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Hooked Up Sport fishing ... Kona, Hawaii
Updates
Febraury 19, 2012
Fished the Love to Fish Tournament on saturday. We got 1st place in the Ahi Division which one us 25% of the price money. Harrison who is 13 caught a 124.5 pound Ahi that won us 1st. This last few weeks we have been catching billfish. Lot of spearfish, stripe marlin, blue marlin and mahi. Caught this blue marlin on friday February 17. Had a split bill, check out the picture below. Another cool thing that happend a few weeks ago was we saw a pod of Killer Whales which is really rare in Hawaii.
February 1, 2012
Fished the Fuel Dock Tournament January 28 and 29. We won the tournament with a 886 pound blue marlin caught by Ranae Simpson. Can read new article below.
January 1, 2012
Rocky captained the boat for me when I went to the mainland from Dec 19 - Jan 2. He tagged and released two Blue Marlin when I was gone making 75 Blue Marlin for the year for us. 2011 was a good year for Blue Marlin for us. We released 71 of them.
At the end of one day Rocky and Bill Burns dropped a bait down at the green buoy in front of the harbor and hooked the shark below in pictures. Half way threw the fight the shark below came to the surface and was running to the harbor. Rocky noticed a big shadow chasing it. A 12'-15' Tiger Shark ate the shark. At first Rocky thought they hooked the Tiger but after about 5 minutes this is what they got back. A half of a Sand Bar Shark.
November 26, 2011
We are at 72 Blue Marlin for the year now. I think we only killed 4 of them due to a tournament or they came in dead. The other 68 we released. Obviously I encourage tag and release of the marlin. Lost a huge one over 800 pounds the day after Thanksgiving. One of the biggest fish I have seen in a long time. Took about 600 yards of line and broke us off. Pretty bumed out about it. That might have been the one that made the magic mark (1,000 pounds). But when you lose them or let them go you can call them what you want.
October 13, 2011
Jim Bradley and his family fished with us on October 11 and caught some nice skip jack tuna and lost some bigger fish dropping a tuna to the bottom. So Jim decided to try again today. This time we nailed the fish on the bottom. Caught 3 sharks and missed a few other bites. His mother in law caught a nice 20 pound ahi tuna on the troll up to the bottom area. They took the tuna to my parents restaurant Rosas and 11 of them ate there fish for dinner.
October 12, 2011
Tagged a blue marlin today for Mathew from Alaska. This was his 5 time fishing in Kona and finally got one. Last week we tagged 4 blue marlin. John from Missouri tagged two of them weighing 650 and 300 pounds. Also left a nice review on trip advisor. What a lucky day that was for all of us. Plus his wife caught a nice tuna that they took to my parents restaurant and ate for diner. Now we are up to 66 blue marlin for the year. I believe we only killed 4 of them do to injury or a shark getting them while we are catching them. We try to tag and release the billfish. I know it looks cool on the web page standing next to them and it helps sell charters but I am not in to killing them fust for a few bucks.
September 17, 2011
Went down to south point for a two day trip. We caught 2 blue marlin, 2 ono, 1 ahi tuna, 5 trevally, 6 amberjack, 1 rainbow runner, 7 grey snapper, and 2 pink snapper.
Chuck:
Kenji left Kona this morning. He wanted to thank you for a memorable fishing trip. He was particularly impressed with that large Ulua. The photo with Ulua will be his treasure. He was also awed by two Blue marlins which were ,of course, his first experience. Yellowfin tuna was also awesome. The only missed target was a large Kahala. He wanted to come back for revenge (?) ASAP.
I am sending several photos which Midori took during the trip.
Thanks.
Tad
September 1, 2011
My friend on the Night Runner broke down so i took out his charter Shawn and Mike from Nevada. We caught a small yellow fin about 6 pounds and used it for live bait and about 3 minutes after rigging it we hooked the fish below in the video that we estimated to weigh 400-450 pounds. After breaking that marlin off at leader we just caught a bunch of yellow fin tuna for them to have a nice bbq during there stay in Hawaii.
August 27, 2011
Chuck.
Thanks for an awesome fishing trip. My family and I enjoyed being out on your wonderful charter and you and Bill made the experience perfect for our family. The trip was made even more memorable by tagging and releasing such a beautiful blue marlin. Once the fish hit the lure and I jumped in the chair, I knew it was going to be a good fight. I didn't realize the size of her until we got her reeled in after about an hour fight and I saw her up close - I think you estimated her weight at about 400 lbs and 8 feet long - a magnificient fish indeed !
I've attached four pictures for you and possibly your webpage.
We'll definitely contact you for another memorable trip when we're in Kona next !
Mahalo Nui Loa !!
Spencer Wong
Stillwater, MN
August 24
Had a double stripe marlin bite. Lost the first right at the boat and the second we captured. Also fought a big tiger shark for about 45 minutes before it bit threw the line.
August 23
Caught a double Blue Marlin today on live bait they were around 180 pounds each. We tagged and released them. Day before we weighed a 452 that died on us. Fish got tale rapped so it drowned while fighting her. Day before that we tagged and released a blue about 325 pounds. So last four trips have been real good. Will post some videos soon and pictures.
July 24
We tagged and released 3 Blue Marlin today for Eric Cioffi. Will post the pictures once he sends them to me. I got all the action on my go pro's. We also tagged three blue marlin this week as well. Seeing a Blue Marlin every day. Also lot of action at the buoy's if you just want to catch tuna.
July 14
Caught a 600-650 pound blue marlin today. We tagged and released the fish. Took us about 1 hour to catch it. We also missed a large tuna that exploded on are stinger (line furthest out).
July 13
Still fishing every day. July is getting pretty full. I can do a full day charter on July 23 and all the other days i only have afternoon halfs open from 2-6. My brothers boat "Go Get Em" has days open in July. Can email me and i will give you his number. But I still have most of August open. Marlin fishing is really good now. Seeing Blue Marlin everyday. Caught a bunch since July 2. Almost at least one a day or every other day. We also caught some large tuna, ono and spearfish. I am getting some real good footage of the fish with my new go pros. I think we are up to 38 for the year now or maybe a little more.
July2
We tagged a nice blue marlin that we estimated to weigh around 275 pounds the first day of the firecracker tournament. We almost were thinking it was over 300 pounds. And if it was that would of won us over $5,000 for a daily. But it was to close to call and we tagged and released it. We also had another bite that came off from a smaller fish that was probably a 150 pound blue marlin. Plus had another one up first thing in the morning that would not eat. It just followed one of the lures for about 30 seconds and swam off. Saw three blue marlin today and only caught one. So we have 200 points in the tournament so far. The leader has 600. We are just one big fish away or two taggers. A lot of fish caught in Kona today. Best day of the summer.
July 1
Been real busy fishing. Fished everyday since last update. Going to try and start posting pictures of the daily catches. Caught 3 marlin , a big 90 pound tuna and some spearfish last week. Fishing the firecracker tournament tomorrow and Sunday.
6/4/11
Tagged and released a Blue Marlin today on live bait up by the airport. We were only on a half day charter.
6/3/11
Today we caught 2 mahi mahi and lost a spearfish right at the boat. Just about 6 more feet to go and we would of caught it. A few days ago we had a double blue marlin bite. We tagged and released one that was probably a 100 pounds and lost the other marlin which was around 200 pounds.
5/27/11
We fished a 3 day 2 night trip to south point with Chris Kettler about a week ago. Caught 16 ono, 2 mahi mahi, some small yellow fin tuna and a nice blue fin trevally at night. Pictures below. There was a 700+ blue marlin weighed and a 500 something pound blue marlin weighed on Thursday. We have been catching a lot of tuna 3-15 pounds at the buoys and at a ledge called the grounds. Been using those tuna for bait hoping to catch a big marlin but all we are getting is sharks. They are fun for the average charter. Fishing has been a little slow this last week for the Kona fleet but at least we are getting some action from the tuna's and sharks. On 5/18 we caught a 380 pound blue marlin for John Estill.
4/29/11
We are up to 21 Blue Marin for the year so far. The ono fishing is starting to get good. The boats that are fishing down towards south point are bringing back 10-20 fish a trip. My friend John Bennet on the Top Shape caught 7 Yellow Fin tuna yesterday fishing a porpoise school. All the fish were from 90-175 pounds. So that also sounds like it would be a good thing to target now. The Stripe Marlin fishing has slowed down as we change over to the summer season but there still is some Spearfish around. We caught 2 the last trip out. My brother Jim captained my boat last week and caught a 120 lb. Yellow Fin Tuna plus a couple of Stripe Marlin and lost a Blue Marlin at leader. The Ono and Blue Marlin fishing is going to start getting good around Kona as we get closer to summer.
3/19/11
Caught two more Blue Marlin since last report. Now we have caught 19 for the year. This week still pretty much the same in Kona as last week. Lots of Stripe Marlin and Spear Fish. I think we caught about 9 or 10 Stripe Marlin and 3 or 4 Spear Fish. Below is some pictures of this weeks catch.
3/11/11
We survived the tsunami. Boat did not get any damage. My brother was nice enough to take the boat out of the harbor last night for me. He just went off shore about 3 mile (6,000' deep). He did not get back today until 2 in the afternoon. Boats that stayed in the harbor got some damage from the surge of the ocean. I guess one is even on the bottom of the harbor. We caught 2 Blue Marlin this week. Lue caught the first one last Saturday in the Dirty Dozen Fishing Tournament. We caught the largest and only Blue Marlin of the tournament. Yesterday we tagged the second Blue about 40 pounds. Now we have caught 17 Blue Marlin since January 1. We also caught a few mahi mahi and a Stripe Marlin for one of my dad's old buddy's. We have been fishing very good last few months. Hopefully we will keep it up.
3/4/11
Fishing has been very good for us the last 7 days. Below are some pictures of the catch. Lue has not caught his 500 pound marlin yet but he still has tomorrow. He did happen to have a good day on Thursday. 5 mahi, 1 ono, 1 stripe marlin and 1 spearfish. He also had about 6 other bites that day that we lost. We did happen to catch a 499 pound Blue Marlin for Don Wall and his wife on one of the days Lue took off. In picture below you can see a shark took some bites out of it. That is why we weighed it. We usually try to let all the Blue Marlin go alive. Dennis (Diamond Guy) and Marry Ann Weiglein caught a big shark on their first half day fishing with us and 2 stripe marlin, 1 spearfish and a bunch of tuna at otec buoy on his second day. They are coming back to Kona to fish 4 more days in May. Dennis is trading me fishing trips for a 1.68 carot diamond with a mount for fishing. Beverley is going to love that. On Wednesday Jim Neul and his wife caught a stripe marlin and a mahi. They compete in the bbq competitions that you may see on the cooking channel. There chicken thighs placed tenth last year in the championships. He is sending me some of his rub and some instructions on how to smoke meat. Can't wait..
2/24/11
Below is some pictures of the fish we have been catching the last 3 weeks. Kona has had a very good run of stripe marlin and spearfish the last 3 weeks. We have been seeing spearfish and stripe marlin almost every trip. We also caught a 425 lb. blue marin a few days ago that we tagged and released. We have caught 13 blue marlin so far this year. Fishing was a little slow after the full moon but now it seems to be picking back up. I have Lue and Terry Groebner here from Chicago fishing with me 5 days starting tomorrow. All he wants is one over 500 pounds. Hopefully we can do it.
January Report-
We tagged and released 9 Blue Marlin in January. 2 were over 500 pounds and one was 400 pounds. 8 out of the 9 were caught on live bait and the other one was caught trolling a lure. We had numerous days where we caught 10-15 ahi tunas between 8-65 pounds. Also caught a lot of mahi mahi. We fished about 28 days. Only got skunked a couple of them. As far as fishing in Kona in general it has started off great for the fleet. Lot of fish being caught, including Spearfish and Stripe Marlin. Also there has been some very large tuna coming out of the porpoise school.
1/28/11
This is a letter from the Great Marlin Race which is part of the Hawaii International Billfish Tournament that I have been a part of the last 5 years.
Greetings everyone,
I hope that you had a wonderful end to 2010, and that the New Year is getting off to a good start! I apologize if you are seeing this for the second time – I realized that the first list I used wasn't complete, and I wanted to make sure I didn't miss anyone.
Without further ado, the Great Marlin Race team would like to offer our congratulations to the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council – winner of the 2010 Great marlin Race! One of the two tags they sponsored, deployed on Fish #1, has won the Race by reporting from 2,282 nautical miles east-southeast of Kona, 120 days after it was deployed. The 150 lb. marlin was caught by Angler Kerry Kurz of the Laguna Niguel Billfish Club #1 on August 3, 2010, and tagged by his brother Bob Kurz, both on board the Sea Baby III with Captain Doug Pattengill and crewman A.J. Friend.
The data transmitted from the tag suggest that this marlin began its journey by heading almost due south of Hawaii for the first month following its release, to a point about 750 nautical miles south of the islands. It then turned east, meandering along the 10-degree latitude line across over 2,000 nautical miles before reaching the point at which its tag released and floated to the surface. You can see a map of its track, and all the marlin tracks from 2010, on the Great Marlin Race website (http://greatmarlinrace.org).
On the whole, the results from the 2010 Great Marlin Race are fascinating in that they reveal such a great diversity of migratory behaviors. With nine out of ten tags having successfully reported, we observed one marlin that went south-southwest and another that went due east – and the others all fell somewhere in between. This year we even had two marlin that appeared to stay right near the Hawaiian Islands – one of them for the entire 120-day deployment period!
These findings, and the comparison they offer to the results from 2009, illustrate how important it is to tag as many marlin as possible, and to repeat this process over multiple years. For with so much variability from individual to individual and year to year, it is impossible with just a few isolated tracks to begin to understand the broader migration patterns of these fish and the external forces that shape their behavior.
As we begin 2011, our team is more excited than ever to continue this fantastic collaboration to learn more about these amazing animals. As you start thinking about the Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament in 2010, we hope that you will consider sponsoring a tag for the next Great Marlin Race. Ever since we headed home from Kona last summer, we have been working to keep the Great Marlin Race growing and developing – working with corporations, foundations and individuals to allow us to keep our billfish research and conservation efforts on the cutting edge. We have some exciting developments in the works, and as things fall into place, we’ll keep you updated here - and we look forward to seeing all of you all in Kona this July!
Best wishes and thanks to all of you for your interest and support,
Randy
Dr. Randy Kochevar
Science Communications Officer, Hopkins Marine Station
(831) 655-6225 (w)
(831) 236-0728 (c)
12/16/10
There was some big fish caught this week in Kona. Some nice marlin and big yellow fin tuna. We caught a 350 pound Blue Marlin yesterday for Matt Reeves on a lure about 4 miles in front of the harbor. We tagged and released it. Matt finished 8 in the world for Steer Wrestling this year and also won a go round in the NFR. So that was pretty cool to catch him won. His wife Savanah won The Calgary Rodeo in barrel racing.
08/17/10 
We won first place in the Lazy Man Marlin Tournament Last weekend. We won about $13,600. Had a team from New Zealand. Some pictures above of the boys at the prize giving. Marlin fishing in Kona is the best it has been all summer. June and July started off slow. Did not see the numbers that we normally see. We did happen to catch four fish over 500 pounds in June though. Today we tagged and released a Blue Marlin that we estimated to be over 500 pounds. Also had another one on.
05/31/10
I don't think there is any place in the world where you can just be a few miles from shore and just outside the harbor and catch a 500 plus pound Blue Marlin like we did today. This is one of the things that makes Kona so special. We were about 45 minutes outside the harbor when I told Bevan the short corner lure was looking good. As soon as I said that a Blue Marlin just exploded on the lure. It was so fast I could not tell how big it was. We got Austin Bryars who was 11 years old in the chair for the smoken 600 yard run that the fish took out. Austin worked on the fish for 10-15 minutes and did a great job. Then he let his friend who also was named Austin take over to finish it up. It took him about 20 minutes to get the fish to leader with about 45 lbs of drag on the fish. We got the hooks out of the estimated 550 lbs. Blue Marlin and released the fish. It was the only bite of the day but what a bite. Good way to start the summer and spend Memorial Day.
West Hawaii Today News Article
Posted 01/06/10
Capt. Chuck Wigzell’s charterboat Hooked Up made a huge statement to end 2009 and begin 2010. Chuck and his crew Rocky Gauron caught both the last blue marlin of the year and the first blue marlin of the New Year. Their success undoubtedly says good things about their fishing skill, but look what it says about Kona. Our fishing grounds may be the only ones in the world where you might expect to catch a blue marlin at any day of the year from the first to the last.
Chuck hooked his year-ender on a half-day charter, which is also unique to our waters. In many places you have to travel that long before you can even start fishing and then take the same amount of time just to get back.
On December 31, Hooked Up had barely gotten started when a 350-pound blue showed up behind a black Lunger lure. It was 8:30 am and Chuck had the boat lined up on the 600-fathom curve as he headed south off the ledge between Keauhou and Red Hill.
Angler Dale Piper and his family were aboard and Dale fought the fish while his wife, parents and kids watched. Dale got the marlin to the boat in about 25 minutes and Rocky released it. That left plenty of time to hit the buoys and catch lots of small fish for the kids.
The next day, Chuck entered the Charter Desk New Year’s Day tournament with Brad Pickering and Renee Simpson aboard. Brad had been lucky with Chuck before. He caught a 975-pound blue on Hooked Up last November, but this time Renee got the angling duties when the first blue marlin of 2010 showed up behind the black Lunger lure again.
The fish hit the lure, without hooking up, followed it a while and then switched over to another line to take a Super Plunger lure. Though they didn’t realize it at the time, the fish was still not hooked. The marlin had slid its bill into the bend of the hook, which would have come off if the fish had turned its head wrong at any time during the 25-minute fight.
When Renee got the fish to the boat, its head was still pointing away from them and the tension kept the hook in place. After Rocky got the leader and turned the fish, he saw the hook start to slide up the bill, and he called for help. Chuck grabbed the nearest stick gaff and gaffed the marlin just in time to preserve their victory in the New Year’s Day tournament and win the $3,802.50 top prize.
12/24/09
The fishing has been pretty good for us lately. We have been catching yellow fin tuna's around the FAD's (buoy). Yesterday we caught a mahi, yellow fin tuna's and a shark that weighed almost 200 pounds that we let go. The day before that we caught two tuna weighing 60 and 58 pounds. Two sharks between 100-150 lbs and lots of football tunas. Weather has been nice and water has been nice and calm. Here is a picture of Boyd and his friends from the mainland that we took out a few weeks ago.
11/15/09
Everyday this week we caught either mahi mahi or ono. Had a good week catching the ono and mahi on light tackle. Tourism is still slow. Not very many boats are going out at the moment. I have been getting quit a few emails this week for end of November and the month of December. So looks like business will be picking up.
11/06/09
West Hawaii Today News Article
NOISY BAITS, NOISY LURES. Schools of baitfish, squids, and crustaceans are noisy. According to scientists who have dropped microphones in amongst them, the most common sounds they hear are clicks. These could be generated mechanically by, say, the snaps of baitfish jaws or the clicks of squid beaks as they feed. No one has yet said they are talking to each other, but they may be unwittingly communicating with predators.
Over the years, luremakers have tried to copy the clicking noises by building rattles into their lures. Maybe that works and maybe it doesn’t.
Sevenstrand upped the ante by making a lure with a battery-operated transmitter. “Ante” is a good description because you pay a lot to gamble on success. Plan to ante up about $200 to $250 each for the lures and another $10 a day for battery power.
I’ve never put my ear to one, but I’ve been told the acoustic lure beeps. The lure head, itself, looks simple enough on the outside. It’s a blunt-ended white tube. You might even mistake it for a glass full of milk.
I’ve never written about the Sevenstrand Sonic Electronic Acoustic Lure (EAL) before, simply because I’ve never heard from anyone who has actually caught a fish on one.
Not until last Friday when Hooked Up reported releasing a 600-pound blue marlin -- the largest released marlin of the week.
Skipper Chuck Wigzell doesn’t normally use them. His part-time deckhand, Bill Burns, owns one and likes to run it whenever he helps out on the boat.
Chuck, Bill and their angler, Larry Waddle, had gone down to C-buoy to catch bait. As they were trolling back from the buoy, Bill set the EAL lure on the short rigger. Whether or not the 600-pounder heard the beep, it grabbed the lure and took off on a long, leaping run. The marlin stayed on top and tired itself out in about a half hour.
Chuck said they released the fish in good shape. It’s probably running around listening for something else to eat.
Take note: The 600-pounder hit half-way down on a falling tide. There will be a test in another section.
10/29/09
Tourism has slowed down in Kona quit a bit. I only fished 2 days this week. We caught a ono and a grey snapper each day. Plus some bait fish. This is a lot better than the guys who are trolling around with lures for 8 hours. They are not catching much at all. This time of year you have to try different techniques to get some action. There is some Skip Jack Tuna and Yellow Fin Tuna at Otec and C Bouy. They range from 3-8 pounds which were a blast to catch on light tackle. We also have been seeing some Skip Jack weighing 12- 20 pounds on the grounds (fishing spot by airport). There is a lot of Sharks being caught in Kona this last month. Hopefully I will have a better report for you next week. I will be fishing 4 days next week.
10/01/09
Fished the last two days and caught 1 marlin that we tagged and released and had two other marlin strikes. 2 ono and 1 ahi tuna weighing 58 lbs. We landed a handful of small yellow fin and skip jack tuna on lighter tackle. We were supposed to do a overnight charter to south point but I cancelled it do to the strong wind and 9 foot seas. So we did two day trips instead and it turned out ok Caught some fish.
News Article
HOOKED UP ON A LADY MARLIN STREAK. After winning the Maui Jim Series Lazy Marlin Tournament, Captain Chuck Wigzell tagged a 625-pound blue to record the biggest release of the week.
Chuck and his team aboard Hooked Up caught three of the four marlin recorded in the big-fish, big-money event a week ago, including the only one weighed.
Debbie Bland boated a 464-pound blue in a 35-minute fight on the first day and then followed the next with one of two fish tagged.
If the winnings are verified, Hooked Up expects to pocket over $40,000 from the Lazy Marlin tournament. Their overall point total puts them in strong contention for top boat in the Maui Jim Series, which they won last year.
Hooked Up hooked both the 645-pounder and the tournament winner on the same lure, a purple-and-black Wide-Range Softhead ™. The fish hit about an hour before the high-tide change and stripped off a quarter mile of line on the strike. Then angler Tom Koenig got it to the boat in 40 minutes.
“That lure has been good to us lately, but the catches were very far apart,” Chuck said. “We got the 464 off Captain Cook and the 650 at the Top Corner of ‘The Grounds.’”
According to Chuck, The Grounds has been loaded with bait and birds from the Middle to the Top.
“Lots of aku running around,” Chuck said.
August 14, 2009
Today we were 3 for 5 on Blue Marlin. One weighing over 400 pounds. Two fished we caught were on lures and the other one on live bait. All fished were tagged and released.
August 12, 2009
We caught 1 Blue Marlin and 1 Spear fish today. We lost 3 Blue Marlin. All Trolling lures.
Summer Update
Since June 2nd we caught 43 Blue Marlin. We tagged and released 41 of them and the other 2 were killed do to fatal injuries while reeling them in. We won money in two tournaments this summer so far. Won $11,000.00 on a daily in the Maui Jim Fire Cracker Tournament and $10,400.00 in the Maui Jim Marlin Series Championship Tournament. Which we finished in 2nd place overall. We landed 5 big yellow fin tuna weighing between 100 - 170 pounds. The mahi, ono and spearfish I did not even keep count of but a bunch. So far this summer has been very good fishing for the Hooked Up.
June 6, 2009
We have been catching ono every trip for a while now. At least 2 or 3. Yesterday we caught 3 ono, the biggest weighed 42 lbs. We also caught 6 mahi mahi around a floater. Last week we found a floater and caught 20 mahi mahi and 1 ono off of it. Otec buoy has been holding yellow fin tuna and skip jack tuna for the last month. So that is a fun place just to catch football size fish. We have been using them for live bait and caught a 300 lb marlin.
May 7, 2009
Here is some fish pictures of the last few charters we had since May 3. Caught a few fish every day. Also lost some. Today was Carl's (deck hand - www.trophysturgeon.net) last day. He is headed up to Alaska. We caught a lot of fish together since March 20, 2009. Carl told me there was only one 1/2 day charter that we did not catch. He will be back for the fishing tournaments in July.
May 3, 2009
Fishing has been great for us this week. We found a log floating and caught 40 mahi mahi and 6 ono. The next day we found the same floating log and caught 6 mahi and 2 ono. On May 2 and 3 we went down to south point on a over night charter and caught 21 ono, 1 mahi mahi and 2 giant trevally. This time of year south point trips are awesome. Marlin fishing has still been a little slow but they should be arriving any day now..
April 20, 2009
Carl and Debbie Bland fished a trip with us down to south point. We caught 22 ono, 15-60 pounds and 3 Ahi Tuna. The biggest was 80 pounds. This time of year is a great time for south point. Good ono action plus a great chance to catch some mahi and marlin as well. We anchor up in a nice bay and snorkel before sunset and then BBQ before we fish for some snapper and other things at night. Great trip if you could do it. Boat sleeps 4 guests comfortably. Fishing in general around Kona has slowed this week but should get better soon. To get lots of action go to South Point.
April 9, 2009
On April 7 we caught 7 mahi mahi and a bunch of tuna. The biggest mahi was 43 pounds. The biggest tuna was 28 pounds. On April 6 we found some floating wood and caught 6 mahi mahi and 3 ono. The ono were about 25 pounds and the biggest mahi was 44 pounds. So we got two real big mahi the last couple of days. On April 4th we caught a big jack on the bottom. Plus a bunch of football tuna. On April 3 we caught 9 mahi mahi and 12 yellow fin tuna. On April 2nd we caught a tuna that weighed 91 pounds on the green stick in a porpoise school. On April first we caught a blue marlin that we let go about 250 pounds and lost 2 other marlin bites plus a bunch of tuna. In general fishing has been good. The buoy is holding yellow fin tuna and skip jack tuna. We caught something every trip so far this April.
February 10, 2009
Hooked Up made the newspaper in Anchorage Alaska and Kona. Articles are below. We caught a 914 pound marlin on January 29, 2009. Story is below. Even if I wanted to let her go she was to tired to survive. This Marlin fought to the death. Hooked Up caught the last 2 biggest fish in kona. The 914 and the 975.
ALASKA'S NEWSPAPER
Monster marlin
Whittier pals witness their friend landing 914-pound marlin.
By MIKE CAMPBELL
mcampbell@adn.com
Published: February 9th, 2009 09:39 PM
Last Modified: February 9th, 2009 10:26 PM
The fish was huge -- at 914 pounds, the biggest marlin landed in Hawaii this year.
The day was ideal -- glassy waters, plentiful bait fish everywhere and the company of good friends from Whittier.
And the buzz was lasting -- free drinks and dinner for the party of Alaska anglers and people asking the captain all week if he's the one who landed the big fish.
Still, for David Pinquoch, owner of Alaska Good Time Charters in Whittier, the thrill of seeing his friend and fellow Whittier angler Larry Gilman land an eye-popping blue marlin on Jan. 27 didn't quite match the excitement of a leaping 16-pound silver salmon splashing down in a still Prince William Sound cove.
"Personally, I would rather reel in a silver salmon every day than a marlin," Pinquoch said. "I'm more into casting out, setting the hook, having the total adventure between you and the fish.
"Part of it is the way you're raised. I'm more of a light tackle fisherman. Marlin is slow; most days, it just doesn't have the action. I love seeing fish jump and I love seeing the whole thing out of the water -- and even though a marlin can do that, it doesn't happen every time."
Don't get Pinquoch wrong. He was plenty excited for Gilman who, as his wife Shawnee said, "got lucky to be the dummy in the (fighting) chair."
Hooked in 800 fathoms of water, the marlin swallowed a Joe Yee Super Plunger giant squid jig trolled at about 8 knots and ended up fighting for about one hour, 40 minutes.
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"It was incredible," Pinquoch said. "When it was happening it didn't seem real. You didn't even realize the fish was attached to the line, it was so far out."
Once the blue was hooked nearly a quarter-mile from the boat, it leaped from the water and took off.
"I knew it was over 800," said Chuck Wigzell, captain of the charter boat Hooked Up. "The fish took about 600 yards before we could stop her. Then it did some explosive jumps trying to shake the hook. It looked like someone dropped a bomb; there was that much white wash coming from the fish as she jumped and shook her head."
The fight became a team effort led by Wigzell, who kept maneuvering the boat to ensure the line stayed tight. Crewman Rocky Gauron endured the most pain once the fish drew close to the boat.
Gauron would wrap the 24-foot-long leader around his wrist, yank and repeat. "When a fish is that big, you can just grab the leader and pull her in," said Wigzell. But it's not easy -- and a shark circling nearby looking for an easy meal revved up the anticipation.
"I'm thinking, this guy's going to lose his arm," Pinquoch said of Gauron, who gained three feet at most on each gut-wrenching pull. "He was maxed out. His legs were shaking, he didn't have any more energy."
Gilman wasn't in much better shape.
"There's not many people 50 years old who can get through that. There are times you push on the reel and nothing happens. The drag is so tight, the handle just won't move. It's much more physical fishing than the average halibut," said Pinquoch, who catches dozens of Alaska favorite flatfish each summer on his Prince William Sound boat.
Gilman's fish was Kona's biggest marlin since another client aboard Wigzell's boat landed a 975-pounder in November. Typically, summer is the best time of year for big marlin.
"The two 900-pounders were close together for me," Wigzell said. "Usually in Kona, out of four blue marlin bites you will probably land one. Some times you may go 10 bites in a row and lose all of them. They are the hardest fish to capture because of their speed, power and explosive jump, head shakes and very hard mouths."
This was Gilman's first time in the fighting chair, and he was so excited it took a while for him to settle into the pump-and-reel routine.
"The first time I saw the fish jump," said Gilman, who runs Custom Marine Services in Whittier, "I looked at it and said, 'No way.'
But once he had the rhythm, Gilman guided the fish near the boat three different times during the first hour. Each time, the marlin ripped off line.
"My arm is still a little sore," he said Sunday, 11 days after his battle.
The fourth time the marlin neared the boat, "We were able to turn her sideways and get her head going with us," Wigzell said.
At first, Wigzell wondered if it might top the magic 1,000-pound mark. Since the 1950s, only 121 "granders" -- both black and blue marlin -- have been landed in Hawaii, according to Hawaii Fishing News.
Alaskans have taken at least two, a 1,174-pounder taken by Fairbanks grocer Jeffrey Russell in 2002 and an 1,103-pounder landed by Kelley Everette, also of Fairbanks, in 1987. At the time, the latter set an IGFA world record for 30-pound-test tackle. Avid deep sea anglers, Everette and his wife Jocelyn moved to Kona to run the charter boat Northern Lights but have since returned to Alaska.
For many anglers, the memory of such a spectacular fish endures a lifetime.
Russell sees his every time he walks into Denali State Bank in Fairbanks, where the 15-foot, 8-inch marlin is mounted.
"There are lots of people who spent all their lives in Hawaii, never left the rock and didn't get so lucky," Russell allowed.
Afflicted with marlin fever, Russell returned later in 2002 trying to become the first angler to land two granders in a calendar year. He caught a big marlin -- but he came up 250 pounds short.
Still, even a memorable fish pales next to sharing a great day on the water with hometown friends. David and Phyllis Pinquoch, Rex Jordan -- who's fished for marlin 12 years and arranged the charter -- and Crystal Roberts all are avid salmon and halibut anglers back home who know all too well about enduring cold, rainy Prince William Sound days to bring home fish.
Each person had a role in Gilman's success.
"It was basically a Whittier reunion," Shawnee Gilman said. "This is what you dream of. Everybody on the boat feels like it's something they were part of."
West Hawaii Today ( Kona's Newspaper)
HOOKED UP PAID ITS DUES. Two months ago, Captain Chuck Wigzell came close to breaking an all-time Kona record. Chuck and his crew Rocky Gauron on the boat, Hooked Up caught a 975-lb blue marlin, which just missed being the first Kona grander ever caught in November.
How do you follow up a catch like that?
First you pay your dues again.
In January, Hooked Up missed ten blue marlin strikes before finally hooking up again, according to Chuck.
And again it was a good one. Good enough to take over the blue marlin lead for 2009 with Kona’s biggest January marlin in almost a decade.
Hooked Up’s 914-lb blue last Thursday is Kona’s biggest January blue since the historic Super Bowl Sunday 1,213-lb blue of January 30, 2000.
Three couples from Whittier, Alaska were aboard. Larry and Shawni Gilman, David and Phyllis Pinquoch, Rex Jordan and Chrystal Roberts are knowledgeable salmon and halibut fishermen and active in Whittier’s boating and fishing businesses. But none had ever caught a blue marlin before.
That all changed at about 2:00 pm as Hooked Up trolled the Trail Run in 800 fathoms. The big blue swallowed a Joe Yee Super Plunger chewing up the surface at the end of the 130 in the long-corner position.
When the huge fish jumped, Chuck knew immediately it would go at least 800.
It was Larry Gilman’s first time in a big-game chair and it took the excited newcomer a while to settle down into the pump-and-reel routine. But once he had the rhythm, Larry put on enough pressure to get the leader almost within reach three different times during the first hour of the hour-and-fifteen-minute fight.
“Each time, the fish was still pointing away from us so it was really hard for Rocky to hold on even though we were backing down to stay with her.” Chuck said. “The fourth time, we were able to turn her sideways and get her head going with us.”
Seeing it in the water next to the boat, Chuck thought it might top the magic 1,000-lb mark – or maybe not. When they hauled the nearly half-ton fish aboard, however, Chuck knew immediately she was not as big as his November giant. She was wide and fat in the shoulders but tapered off rapidly toward the tail, Chuck said.
The short length (tip of lower jaw to fork of tail) was 135 inches and big enough to make it, but the tail stump girth, 19 inches, said 900.
How long will Hooked Up’s 914 hold the top blue marlin spot?
It’s Kona where big fish hunt every day of the year, so they could have already lost it.
Janurary 3, 2009
On Jan. 1 we fished the New Years tournament. We finished 4th place with a 45 pound mahi mahi. On Jan. 3 we fished a full day and caught 1 blue marlin, 1 stripe marlin, 6 snapper, and 8 mackerel. Also a few trigger fish. We caught both marlin on live bait. Got some incredible pictures of the fish.
December 28, 2008
Here is an article from the West Hawaii Today Newspaper.
Capt. Chuck Wigzell’s boat Hooked Up dominated the week’s list of kau kau catches with yellowfin tuna and mahimahi.
Chuck hosted a greenstick expert from Japan and boated a 160 pound yellowing tuna on the dangling squid rig.
Lots of boats came in and out of the area they were fishing but left without catching anything. Chuck stayed with the mixed assemblage of dolphins and tuna until one of the yellowfins got crazy and jumped on a squid.
“It takes a lot of patience,” Chuck said. “Some days you have to wait, and wait --- and wait. Keep running and it eventually pays off.”
The next day, Chuck found a floater and hosted Daren Castero to a mixed catch of mahimahi and shibi. Darren’s largest of 19 mahimahi topped 40 pounds and the largest shibi about 20.
The floater was also surrounded by sharks.
“Very hungry sharks,” Chuck said. “They got some of our mahimahi and a lot of our shibi.”
Chuck hooked some of the mahimahi on trolled lures and more on bait, including opelu and strips cut from shibi and aku.
Hooked Up is part of the Pancho and Lefty’s enterprise so you can share in their catch if you stop by the popular waterfront eatery for lunch or dinner.
December 10. 2008
The Blue Marlin fishing in Kona is still pretty good. Bottom fishing is great. We caught a 175 lb marlin yesterday on a lure. It was are only bite all day. But that is what we were targeting. There was some spear fish caught and some stripe marlin being caught as well. This time of year you may only get one or two fish trolling. Some boats have been getting skunked. The bottom fishing has been great for us. We fished the bottom 4 times this week and caught amberjacks, sharks, snapper, sea bass and a bunch of other smaller fish. Its been fun getting the action.
November 27, 2008
On Tuesday Brad Picking caught a 975 pound Blue Marlin. This is the biggest fish I ever killed. All the other big ones I hooked got off. Twenty years ago Brad hooked and fought a marlin for 4 hours in a tournament before it came off. He was not going to let this one get away. We were live baiting for a few hours untell are bait died. Then I sank the bait to the bottom and also dropped a jig down. Now that I look back I realized Brad was probably wondering what I was doing ( He did not want to bottom fish). I was just trying to catch something for him because I know you always don't get one trolling. Especially this time of year. Trust me I would rather troll as well but some customers just want to catch something. So I was just trying to be nice and catch something. We hooked a small jack on the jig. I asked Brad if he wanted to fight it so he did. But was not to interested. I asked if he wanted to drop again but he said no with out any hesitation. He wanted to go trolling . So we started trolling in front of captain cook and about 30 minutes later I saw a big dorsal fin pop up by the long corner lure. I jumped out of my chair and yelled "Rocky long corner, long corner" I knew instantly it was a nice one but don't want to look like a jerk if it turned out not to be what size you call it. So I said its 500 pounds. Rocky reeled the lure down to the rod tip and took it off of the rigger. About 5 seconds later we were hooked up. We boated the fish in about 45 minutes. We had 55- 60 pounds of drag on it for more than half the fight. Brad said it was up to me to make the call on releasing the fish or keeping it. Well you know what I did.
October 12, 2008
Today we took Charles and a few of his friends out fishing for a full day. Charles is a good customer at Pancho and Lefty's. The plan was to go and find the porpoise school and catch a large tuna. Well we found the porpoise school about 20 miles south of kona. We worked it about 3 hours and was marking fish on the sounder. We just were about to call it a day and head back to Kona when the 170 lb. Ahi hit. We landed the fish in about 10 minutes. We put the Ahi away and threw the lures out and started trolling back to the harbor. It only took about 10 minutes and we tagged and released a 200lb. Blue Marlin. Turned out to be a great day. All the action was with in a 30 minute period, right at high tide.
October 10, 2008 
We had a good week. Daren Castoro booked the boat for 4 days. We went down to south point for two days and a night. We landed 8 ono and 3 mahi mahi. We lost about 6 or 7 ono. So had some good action down there. We took a day off. Then Daren decided to fish the Dirty Dozen marlin tournament on Saturday and we caught a 130 lb yellow fin tuna. We used the green stick and was fishing in the porpoise school when it hit. This fish was big enough for 2nd place in the tournament. The last day we took Daren out to tsunami buoy which is located 28 miles in front of the harbor. We caught 7 mahi mahi. Two of them was over 30 pounds. The only fish Daren was missing was the blue marlin. Check out the newspaper clipping.
September 25, 2008
We went back out to otec buoy which is about 15 miles north of the harbor. The buoy is loaded with small yellow fin and skipjack tuna. Lots of birds. Yesterday we caught one shark and had another bite from one. Today we caught 4 yellow fin and a bunch of skipjack. We also had a marlin bite at the bouy on a live bait. It was just kind of a half hearted bite. Not really to hungry I guess. It just grabbed the bait and then let it go. You need to book a 3/4 or a full day to get to otec buoy. You can not make it there on a half day. If you did want to fish a half day, I would go up to the airport and fish up there. It looked pretty good yesterday when I was passing by.
September 19, 2008
Gayle Devoe and friends fished a 3/4 day with us. We went out to otec buoy to catch some yellow fintuna a nd skipjack tuna. We got some bad new when we arrived at the buoy. There were porpoise at the buoy. Every fish we caught the porpoise ate. We cold not get one fish to the boat. So we changed our plan. We trolled back in to the airport area and caught some very small tuna and dropped them down to the bottom. We caught 2 nice sandbar sharks. So the total trip we ended up with 4 small tuna and 2 sharks. No trolling bites. Kona tourism is really slow. Not to many boats getting out. We did happen to sea a boat catch a shortnose spearfish and another boat hook a marlin.
September 8, 2008
Was a very busy summer for us. We ended up first in points in the Maui Jim Marlin Series. We won the lazy man marlin tournament, 2nd in the big island tournament and 3rd in the skins tournament. We caught 8 marlin in these 3 tournaments to win us the points race. We caught around 35-40 blue marlin this summer. Plus a few giant yellow fin tuna and a bunch of ono. The buoy's are still holding football size yellow fin tuna and skip jack tuna. We hooked a nice marlin on friday about a 1/2 mile from otec buoy. We caught a shark plus a bunch of tuna that day.
July 8 & 9, 2008
We took Carl Bland and his family from www.trophysturgeon.net to southpoint on a two day trip. On the way down we caught Roy his first blue marlin. Estimated around 300 lbs. About a half an hour later we hooked one for carl estimated to be about 700lbs. Carl fought the fish for 30 minutes and got it to the back of the boat where we pulled hooks on the leader. Then we went in to ono lane and landed 20 ono in two days. We lost about 5 ono as well. Was a great trip.
Click on pictures below to see a larger version.
May 27, 2008
The marlin fishing in kona is just starting to happen. We hooked a nice one today but got off. The family and I went to south point over the weekend and caught 10 ono and a couple of tunas plus some night time bottom fish. Zac and Hana caught all these fish.
March 19, 2008
The fishing in Kona is picking up. Ono are being caught everyday. I had 6 billfish bites yesterday. We had a triple stripe marlin bite. Lost all three of them. Then a couple minutes later we caught two spearfish that we hooked at the same time. As we were going back to the harbor a nice blue marlin grabbed are long corner lure. Today I saw 2 nice marlin caught beside me and we captured two mahi mahi for our charter.
February 25, 2008
We just got back from a south point trip. We fished for 2 days and 1 night. We caught 4 ono 40-60 pounds, 2 Ahi tuna about 25 lbs each, 7 Giant Trevally, and 3 Big Amber Jack. We also caught some small snapper and bait fish. We missed 3 marlin strikes on the way home, one of them was 400 + pounds. This is the best charter to do from now to end of summer. You will get the most action and the most amount of time fishing for your money. Ask about the trip. You will not be disappointed.
Janurary 1, 2008
Fishing in kona has been good this winter. We have been catching a lot of shortnose spearfish, stripe marlin, and mahi mahi. It is 100% better than the last couple of years. Picture below is a spearfish we caught Ulla on a half day. We also caught my wife a striped marlin that day. This week we caught 2 very big amberjack on the bottom. 
December 8, 2007
The weather has been bad in Kona. We have not been able to fish the last 5 days. But before then we were catching mahi mahi almost everyday. The short nose spearfish are also showing up now.
November 13, 2007
Mahi Mahi's are being caught pretty consistently. The marlin fishing is a little slow now. The stripe marlin and the spearfish should be picking up as we get in to the winter months. This time is also real good for the mahi mahi as well. The bottom fishing is starting to get good. Lots of amber jack's and gray snapper this time of year. We have also been doing good at the buoy's for football size yellow fin tuna and skipjack tuna.
June 10,2007
Mark Olson caught this big one at the end of the day. Estimated weight 750 lbs
June 1, 2007
June threw August is the best time for fishing in Kona. We are seeing blue marlin being caught everyday. The ono bite is still great. The big yellow fin tuna fishing is a little slow but the mahi mahi fishing is good.
May 4, 2007
The marlin fishing is good. In Kona yesterday there was a 812 pound blue marlin, and a 525 pound blue marlin caught. We had a 300 pounder on today. The ono fishing has been good. We caught 14 ono and 1 mahi mahi Monday. Looks like its going to be a good summer.
March 28, 2007
The marlin bite has been great the last month. We had 7 strikes and tagged 2 blue marlin this week. Also the ono are running now. We caught a 35 lb ono today and a 20 lb mahi mahi. The mahi mahi fishing has also been good this march. We have caught a fish every day of the month either by trolling or bottom fishing. Only have been skunked one day this year so far and that was a half day of fishing.
Feb 27, 2007
The trolling bite in Kona is a little slow last couple of weeks. But we did catch a short nose spearfish today. We also caught some mahi mahi and a stripe marlin earlier in the week. The bottom fishing has been good. We caught a almaco jack and half of a gray snapper( a shark ate it on the way up) today.
Jan 28, 2007
Carol Parks caught an Uku (gray snapper) that is going to be hard to beat and is the biggest of the year. The bottom fishing is good. Also we caught some yellowfin tuna out at F buoy this week. Had a nice blue marlin strike on Sunday. We managed to catch a tiger shark that was 700 lbs or bigger that Bob Jenive angled for over 2 hours on 50 lb test.
Jan25, 2007
The Trolling bite slowed down quite a bit. There is still some small tunas around and the bottom fishing is great.
Jan 18, 2007
Bottom fishing is real consistent. Catching large amberjacks. The trolling bite slowed down last couple of days but there is blue marlin being caught everyday. Still small tuna at F buoy and by the airport.
Jan 8, 2007
The new year started out great for us. We tagged and released a 300 lb blue marlin on Jan 3rd. Tagged aa stripe marlin about 70 lbs on Jan 5 for Greg Lundquist. We killed a 60 lb. spear fishon Jan2. We caught small tuna, 2 uku, 3 sharks, and 8 amberjack this week as well. 
December 28, 2006
Today we tagged and released 3 blue marlin just 2 hours in to our half day fishing trip. There is not to many places in the world you can do this. Yesterday we bottom fished and caught 12 amber jack and one trevally. The ranged from 15-50 lbs. The bottom is great and so is the trolling this last week.
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December 21, 2006
Fishing is good. Lots of marlin are being caught everyday. The stripe marlin and spearfish are here now. Lots of Bait (small tuna) around F buoy and up by the aiport. The bottom fishing is also good. We are catching some big amberjack and grey snapper.
November was a good month fishing. There was marlin and mahi consistently being caught all through the month. December has started the same way. Looks to be a lot better year compared to last.