More and more blue marlin are starting to show up in Kona as we head toward summer and there were even a few “Beast” status marlins caught this month. A marlin is known as a “Beast” if it’s 500 or more pounds. If you ever get a chance to fight a marlin that big, you’ll know why it deserves that name. In fact, any time you end up landing a fish (any fish) that weighs more than you do, it gives new meaning to the term “fighting” a fish and, at the end of the battle, you’ll know that you’ve accomplished something that few on this planet will ever do.
The Spearfish bite was hot-and-not, on/off during May and even though May marks the end the peak season for spears, we can expect to see some spears caught throughout the summer. Mahi mahi are still scarce right now but the ono bite is still going strong. Ahi season is here and there were some nice ones brought in this month. Ahi is another fish that can end up weighing more than the angler. The biggest ahi so far this year was brought in this month and weighed in at 227.5 lbs. Pound for pound, tuna are one of the hardest fighting fish you’ll ever tangle with. Unlike fighting a marlin, tuna dig straight down so it’s all angler power to get one in. With marlin, the captain maneuvers the boat to get closer to the fish.
Bottom fishing was pretty good this month and I had yet another catch make Kona’s “Big Fish List”. It’s my third time making the list this year. First with a striped marlin, then with a GT and this time it was an amberjack. I tagged and released it but it suffered some internal injuries during the fight and decompression. I tried a variety of techniques to revive it but it just wouldn’t swim so I ended up taking it to the scales. At 56 lbs., it’s not a very big one but as far as amberjack go, any amberjack more than 40 pounds is an above average catch. Sharks were the most common catch while bottom fishing this month and we caught and released a couple that ended up weighing more than the angler did. Besides marlin, sharks are the only other fish we have here that can top 500 or more pounds. While I don’t think I’ve ever used the term “Beast” to describe a 500+ pound shark, I’ve certainly used other, more colorful language to describe them.
