Hawaiian Victory Lap

As captain Kevin Nakamaru and I discussed the plans for our last day of fishing in Hawaii, he told me that now matter what happened it would be like a victory lap, since we already had such a successful trip. We decided to troll down south because there had been at least one big fish and some days as many as ten hooked down there for two weeks strait. Kevins mate Matt was on the other boat so it would be only the four of us joining Kevin on our final outing. James had fished on the Northern Lights for fifteen days so he knew the routine and had it down. As usual we left the harbour just after six in the morning. A couple hours into the day the was a big explosion on a small jet lure running behind a bird on the farthest line from the boat. James jumped in the chair as Laurel, Debbi, and I cleared the other lines. The fish didn't jump, and just continued to swim out to sea. After thirty minutes the big marlin made it's only jump and we knew James had a big one! For the next hour the fish never got more than a hundred feet from the boat. It would take some line against the heavy drag and then change directions and swim back toward us. It was an awesome sight to watch the fish swimming just below the cobalt blue Kona sea. Finally after two hours, the fish began to tire and Kevin stayed close with some unbelievable boat handling. With the big reel in low gear, James inched the fish closer until the leader was in reach. I have not pulled on something like this since the days when I used to fish for the giant bluefins and I didn't want to lose James' fish after such a long battle. I slowly pulled the marlin up as Kevin maneuvered the boat to keep up with the fish. A few seconds later Debbi placed the tag, but just before release the fish rolled over and went belly up. We had no choice but to take the fish. Kevin and I slid James' big blue marlin into the boat and with the measurements we knew it was over five hundred pounds! Father and son were exhausted and mom and sister were going crazy. We put the lures back out and a few minutes later we hooked another marlin. This time it was Laurel's turn and my eight year old angler did a great job on her second marlin of the trip. She did super in the chair and had the fish at the boat in fifteen minutes. We put a tag in the fish and released it. About thirty minutes after setting the lures back out, mom hooked another blue marlin. The fish jumped all over the place and then went down. Captain Kevin decided James was ready to wire his first blue marlin and what a better fish to do it on than his mom's. When the leader came up James reached out and took hold. He did a terrific job pulling up the 150 lb marlin. When James got the fish to the surface, I placed a satellite tag in the fish so we would be able to track its movements. Kevin yelled "You did it James"!!! I was so proud of my family! It was one of the best days of my life!!! An unbelievable ending to a great trip and a victory lap the I will never forget! Thank you so much to Captain Kevin Nakamaru for making this all possible and for everything you have done for my family and I. Thank you so much to my wonderful wife Debbi and my beautiful children Laurel and James for giving the memories that will be with me forever.