L
ast September I was in Kona with my husband
Tim, on the western shore of Hawaii’s ‘Big
Island’. We were there to cover the Hawaiian
International Billfish Tournament for BlueWater,
but in the days leading up to the event we’d arranged
to catch up with some local friends and contributors.
This included a day of fishing with the internationally-
renowned gamefishing captain Marlin Parker and his
fiancé and assistant deckie, Carol Lynne – who is also
an excellent gamefishing photographer.
We joined Marlin, Carol and their deckie, Ryan
Thurner, aboard Marlin Magic II on the day before
the big tournament. Shortly after dawn, Marlin eased
his spectacular 16.5m sportfishing yacht through
Honokohau Harbour and out onto the consistently calm
waters in the lee of the volcano towering above Kona.
The bottom plunges just outside the harbour
entrance, so Carol and Ryan had already set the
spread of Marlin Magic lures by the time we were
a few hundred metres offshore. Within minutes we
were fishing and there was a real chance of picking up
almost anything.
“Are you ready to become famous today?” Marlin
asked me when I joined him on the bridge. “I have
a gut feeling that we’re going to get lucky,” he
continued. I brushed it off with a laugh, saying “Sure,
I’m always ready.”
Marlin told us he was participating in an annual
competition with the other local captains, with
a substantial pool of cash up for grabs for the
charterboat catching the most marlin for the season.
The competition was due to end in a couple of days
and Marlin was in second place. With just a single fish
between him and the leader, he was very eager to turn
that around.MY TURN IN THE CHAIR
Tim offered me the chair as he was keen to take
photos, so Ryan set me up in the seat harness and
tested the settings using one of the 60kg bent-butt
outfits we were fishing with. Although I normally
prefer light-tackle, Kona has produced many of the
largest Pacific blue marlin in the world, so we decided
to go large just in case we did get lucky.
However, we weren’t really there to go fishing. We
considered the day more of a catch-up with friends
and an opportunity to gather information about
Hawaii’s gamefishing from one of the best crews in the
business. Marlin is also the lure designer and owner of
the acclaimed Marlin Magic range of skirted lures, so
the day provided an exciting opportunity to learn more
lure-craft from a master of the trade.
With the HIBT starting the next day, my priority was
to interview the team for the Facebook and Instagram
posts that would keep our followers up-to-date with
everything going on during our trip and throughout
the tournament. I was half-way through an interviewHAWAIIAN ISLANDSIsland
of HawaiiKailua-KonaIsland
of HawaiiWaimeaVolcanoHilo“I felt terrified that with just a slight shift of
balance I would be ripped right out of the
chair and over the transom.”
Whenever the fish
stopped running,
Trish would launch
back into the furious
pump-and-wind
routine, knowing that
if she didn’t get the
fish back soon it was
likely to dive to the
depths, which could
prove fatal.“The bottom
plunges just
outside the
harbour
entrance.”
bluewatermag.com.au 49