Honeymoon in Hawaii/Kona Fishing Report

[hrdcor32]

We stayed at the Marriott Ko'olina Resort on Oahu. Thanks to several members of this site I decided (and talked my wife into) flying over to Kona for a day and fishing with Capt. Jerry Allen on the Sea Dancer. I have owned three boats and have fished offshore for the past several years and Katie has never been fishing from a boat. So this was a very special trip to me.

We got a little bit of a late start due to the time of the earliest flight from Honolulu to Kona. We trolled plastic until we began marking bait, then it was time to troll two bait rods with a king duster and small squid skirt. Not long after the bait lines were in the water, Katie (my wife) saw a rod double over and reeled in a nice bait size Aku (skipjack tuna). We made a short (VERY short compared to what I'm used to) run to where the Captain wanted to fish. The Aku was bridled on a circle hook and tossed over the side. Next a naked ballyhoo was rigged and set on the opposite corner.

Captain Jerry had told me it was slow and actually tried to talk me out of making the flight over to fish the day before. We were determined and I explained that I know fishing was fishing but I wanted to be able to say we fished in Kona. The day before our charter, out of the whole fleet, only three marlin were caught.

So we putted around for about an hour and a half without a nibble. Katie was laying down napping in the hot sun. That's when the line was ripped from the clip and before the slack was taken up between the rod tip and the fish, Katie had her harness on and was in the chair as we had practiced. Deck hand Butch brought her the rod and she got to work on her first Blue Marlin. She had the estimated #200 Blue boatside in about 20 minutes for a tag and release.

Despite being sore for the next two days, she had a blast and I think that was just what she needed to get her hooked on fishing; or atleast to understand why I do it so much.

Well the rest of our Honeymoon was great, but the fishing trip was definately the highlight for both of us.

Thanks again for the members who recommended Kona and Capt Jerry on the Sea Dancer. We could not have asked for a better Captain and Mate. Thanks

Matt

[hrdcor32]

Sorry about the huge pictures, forgot to mention that I also talked her into sharing the cost on a Nikon D40 for "us". This was the best investment I could have made for this trip, we have some awesome pictures.

[SeaBiscuit]

Congratulations Mr & Mrs Hrdcor!
Nice pictures and a good catch Matt. The marlin isn't bad either.
Good luck in your life together.
SeaBiscuit

[Jer]

Great report and pictures. Good luck!

Nice smiles

[WAHOONBOX]

CONGRATS ON LANDING THE EYE CANDY DUDE!!! I HOPE YOU BOTH MAKE A WONDERFUL LIFE TOGETHER! GREAT STORY AND A GREAT PHOTO ALBUM!

CAN YOU ELABORATE ON THE HOOK SET UP IN THIS PICTURE?

AND THE TAG/RELEASE SIGN IS USUAL FOR HAWAII ISN'T IT? WAY TO GO SEA DANCER!

[Ciguatera]

congratulations matt. Awesome honeymoon.

Wahoo..... looks like a swallow to me. The swivel at the leader is too close to the fish. Almost 90% of all live bait catches for us are swallows because we let them go until the hook is down deep. Then we gun the throttles for the hookup. Unfortunately, we only do this if we are going to keep the fish to eat. Tag and release are done with lures exclusively.

[squirtis]

CONGRATS!!!

Great pics as well, working on the wifey for a D80 myself

Curtis

[clt_capt]

Nice catch and that's a good start getting blue boy for her first time out.

Capt Jerry and Butch are good guys.

Did you head straight out of the inlet to the Grounds or south to the F Bouy?

[Squidnation]

awesome pictures! congrats to your bride on a fine catch

[shoefish]

Congrats on the fine catches!