My family and I took a vacation to Hawaii to have fun and catch some amazing fish. I am an avid fisherman and love chasing “trophy catches.” Hawaii offers some remarkable fishing for some of the most prestigious fish in the world. We had 4 fishing charters planned to hopefully catch some awesome fish and experience all Hawaii has to offer for anglers.

The first trip was to Honolulu and it was pretty good. It was somewhat slow in the beginning but near the end it really picked up. We were trolling and all of the sudden the rod started screaming and we knew there was a big fish on. I got in the fighting chair and battled a stud Ono “wahoo” to the boat. We landed him and then after that we got into a great mahi bite and were catching one after another for a while. I was stoked on catching that big wahoo. It was also the first one I’ve landed. That charter was a good start to the trip, but in the back of my mind I was thinking how cool it would be just to see a blue marlin. That is the ultimate game fish and probably the most prestigious catch you can have as an angler.

We focused our efforts on the inshore bite for our second charter and targeted Bonefish and Giant Trevally. The conditions were very tough that morning as we hand a wind chop and overcast skies which made sight fishing the bonefish very difficult. So, we transitioned to the reef line and caught some smaller Bluefin Trevally and then went hunting the prestigious Giant Trevally. I worked a wave crashing reef line with a nomad popper and medium tackle and hooked into a monster but after a short battle it ran me into the reef and broke me off as there was no stopping this fish. My dad later hooked up on to a Giant Trevally and was able to land it with much heavier tackle as he was using 20k Reel on an extra heavy rod.

We then took a flight to Kona for the second part of the trip. When we arrived in Kona (one of the best places in the world to catch Blue Marlin) I was super excited. The first charter in Kona we started off catching some great live baits and then went trolling to search for some fish. We were hoping for Ahi “yellowfin tuna” or maybe even a Marlin, but we would have been happy with about anything that hit the trolling lures. After 8hrs of straight trolling without a bite it was very discouraging, but me and my dad both know that’s how fishing is sometimes but when you travel that far you’re always hoping for amazing fishing and that’s not always the reality. Sometimes you really have to grind and just hope the conditions lineup right to catch some of these awesome fish. The reports from the local captains said the currents had died down in recent days and the conditions weren’t the best and the fish were just not feeding too well. So, we embark on the last charter of the trip hoping for better luck.

After trolling another 5 hours without a bite, the captain came down from the helm and said, “I’m sorry boys for the slow fishing but we are trying everything and keep the hope as we have caught several fish on the hail mary troll.”

At this point we just think we’re out of luck. We traveled super far to an amazing fishery but the fish just wouldn’t cooperate. It definitely was starting to hurt as reality set in that we were just on a slow bite. We were about to grab our lunch when all of a sudden, the mate yells “Marlin” and we saw the mate run to the corner rod and yell “fish on!”

I hear the reel start to scream line like I’ve never heard before and I sprint towards the fighting chair and get in. I grab the rod from the mate and I see a huge marlin jumping everywhere and I’m just in awe. I couldn’t believe it but I knew I was in for the fight of my life and it would take everything I had to land this beautiful Blue Marlin. After 30 minutes of fighting this incredible fish we got the fish to about 50 feet of the boat and a tug of war ensued. I gained a little and gave a little back as we went back and forth until the mate got a leader grab on it and just like that this 450-pound Blue Marlin was boat side. We took some pictures then released the greatest fish I’ve ever caught. The fight was so intense and extremely difficult and I caught a ton of different fish but this battle was different than anything I’ve ever experienced. After the fight I could barely move as my legs quivered from the battle and the excitement.

I was so sore, but it was well worth it. I thought to myself I just landed the Fish of a Lifetime. We trolled over 20 hours for the chance at a fish like that and all it takes is one bite. So that is why you never give up because you never know when that dream fish will be on the other end of your line. I’m incredibly thankful to be able to land such an amazing fish.