2/24/10

My New Article in Marlin Magazine: Hawaiian Lure Magic!

I wrote an interesting article on fishing with lures in Hawaii called "Lure Magic" that's in the March 2010 issue of Marlin Magazine. Funny story: I had already penned several features on my trip to Hawaii in various publications, including another article in the February issue of Marlin on fishing for spearfish in Hawaii (see earlier post ), but I couldn't find anyone who was interested in having me write an article on Kona's great blue marlin fishery.
Why? Well, the topic has been covered many times over; writing an average garden-variety article about fishing for blue marlin in Hawaii is like writing an article about the existence of taxicabs and skyscrapers in New York City!
Anyway, I followed Jim Rizzuto's advice (Jim's a legendary writer and expert on all things fishing in Hawaii) and made arrangements to accompany Captain Teddy Hoogs for several days in August.
Teddy ( pictured above) is a young, talented, and very well respected captain on Hawaii's Kona Coast,  and happens to be the son of  Kona Legend Peter Hoogs, who's been operating a charter boat in Kona since the late 60's. Teddy happens to run one of the nicest boats in all of Hawaii, a 53' Merrit called the Kila Kila.
                                            
 During a lull in the action, I decided to pass the time by documenting how they rigged lures. Along with recording the whole process on audiotape, I took about 50 close-up pictures of the lure as it came to form in the boat's salon. Once the lure was completed, Teddy's mate put it into the spread behind the boat and then only half jokingly said, "Now watch that lure get hit."
Within minutes all heck broke loose- a real started screaming, and we all ran to the deck. One of the lures had gotten hit by a nice blue marlin- the very same one that the mate had painstakingly constructed in front of my camera only minutes earlier!!
The fish  flailed wildly in midair, tossing the newly-rigged purple Bomboy Llanes bullet lure like a ragdoll. I got some decent pics of that, and then dove in (Teddy and I had rehearsed a plan well in advance) and I got some really incredible photos of the marlin swimming underwater with the same lure. To finish the release of the fish, the mate grabbed hold of the blue marlin's bill, held the fish's head parallel to the water to run water through it's gills, and they made a pass by me as I lay submerged in the water. Right when they began to pass me, just as planned, the mate released the fish and it went streaming off calmly into the clear blue depths.
If this sounds too good to be true, check the article and the pics out! I have a slew of images documenting the whole episode, and they are all among the best underwater images of blue marlin that I've ever taken.