Choosing a Kona fishing charter?

What’s your strategy for choosing a boat to fish on?  For Ben and Chrissy Bertram, visitors from the Bay Area, their choice was determined at birth.  The Bertrams think their last name is lucky so they scanned the boats in Kawakawa17_2Honokohau and picked one made by Bertram Yachts.

On Friday, they signed up with Capt. Neal Isaacs, owner of Anxious, a Bertram 33, and proved their point with a pair of blue marlin.  The Bertram luck already showed itself with smooth water. After a week of bumpy seas, Ben and Chrissy were greeted with excellent Kona conditions.

As they trolled outside the “fish pen,” they hooked a 225-pound blue.  Smiling with the satisfaction of a plan that was working, Ben reeled it in and crew Brian Schumaker released it.  Next strike was a spearfish, which shook free.  That wasn’t so good because Chrissy was hoping to catch a billfish.

Just over an hour later, they were trolling in 700 fathoms off the church steeple — for more of the story