Lepika Sportfishing, Kailua Kona, HI 96740 • 808-960-0068

George and Steve are bottom fishing fanatics!  This is their third year fishing with me in search of bottom fishing IGFA world records.  George and Steve both hold several IGFA records and a few were taken on the Lepika.  On this trip, we decided to fish 3 consecutive days but instead of fishing in the day we would fish on the full moon at night.  George and Steve have very specialized gear for deep dropping to well over 200 fathoms (1,200 feet) and on this trip, Steve designed a special reel handle that would allow him to crank his line up with the use of an electric drill.  It really helped them get more drops in since we were fishing in an average of 450 feet of water.  Each night we averaged about 60-70lbs of Opakapaka and Lehi.  Unfortunately, we did not catch any records on this trip but we proved Steve’s drill inventioned work without a hitch and I’m sure they will be using it on their many other bottom fishing trips around the world!

Andy and his son fished a full day with me today.  The fishing had been pretty tough the last few days so we decided to troll south and look for signs of life.  For three hours we trolled without a bite.  I made a few calls to other charter boats in the area and they too were suffering thru the morning.  At about 12pm we spotted our first signs of life.  Spotted dolphins were pushing north and were followed by some nice yellowfin tuna.  Our first pass thru the pile showed several fish down deep so we deployed the greenstick in hopes of getting one to bite.  It took some time but we finally got one to exploded on the dangling squids.  Andy got in the chair and did quick work on his first ahi that weighed 119lbs!

As mentioned in my prior post, the fishing has been tough the last several days.  So tough, that on my last 3 charters we were skunked and missed only one short nose spearfish in the 3 days of trying.  On these three charters my good friend Dave helped crew and after the third day of “skunk” he started to feel as if he was the cause of my bad luck streak.  So at 5:30am today he met me at the boat with an arsenal of good luck charms.  His three daughters Kealaula, Pomaika’i and Maluhia each gave him their good luck.  It consisted of a teddy bear, crystal charm and a shark tooth necklace.  Dave’s wife Mindy threw in some mochi and a tangerine to scare away the bad spirits – a japanese belief.  Dave took it to another level and even brought some rock salt and ti leaves for good luck.  We hoped this would do the trick but as we left the slip to meet our charter at the fuel dock, one of our hoses got caught on the outrigger line and “kapow!”, we snapped one of the tag lines!  Hopefully that was the end of the bad luck streak!Today, we hosted Gerry, his friend Steve and his daughter Desiree.  Last year, they fished with me and had a great trip.  We caught 3 short nose spearfish, a striped marlin and a nice mahimahi.  That being said, I was worried how today would turn out considering the last  three days.  We ran far south looking for signs of life.  There wasn’t much but off of Kealakekua we found a pod of porpoise.  There were 6 boats working the pile so we decided to go right to the greenstick.  After several passes I didn’t mark any fish in the school…not a good sign and I started to worry about how the day would end up.  It was already 11am and we had to make something happen soon because Gerry had to fly back at 5pm.  I went to the outside of the school and noticed 5 porpoise break off from the pod and head straight offshore away from the pod.  This is a little unusual and sometimes means another pile is nearby.  I scanned the horizon with my binoculars searching for more porpoise and right in the middle of my view screen a porpoise jumped about 2 miles away!  I yelled to Dave to pull up the rig and we ran full speed to the deeper pile.  Dave started to let the greenstick out and as I looked at my sounder it lit up with signs of big ahi.  I told Dave to “Hurry up!” since we were right over the fish.  He had the rig up really fast and I bumped the boat forward.  I jigged the greenstick maybe four times when we all witnessed what was the MOST AMAZING greenstick bite I have ever seen!  Not one but three 100+lb ahi crashed the squids!  The first ahi came vertical out of the water as it ate the second squid back and easily cleared 9 feet out of the water!  The second ahi also jumped clear out of the water in the opposite direction and ate the farthest squid.  A third ahi blew up on the 3rd squid and the whole greenstick rig came crashing down and line dumped off the Fin-Nor 130.  Desiree jumped in the chair and almost got pulled in the water.  She steadied herself and with the help of her father Steve and Dave, started to work on her fish.  In about 15 minutes the first ahi was at the leader and Dave and I quickly leadered and gaffed it.  She continued to work the rod since she still had another ahi on the same line.  10 minutes later Desiree had landed her second ahi on the same line!  Unfortunately, the third ahi broke off which may have been a blessing in disguise.  Desiree’s ahi would end up weighing 121lbs and 128lbs – a total of 249lbs of ahi on one line!  I guess those charms worked but Dave’s daughters won’t let me keep any of them!  Bummer…..

Jon, one of my past clients from Seattle referred Phillip, his wife and their friend Devin to fish with me on the Lepika.  Jon is a hardcore albacore fisherman and fished last year with me and caught a 168lb ahi.  The fishing has been really tough the last few days so the goal was to catch whatever was biting.  We started trolling right out front of the harbor since the tide was good first thing in the morning.  We headed out to the deep and lucked out right away.  A big splash on the horizon signaled porpoise and hopefully yellowfin tuna which travel with them.  I made a trolling pass in front of the pod without a bite nor did I see any fish on my sounder.  On our third pass I marked a fish at 35 fathoms but still not bites.  I cleared the lines and set out our greenstick in hopes of triggering a bite.  Other charter boats had arrived in the school as well but soon left since they too had no bites or marks on their screens.  We continued to work the school and I still didn’t see the fish I previously marked earlier.  Then, as I made a turn to make another pass an ahi exploded on one of the trailing squids!  Devin was first up and got settled into the fighting chair.  He was amazed at the power of these fish.  The others cheered him on as he got to work on the fish.  Devin worked hard and finally managed to land his first ever ahi which weighed 120lbs!  Since I only marked the one fish in the school we decided to go back to trolling.  As I was setting lines we saw another porpoise school a few miles away.  Again, I went right to the greenstick.  On our first pass we marked 3 ahi on the screen at 40 fathoms, but no bite.  On our second pass, an ahi blew up on one of the squids, leaving a big hole in the water, but missed the hooks.  I jigged the squids 2 more times and it came back and swallowed it.  Everyone got to see the bite as it leaped out of the water.  This time Phillip was up.  We buckled him into the chair and he started to work the fish up.  After about 20 minutes he too caught his first ahi that weighed 152lbs!  Unfortunately, one of them got a little seasick so we decided to call it a day and head in.  Either way, it was a great day and we were in by 12pm with two quality ahi!

Thomas, his father Dave and Grandpa Ron fished on the Lepika today.  They havecome to Hawaii for vacation almost every winter from their home town of Snohomish, Wa.  They’ve fished here on almost every trip in the past 6 years with several different charter boats but decided to give the Lepika a try this time.  Dave’s biggest fish was an estimated 500lb blue a few years ago so he is no novice when it comes to big blue marlin.  Today however, Dave was looking for something for his 10 year old son Thomas.  We started straight out front the harbor and worked our way north towards the Grounds.  I had caught several medium size ahis the previous day and the signs all pointed to the possibility of larger predators in the area.  The day started out slow and just got slower….Dave, Ron and especially Thomas were very patient, biding their time eating and telling fishing stories from the Puget Sound.  We trolled for a few hours without any luck and decided to catch a live bait and try a more natural approach.  It wasn’t hard getting bait even though there really wasn’t much showing on the surface.  We caught two perfect baits and ran them out to deeper water.  I rigged them up on the Fin Nor 80′s since it would be more manageable for Thomas in case we hooked a big fish.  The baits were in the water for about 15 minutes when the long bait got nervous and ultimately eaten.  Thomas jumped in the chair and as I throttled forward to set the hook, line quickly started to dump off the reel.  Dave held Thomas in the chair as I strapped him in.  At first, he wasn’t sure if he could handle the pressure, but we put the reel into low gear and he started to slowly gain line back on the fish.  He fought the fish for about 15 minutes and it never jumped which had us thinking maybe he had a shark!  Then, as it got closer the marlin stuck it’s nose out of the water trying to throw the hook from it’s mouth.  It also threw it’s stomach out which is a tell tale sign it had swalloed the hook deep.  Blood was pouring out of it’s gills and it was quickly dying.  Thomas cranked his first blue marlin to the boat about five minutes later.  I decided to take the marlin since it was gut hooked.  Thomas wasn’t bothered a bit as he watched me drag his 142lb blue marlin through the transom door.  As an early Christmas present, Dave mounted the whole fish which will hang in Thomas’s bedroom in a few months!  Congratulations Thomas!!!