The 2016 World Cup Blue Marlin Championship, along with the Big Blue Challenge and the Kona Cup, may become known as “the ones that got away” from Kona. Why? We’ll look at what happened and then at what might have … Continued
MADEIRA WINS WORLD CUP WITH NEAR GRANDER By the time the 54-team Kona fleet took to the seas to compete in the World Cup Blue Marlin Championship, the worldwide, one-day event was over. Before the Kona starting time on Independence … Continued
Kona Kickoff, Wee Guys, and Wee Wee Guys With 126 teams in the Wee Guys Tournament and another 31 battling it out in the Kona Kickoff, the Kona Coast swarmed with boats of all sizes this weekend. Well-equipped fishing boats … Continued
ROCK ’N REEL TOURNEY PUTS $77,000 ON THE LINE Team Rod Bender boated the largest marlin in the Rock ’N Reel Tournament to take the top billfish prize and win the most money. Kerwin and Brent Masunaga’s 391-pound blue earned … Continued
824.5-pound blue marlin Kevin Gallagher just gave us another amazing billfish story for your “beginners luck” file. The story is improbable from the beginning to its dramatic end. Kevin moved here from Maryland less than a year ago and bought … Continued
The Big Island is one of the few places in the world where you have a chance to catch a marlin from shore. Shore fisherman Justin Crusat made it happen last Monday using a technique developed especially to take advantage … Continued
KONA GRANDER HUNT UNDERWAY By this time last year, the Kona fleet had recorded two granders. The first, a 1,058-pounder, came to the dock in February on Ihu Nui with Capt. McGrew Rice and crew Carlton Arai. The second, at … Continued
Oh, to be in Kona when the bite turns on like it did last week. Some credit the luck to its being the week before Saturday’s full moon. Maybe the currents brought in a new mass of water filled with … Continued
DOUBLE BLACK MARLIN ATTACK The Kona charter fleet rarely sees two black marlin in a month. On Thursday, two blacks came in on the same day. One is the oddest catch of the week and the other isn’t. Here’s why. … Continued
Kona Blue hooks the blues Capt. Dave Crawford is a go-anywhere, try-anything, push the limits, skipper, and his determined attitude produced three of the most exciting billfish hookups of the year. What’s more, he and his crew accounted for most … Continued