Although a little scarce early on, the magical stuff that is Kona fishing kept anglers on their toes as the Hawaii Marlin Tournament Series progressed through the summer.
Just ask Mike Jacobsen and, well, pretty much anyone who was fishing against him in the “It’s a Wrap” tourney last weekend. Mike has been fishing in Kona since the late 70s, but he’d never caught three fish over 500 pounds in two days before.
He has now, and doing that would seem magical to any angler.
Mike and skipper James Dean borrowed crewman Ryan Thurner from “Marlin Magic II” and set out to do a little scouting on a practice day, right before the tournament. There is an old saying “no better practice than the real thing” and the team practicing that day on “Blue Hawaii” got a good dose of that medicine when they hooked, fought and released a blue that they estimated to be about 600 pounds. They were ecstatic, but felt a little sheepish and hoped that they hadn’t used up their luck before the tournament had even started.
On the first day of the tourney they’d only been fishing a little over an hour when any thought of having “peaked too soon” was quickly dashed. Jacobsen hooked a fish that ended up going for a boat ride to the scale, which it tipped at 527 pounds.
Taking an early lead in a tournament is always welcome, but in Kona, an early lead is never safe. Knowing full well that much bigger fish swim up and down the coast, the team weighed their catch, took their photos and hustled back out.
Unless they backed up their lead with another catch, they knew that the remaining two days and six hours of fishing would seem an eternity. So they did.
Before the lunch bell had even rung, Mike was hooked up again. Forty-five minutes later the 71-year-old angler (a life-long gym rat) had caught two marlin over 500 pounds, within a span of only three hours. This could have given an average guy a heart attack.
After weighing their fish in at 544 pounds, they did not hustle back out. In fact, Mike said that he was kind of tired after two big fish, and that he might just go home and lounge around the pool. However, with two days and three hours now left in the tournament, they knew that even two 500 pounders could be beat, and that they had to get back in the game.
So they did. Again.
Through the course of the day, many more hook up were called in. Four more marlin tags and a nice ahi were reported. Mike was surprised to find that the sound of another team calling in a hookup came closer to causing a heart attack than fighting those two giant fish.
With only one minute left on the clock, Kurt McKnight hooked up for the second time that day. The radio call caused a Fred Sanford like, “It’s the big one, Elizabeth” moment but it was when this fight approached the half hour mark, the guys on “Blue Hawaii” wondered if “Tropical Sun” was hooked to a big one.
At 4:30, Capt. Ryan Lutes radioed in a tag and release, and Jacobsen and company breathed a collective sigh of relief. “Blue Hawaii” had kept their lead for the first day, but the competition was chipping away at it.
Two boats in the tourney caught two marlin each that day. Why had “Blue Hawaii” caught two 500-pounders the same day “Tropical Sun” caught two that weren’t big enough to weigh? Makes you wonder, doesn’t it? Magic.
Over the course of the next two days, fishing went quiet and Mike did not catch another fish. For those on “Blue Hawaii” time passed in agonizing slow motion, punctuated by near heart attacks each time “Tropical Sun” called on the radio, “hooked up.”
Two more tags by “Tropical Sun” carried them to 800 points. McKnight and company got to within 271 points of Mike’s 1,071 points, which earned them second place. “2nd Offense” tagged two for 400 points, good enough for third place. “Blue Hawaii” hung tight to their lead, and ultimately the Wrap win, which only enhanced the memory of the magic of the first day.
The Hawaii Marlin Tournament Series is comprised of eight tournaments, and teams score points through the summer that count cumulatively toward a Series Champion Angler, and Champion Boat/Crew.
Going into the Wrap tourney, Guy Arrington and the crew on “Wild Hooker” held a lead in both divisions over runner up Chad Beaudry and the crew on “Last Chance.” Due to schedule conflicts, Arrington and company were unable to compete in the Wrap. This left Beaudry the best chance to pass them by and claim the Championship.
Late on the final day of the Wrap, “Last Chance” had a marlin to the boat that could have launched them over “Wild Hooker” and in to the winners circle. If Arrington was following the action on the internet, it would have been his turn to agonize as his lead was challenged, and then breathe a sigh of relief when the fish got away.
Although most of the hook ups and catches were on day one, there were a total of 18 bites called in, which represents 18 times that things could have turned out differently — for the Wrap and, for the Championship.
The first eighty nine marlin caught in The Series were small, so they were tagged and released. Big ones are the goal but he small fish action kept everyone active in their absence. When the 90th fish was a big one (and the first of many more) the magic that is Kona fishing reminded everyone involved just how lucky they were to be fishing — especially during a pandemic.
Due to COVID-19, it was against all odds that the Hawaii Marlin Tournament Series was able to pull off a season. The whole summer unfolded, as if by magic.