The owners of Tantrum Sportfishing in Kona were working remotely on the Big Island in early December. They were excited to do some Kona fishing around their work schedule. We had fished a couple of days during the week with minimal action. In classic Kona style, that all changed in the blink of eye. On the last day of fishing, we had a decent one come up behind our Tantrum Lures spread relatively early in the morning. It didn’t stay on long, but it definitely got the juices flowing and gave everyone anticipation for the day ahead. Later in the afternoon something came up behind the long rigger. Immediately, we knew it was a nice one and there was an exciting yet eerie calmness that overtook the boat. The big blue marlin was taking swipes at the lure with its bill and causing a whole lot of commotion, but she wouldn’t eat it initially. Chip Van Mols was patient yet urgent, teasing the lure closer to boat to try and incite a bite. After what seemed like eternity with this back and forth, it got quiet for a few seconds and then she seemingly disappeared. POW…off comes the short rigger and we are on. After a couple of different times on leader, we ended up getting her next to the boat within 25 minutes.
The 41′ G&S Sportfisher performed like it was born to do, back down with great maneuverability on elusive marlin. This is one of those marlin we would have harvested, but she had a different plan. As we were just getting ready to gaff. With an unexpected last thrash of her huge head and an extra wrap that got stuck on Chip’s glove, she straightened the hook and calmly swam away for her next adventure. While there was some obvious disappointment that we couldn’t memorialize the catch with an official weight. It was the appreciation and gratitude of the moment that the owners will never forget.
