Big Eye Tuna Family Style

Big Eye Tuna Family Style.  Cliff, Elise, Connor and Dalton are visiting the Big Island from Arizona.  A typical family with a not so typical fishing adventure!  Just after Adam gives 13 year old Conner the “chair talk”, we are just begining to enjoy the beautiful fruit and muffin platter that Linda prepares for each charter, when the bait rod goes screaming off, then the short rigger, then the stinger, then the long corner!  We refer to this event as Organized Chaos!   With Conner in the chair and (Mom) Elise assisting him, Dalton is fighting his fish on the short rigger rod with Dad (Cliff) fighting his on the long Corner.  The bait rod line has now been broken off….  Adam and Linda are clearing the rest of the rods and preparing the deck.  The first fish comes in, a very nice BIG EYE TUNA!  Then Dalton’s line goes slack…Shark Bite!  One Big Eye Tuna was sacrificed.  We then land the last fish, another nice Big Eye Tuna.  With our guests eyes wide and their smiles big, we secure the Tunas and put lines back in the water.  Before the Tuna bite, we had been in a nice bird pile with lots of bait.  Now there are about 15 boats on scene… the fish are pushed down and we notice no other boats are hooked up.  Linda spots the bird pile a few miles away and we light it up and head for it!  We are back in the zone and now two lines are screaming.  Elise is in the chair.  She is the true fisherman of the family and desperately wanted a shot at a fish.  Wellll, she got it!  One fish is lost to another shark and her’s is still on.  Elise lands her Big Eye Tuna and we are now concentrating on getting Dalton a fish.  Remember, his was sacrificed earlier to a shark.  As we continue to concentrate on the area, we spot a tailing Blue Marlin.  I turn the boat and put the lures right in front of him.  He goes for the stinger line.  While Adam is teasing him in,  the Marlin hits it and does not stick!  I call it a “swing and a miss“.  Now we are heading back in for the day and we are bit again, a Blue Marlin attacks the stinger line again and does not stick…aargh!  And so the story ends with five hook-ups, three boated Big Eye Tuna, two happy, well fed Sharks and two missed Blue Marlin.  Not bad for a day on the water.  Did I mention beautiful Blue Hawaii water?

Featured in the above photo is Captain Chuck Wilson, Conner, Elise, Dalton and Cliff.  Adam and Linda were busy….