990 in Kona yesterday

[ribbon reef 10]

Anyone know anything about this fish on the Sundowner?

[LuckyDrew]

It died.

[reel fool]

Randy Llanes bought the boat just a few months ago. Don't know the story of the fish, but the Sundowner claims another big girl. Llanes family strikes again....they catch alot of fish.

http://www.charterdesk.com/main/CatchReport/go

[ribbon reef 10]

From Jim Rizzuto...

SUNDOWNER CATCHES GRANDER? The old saying “You are what you eat,” goes when you weigh fish, too. Pay attention, or you may lose a lot of weight when you don’t want to.
Last Thursday, Capt. Randy Llanes and his nephew Keoni Llanes pulled the charterboat Sundowner up to the Charter Desk scales with what might have been Kona’s first grander of 2009. Its measurements said it might “go.” With a “short length” (tip of lower jaw to fork of tail) of 143 inches, it was much longer than, say, the 131 – inch, 1,045-pound-blue Capt. Randy Parker caught here in 2001.
On the other hand, the girth of its tail stump was 19.5-inches, which says it could have been as little as 950 pounds.
As the crane attached to the scales raised the fish up for an official weight, Randy saw the scales flicker with a reading of “1,005.” And in that instant, he realized that no one had thought to tie the fish’s mouth shut.
That’s when the bottom fell out on his “grander.” Gravity everted the marlin’s stomach and dumped 15 pounds or more of its contents onto the deck. A five-pound aku, the remains of a half-dozen opelu, the partially digested leftovers of a shoal of squid and maybe a gallon of stomach acid – all would have legitimately been part of the original weight if they were still part of the fish. But now the scale read just 990 pounds without them.
Oh well. The Sundowner catch is still the biggest of the year to date and Randy’s biggest as a captain.
What’s more, the fish was far bigger than their aspirations for the day. Randy and Keoni had gone out hoping to catch fish for a party. A 100-pounder, Randy said, would have been just enough.
They trolled down the coastline to TT-buoy with no action and hoped to change their luck on the way back. The big marlin dialed in at 4:11 pm as they trolled in 450 fathoms off Red Hill (a landmark just south of Keauhou Bay).
“It took the long corner lure,” Randy said. “I saw it come in, and explode on the lure. Then it took off on a 700-yard run.” 990pbm.jpg
Keoni battled it toe-to-toe for the next two hours. Randy says the battle took them 2-1/2 miles away from their starting point according to the track left on his GPS.
At times, Keoni pushed the drag to as much as 68 pounds on the two-speed Shimano 130 reel, thereby preventing the battle from going far into the night. Amazingly, the 400-pound test Momoi leader held. The standard for marlin fishing here is a 530-pound test leader.
The catch is a fitting start to what Randy calls a new chapter in his life. That includes a new son for Randy and his wife Rachel, the renewal of his charter fishing license, and a new boat.
John and Debbie Hughes of Lake Havasu, Ariz, bought the Sundowner in January and installed Randy as captain.
“They caught a lot of fish with me in the past and trusted me to run their boat,” Randy said. “I feel like I am starting fresh.”
Randy’s 990-pound blue gives him bragging rights over his dad, retired fishing captain John Llanes, Sr.
“Too bad my fish didn’t dump another five pounds,” Randy said magnanimously. “Then I would have tied my dad’s 985-pounder. His was also a grander. He didn’t lock the lower jaw either and a mahimahi and a big otadu dropped out.”
Randy caught the fish on a “straight runner” lure he makes himself. He sells his lures exclusively through Pacific Rim Fishing Supplies in Honokohau Harbor. Stop by and ask Dave or Jill to show you what the winner looks like.

[Duke Blue Blood]

Incredible fish. Very jealous. Captain should have known to tape his mouth.

Congrats on a great fish. Kona deserved that grander.

DBB

[KarmaKid]

I thought all fish were weighed with thier mouths open? Don't you always cut the tape once the fish in hanging?

[Anngler]

Grander or not, that is still an awesome catch! I don't know if it is just my computers at school, but I can't see the pic. I saw the jpg tag for it but I can't see the pic.

[Tunaman40]

Awsome catch I would have never thought to tie it's mouth shut