for over twenty four hours (I forget exactly how long - the other boats in the fleet wound up bringing food, water and fuel out to these guys.) They lost the fish after it came up in the morning and started feeding on yellowfin. I spoke with the young captain two days after it happened and he said that the fish was a tonner, no doubt about it. It's a Kona classic!

I am delighted to see that you young fellers have my old pal, Budweiser Tony coming over, I assume as the moral counciler, spiritual advisor and propriety guide for the group. Clean living and proper behavior are important and Tony knows all about that stuff. Here's a Tony story that you can remind him of when the time is right...Years ago he had his brother down to Cabo for a visit and wanted to send him home with a bunch of dorado meat. His bro had done little-to-no saltwater fishing at the time, the dorados were big ones and required casting big baits at the shark buoys down off Golden Gate and Tony, who was berthed right behind me, asked me to come along on his "Magic" to help with loading up on the meat. I didn't have a charter that day, so I joined them.

Long story short, we murdered a bunch of big dorados and were on our way home by late morning. I was cutting fish and Tony was driving when he said, "Why don't you drive for a while and let me clean some of those fish?" I said "sure" and we changed places. When I drive, I HUNT and that day was not different. I spent the next hour or so looking for a striped marlin up top to mess with and paid no attention to Tony. Finally, as we neared Cabo and drove past a charterboat with a full cockpit of passengers I noticed them pointing at our boat and carrying on and laughing like crazy. I looked back to see what in the world was so funny.

And there stood Tony, bare naked from his head to his toes, squatting down to cut fish (a terrible sight in itself), all covered with blood and dorado guts. When I asked him what he was doing all naked he told me, "Ah, I always do this when I cut fish...I don't want to get blood on my clothes" - his clothes being and old T-shirt and ratty pair of shorts. Then he turned around and gave a full, frontal wave to the folks on the other boat. I couldn't bare to look back at him again, but some time before we entered the harbor, he had gotten dressed, thank God!

So if you catch some mahis and Tony's along, do yourself a favor and don't let him cut them! It's a hard sight to see.

Great stuff, Josh. You write a helluva'n interesting read. Have at 'em, enjoy and keep learning and reporting.

[HOLWACHAGOT]

Some fabulous writing here! Absolutely tremendous report and pics. Looking forward to the rest of the reports and future pics. That last pic looks like Pine Trees(Surf spot). Is that just North of the Kailua Harbor? I fished with Kenny Llanes for nine days straight on my honeymoon eight years ago. We had a 600-800 pound marlin knock four lines(all we pulled) down and leave a whirlpool behind the boat five minutes after lines in. The place truly is paradise. Thanks again for the report. Your humor is appreciated. I want to see the footnotes!

HOLWACHAGOT

[Capt Josh]

Thanks guys...still trying to sort out everything and get things back in order down here in Vallarta...it was an amazing trip indeed...

Fred i wish you could have been there with us...we could have used your skills to contain Berki...as you very well know he is one of a kind...definitely someone i would want on every trip...funny you mention the fish cleaning...while he...fortunately...didn't strip completely naked he did cover himself from head to toe with blood and he was just the gaff man...

I've known Tony for years now and he's become sort of a mentor...for good or ill...he's one of those people who can talk for 48hrs straight and that's precisely what he did when he arrived in Kona...throwing his voice out a mere 36 hrs into the trip...still didn't slow him down...

Stay tuned...

[SeaBiscuit]

Cool beans and fine writing captain Josh!
Love the spear on the gaff shot
SeaBiscuit

[brandon558]

Awesome write up and pictures..thanks for sharing! Looks like quite an adventure. Looking forward to the following reports

Brandon

[#1Gaffman]

Truly awesome writing.....

Cool pictures.

Defintally a intresting thread here.