Anyone fished Kona, Hawaii???

[10,000 Casts]

We just qualified for a free trip to the Hilton Waikaloa Village and I am wondering if anyone on here has any experience with the sportfishing charters out of Kona. The trip is the middle of July which seems to be prime time for Blue Marlin, Ahi Tuna and Wahoo. Bottom fishing and combo snorkling charters would be fun too. I've done some research and there seems to be quite a few to choose from.

Thanks!

[dobiel]

Go on Bloodydecks.com and check out the Hawaii forum. See who is posting lots of good reports and book a trip with them or get some recommendations from someone on the board. Good luck and have fun!

[traveler]

I've done a good bit of reading about Hawaii, though never been. I'd fish Kona, for starters, so I think you're on the right track.

My issue with Hawaii is they tend to kill thier billfish, and subsidize the charter prices by selling the meat. Not all charters by any means, there are very good outfits there that will release billfish, but you'll pay more for them. I wouldn't kill a blue if I could possibly help it, or fish with an outfit that did so. Plenty of Mahi and Tuna to eat:)

I agree, BD is a good resourch, although I don't know how much traffic the Hawaii board there gets. July should be a good timeframe for you from what I know.

[smokercraft]

I've fished with Capt. Bill Murtagh aboard his boat the last 2 years in Jan. while visiting my daughter who lives in Kona. I'd reccomend him in a heartbeat. We released the blue marlin along with some tuna we got last year. No marlin this year but got some wahoo and mahi. I think you can contact him at [email protected]. Tell him katies(who works the same pier as him) dad referred you and he may cut you a deal!

[dobiel]

The Hawaii board is pretty slow but you can still do a good bit of research by looking back on last year at the time you'll be going to get an idea of the active species. At least you can feel a little more connected to the current reports which is a lot better than sitting on a MN fishing forum wondering what's going on thousands of miles away.

[MarkB]

We owned a condo in Kona at Keahou Punahele and lived there from Dec. thru May for several years. My wife and I have fished numerous boats plus we have watched boats come in to Honokahou Harbor almost on a nightly basis. Norm Isaacs-Sundowner is as good as it gets. Ihu Nui and Pacific Blue are other good boats. One word of advice, if it were me, I would ask for a captain that will live bait fish. It can be boring but we have had great luck with marlin to over 500#'s doing it. Dragging around lures all day covers alot of ground and chances for tuna, mahi, ono are probably way better.

Good Luck,

MarkB

[10,000 Casts]

Thanks guys, that other forum is cool and I will research the Captains that were recomended and shoot them an email.

I noticed that the prices had dropped a bit from when I checked 6 mo ago.