FITTED HAWAII

Finally broke the Ahi curse with Uncle this weekend. I spent most trips under his tutelage soaking in as much as I could and we were blessed with many a fine catch but never an Ahi. Uncle made it no secret that every time I was on board the ultimate game fish failed to materialize and I was beginning to feel like the dreaded banana on board. That all changed this past weekend as the curse was finally broke… you have no idea of the monkey that was lifted off my back when that fish was finally bleeding out on the deck. The morning started out smoothly with a perfect launch and an hour long run out to the grounds in the dark. My friend Sky was invited and brought along a few of his favorite lures that Uncle uncharacteristically decided to run, this came as a surprise since Uncle runs a tight ship and maintains control over all things on his vessel at all times… Captain’s rules! Once we hit the desired coordinates the lures were deployed and the fishing began which translates into “beer time”.

After a couple hours sloshing around in the sloppy seas of the Kauai channel we decided to try our luck in the familiar territory of the 40 fathom area off Kaena point. This decision proved to be a wise one as we were soon hooked up to the curse breaking Ahi and I was on the reel cranking away. Sky cleared lines and gave me moral support as Uncle’s eyes peered into the back of my head searching for any sign that I might fuck this up! Everyone on board including myself was on high stress alert as this fish made a initial run which peeled off more than 3/4′s of the line on the gold Penn 130 and that’s never a good thing. I did not want to fuck this up and straightened up my back and got down to the tedious job of cranking the fish to leader inch by inch. I was sweating and was still feeling the intense glare of Uncles eyes hitting the back of my head like infrared lasers as I continued to slowly and calmly bring in the fish. 30 mins later we saw color and Sky had the leader in hand and I was leaning over the side of the boat with gaf in hand ready to finish the job. My first gaf shot bounced off the gill plate and everyone on board let out a “ohhhh shit” like I just missed a game winning free throw in the NBA finals or something. Next shot went straight into the belly, not ideal but appropriate considering the circumstances. Sky came in with perfect back up shot after and we heaved the Yellowfin into the boat and began to celebrate. Hugs and Hi-5′s and beer all around!!! Cheers – RM