Last year on our trip to Hawaii, the biggest marlin (out of the 11 we caught) was with Captain Steve Epstein on the Huntress! The Huntress is a gorgeous forty-two foot Merritt with alot of history. It used to be called the "Black Bart" and was run by the famous Bart Miller. It is responsible for four grander blue marlin including a 1656 pounder that is the largest blue ever landed in Kona. When we found ourselves with an extra day to fish Kona, we decided to try our luck again on the Huntress. Just like last year, we had some great fishing. After about an hour of trolling down south we got a bite on the long rigger. The fish ate a jet lure that was designed to run below the surface so nobody was sure what we had. Deb jumped in the chair and went to work with the heavy tackle. She did a great job, and applied alot of pressure, but the fish refused to come up. After about twenty minutes we finally got a look and were happy to see that it was a nice size blue marlin. It is rare to catch a marlin that never jumps, but this one refused to, nevertheless we pulled it up, tagged it and released it to fight another day. Within seconds of setting the lures back out we hooked up again. Unfortunately the marlin pulled off some line and jumped off. About an hour later Debbi hooked yet another blue marlin on the short outrigger lure. This fish put on quite a show for us. At one point the fish jumped clear of the water, behind the boat and Gabby and Juliana Nakamaru (who joined us for the day) both yelled "That is a big fish"!! Again, Debbi (who is one of the best light tackle anglers I have ever seen) showed her skill with the heavy tackle and had the blue marlin at boatside very quickly. We pulled the fish up and James put a tag in and we set the fish free. We ended up missing a spearfish four different times later that afternoon, but it didn't matter at all, because we had a great trip. Thanks alot to Captain Steve and his mate Mitch for another wonderful day on the Huntress.
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