The Girl of My Dreams

[lawaia]

There I was, rhythmically going up and down, with an occasional side-to-side thrown in, feeling all warm and comfy, enjoying the fruits of my Valentine’s Day sucking up, when – what da heck – who put a garbage can over my head and is shooting BB’s off the side of it in full auto mode!?

Oh, wake up idiot, Valentine’s Day was yesterday, you’re on da boat and the reel is screaming! Who dat said trolling is hours of boredom interrupted by moments of sheer panic? Well get outta the way, the Chinese fire drill is ON!

Good thing we’ve got the fire drill down pretty well. This is the result of that well-oiled (as in suntan lotion?) team effort – a Hawaiian YFT.



The surprising thing is that it was caught on President’s Day – February is definitely NOT prime YFT season in Hawaii, and another eye-opener, at least here, is that it was caught using a circle hook. The “lure” was a Fred Archer JT Special Super Ruckus Raiser; pulled easy in the rough stuff without tangling and obviously works!

Thanks Capt. Fred, IglooMan, and Capt. Josh!

[HOLWACHAGOT]

Pretty Tuna.
Holwachagot

[Ace1st]

Nice Fish! Hell Yeah they work. I pull my down the center on the flat. Cant wait for spring to arrive!

[WAHOONBOX]

I WANT TO SHARE A STORY WITH ALL THE READERS IN W2MW....

A FEW YEARS BACK, THERE WAS A KNOCK AT OUR DOOR....THE PONEYTAIL ACKNOWLEDGES IT AND IT IS UPS MAN OR FED EX CAN'T REMEMBER....SHE SIGNED FOR THE PACKAGE AND BROUGHT IT IN...

IN THE RETURN ADDRESS SPACE IT READ: RIO & GIO,HAWAII,USA...THE PACKAGE WAS ADDRESSED TO ME.

"WELL WHO'S RIO & GIO ?" she asked eyebrows raised ever so slightly....

"HUHHHH...WELL....A COUPLE BABES FROM A PST CHARTER I KNOW NO BIG DEAL"....I explained.

I THEN OPENED THE BOX LIKE A KID AT CHRISTMAS AND LOW AND BEHOLD.....HAWAIIAN GOURMET COFFEE!...AND MACEDAMEIA NUT CANDY!.....

THENOTENBOX READ: "I DON'T HAVE VERY MUCH TO SHARE MUCH WITH W2MW AS I WOULD LIKE BUT I WISH TO SHARE BACK SOME OF MY WORLD WITH YOU 'BOX...HOPE THE PONEYTAIL ENJOYS DA COFFEE"


THUS,....THIS IS HOW I MET, FIRSTHAND,... SFC MEMBER... MR. IAWAIA ....FROM THE GREAT STATE OF HAWAII...


WELL HOLEY COW AND HOLEY SMOLEY DUDE CAUSE THAT IS ONE FINE LOOKING TUNER INDABOX!!! CONGRATS TO YOU AND CREW AND I AM HAPPY TO HEAR SO MANY MEMBERS OF SFC AND SPONSORING VENDORS HERE HAVE HELPED YOU ALONG THE WAY!!



THANK GOD SOMEONE IS FISHING SOMEWHERE BESIDES CENTRAL AMERICA!!

WE LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR NEXT INSTALLMENT OF YOUR WORLD!

[merry marlin]

Aloha & Thanks for bringing some of that blue water to our cold winter!!!!
Nice Catch, how close to the coast are you fishing?
What type of boat do you have and how many rods do you pull? Bring us more of your word...
MM

[gottaflylee]

Congrats lawaia on a nice Tuna...love your dream...

Great story here...

[lawaia]

WAHOONBOX - I truly feel for y'all everytime I see a photo of guys over your way fishing in Grundens over woolen shirts and all, or see on the news that a record snowfall is hitting the East coast, while we're fishing in shorts and t-shirts. Makes me wonder why your end of the good ol' US of A is referred to as the 'right' side of the country. I spent the holidays in Chicago in 4 degree/-15 windchill and just couldn't wait to get back home to Hawaii! Whatever happened to global warming? Happy to hear that you and the Poneytail enjoyed the little bit of Hawaii sent your way.

Aloha & Thanks for bringing some of that blue water to our cold winter!!!!
Nice Catch, how close to the coast are you fishing?
What type of boat do you have and how many rods do you pull? Bring us more of your word...
MM

merry marlin - You probably know that the Hawaiian Islands are volcanic peaks and, as such, the bottom drops off very quickly offshore. Big pelagics are sometimes caught from shore, but the President's Day fish was caught 23 miles from shore after covering 50 miles of water hunting for fish. Because our normally rough water limits everyone's ability to go anywhere near WOT for any length of time, most fishing is done within 50 miles of shore, unless one is staying out overnight. Because we have limited marina slip availability and land on an island is not plentiful, most fishermen have trailerable boats, the great majority in the 20-something foot range, or slightly smaller. Most are cabin type boats since the rough water and heavy tackle we use precludes stand-up fighting hence there is no need for center console walk-around type boats and the dry storage of a cabin is more valuable. We run five rods with outriggers but some run seven or even nine rods.

Here are some photos of our world:

A couple of typical sunrises:





Bird action on an unusually calm day:



Whales:



Sunset from inside the bay after a long day at sea:



Aloha and thanks, everyone, for all the kind words about our YFT catch.

[controlled chaos]

Man that is one helluva sunset!!!! Fat YF too!!!

[Captain Fred Archer]

Welcome aboard SFC, Cappy Courtland...it's about time you came over to this side to give us some perspective on your beautiful (and cold and snowless) world and it's great fishing. And thanks to all for the warm welcomes to my old friend.

And how 'bout dat? Da Box got "da box" from Courtland too! I'm talking about those Macadamia nuts and (whoa there!), rich Hawaiian coffee that the good captain sometimes surprises his friends with. Great stuff, that, and a mighty fine thing to do for we poor souls who live in tough parts of the world compared to Paradise!

Chris and I received something even more special from Cappy for Christmas...are you ready? Get this...big, old, 2 1/4 pound jars of...oh, mercy...Island Princess Mele Macs. They are Toffee Coated Macadamia Nuts Covered in Luscious Milk Chocolat !!!

How good are these things? Unbelievable good! Chris took his big jug of them down to Mexico for Christmas and says that his sister and dad and mom devoured the whole danged bucket...and 2 1/4 pounds of those babies is a BUNCH! Me, I'm not supposed to eat that kind of stuff, so I take my time and still have some left. I just have to keep an eye on Chris when he comes over because if I don't, they start mysteriously disappearing! I'm having one now.

Oh, wow!

Oh, and they have powdered sugar on them too!

Anyhoo, it's great to have Cappy Lawaai here on this great site. Yes, the goodies are super, but they are way over shadowed by the man himself. He's not only a great fisherman (as are all of our Field Staff), he is one of the finest men that I have been privileged to meet and get to know over my years in the fishing business. And I mean that. And that has nothing to do with the goodies, it strictly has to do with the man.

Keep 'em comin', Hula Man (the fishin' stuff, not (neccessarily) the goodies)...but hey, they ain't too bad neither...jus ask Da Box!

(Courtland catches 'hoo too...here's one of them)