Time to warm your bones: Kona mahimahi and marlin report..and Mingo's aquarium part 7

We recently escaped for a much-needed (but too brief) break from this freezing cold, grey, dreary garbage Seattle weather and headed over to Hawaii to spend time with friends and do some fishing. We started out by visiting friends on Oahu and then headed over to Kona for another week of fishing and partying. As any fisherman knows, all great escapes must begin with a nutritious breakfast before the flight ………



My buddy Magwa picked us up at the Honolulu airport and we headed over to our usual haunts at The Royal Hawaiian. It was like homecoming, catching up with old friends who work there….and pounding beverages to quench our thirst…





A couple days of chilling in the chaises in front of the Royal Hawaiian .... drinking $13 cocktails ....people watching...man you see some WEIRD shit on Waikiki beach!!!



Our annual day at Lanikai beach……



Then up to the North Shore to visit favorite haunts and kick Magwa’s ass in our annual MaiTai Invitational Fishing Derby. The rules are simple: nobody gets a drink until they catch their first fish. Size and species are immaterial. The guy who catches the firsts fish gets the first drink, paid for by the other guy who hasn’t caught squat yet. Some years more have joined in….more people = more beverages. All C’n’R of course, barbless flies, choice of pattern decided by a coin toss. I won, so I chose scuds…..which only work there if you know how to fish them heh heh heh……I scored first with this massive 1” hawkfish and started drooling over the thought of my first maitai…….



After finishing my drink I scored a whopper 2” wrasse. Remember when you were a kid and you’d dangle a rubber spider in your mom’s peripheral vision to freak her out? Well, that shit works great on buddies using small fish too….I’m off to score my 2nd cocktail……while Magwa tries to tie on a gay pink scud while freaking out over the wiggling leviathan in his ear…………



Magwa began to get upset after I nailed these awesome humuhumunukunukuapua’a………..I was building a nice tropical buzz and he was dying of thirst!





Finally Magwa is on the board and gets a drink!



After all those shenanigans we headed to our next stop…dinner at the awesome Grass Skirt Grill.



Now THIS is fresh ass fish! You gotta love a place that doesn’t have a liquor license but lets you drink your own beer inside…………….



After our flight to Kona, we checked in and headed down to the reef in front of our condo to unwind….La Minga relaxes by tossing a few flies with her 4 wt…..



And scores a damselfish………



I hit a hawkfish soon after………….



And then m’lady hooked a wild wrasse that went apeshit and tore up the reef. These buggers are feisty as hell….my brother in law got into one last year that completely surprised him with how hard it fought. They “fight above their weight”, just like Marciano….



The next day we went to one of our favorite Big Island beaches. Bonus points to anyone who can correctly identify this beach!



I hit some Damselfish on reverse spiders……



And a fat Hawkfish on a …….huh? wazzat? Yep……a big globug! They smack it because it looks like a sponge with baby Nemo hiding inside!!



With morning Starbucks firmly in hand we headed out for a day of bluewater fishing on the Lepika with the awesome Russ Nitta……



I brought my Elephant Gun…….just in case something fierce wanted to eat some feathers……



About 30 minutes into the day we took a blind strike on a lure and my wife settled in for her first-ever marlin battle…battling sailfish and other pelagic species in Panama got her totally jazzed about big game fishing. She told me before we left Honokohau Harbor that she wanted to tangle with a marlin…she got her wish….





My girls’ marlin at the boat, lit up neon blue and gorgeous…….



You never forget your first marlin! Time for a quick pose! (dang, that is a perfect flyrod size heh!)



Nice work girl!



“your turn Mingo, I need to hydrate”



After another hour of zip action we got into some crazy fun on a school of mahimahi lurking near a floating pallet……we had several doubles that can’t be shown as there were only the two of us on Russ’s boat that day…nobody was left to snap those photos and Russ had to run the boat…it happens! The action was awesome. My wife took 9 on spinning tackle and bait and I caught mine casting to fish chasing hers in close to the boat or by bait-and-switching with Russ. He’d get them fired up with hookless ballyhoo. Good times!











Her fish cames boatside and I snapped this shot right as a bubble covered it’s eyeball, making it look like a blind mahimahi…freaky!



The action kept up for two hours straight!





I’ll never get tired of catching these awesome fish……………



Hellz yeah!!!! Crank up the grill, fish for dinner tonight!



I got fish on a crease fly and a grey/white baitfish pattern but this is the fly that did most of the damage…..



Mrs Mingo working hard on something that bulldogged her deep…….she’s thinking “this doesn’t feel like a mahimahi…..”



Sashimi time!



putting the heat on another opponent……





La Minga battling another mahi….





Putting the muscles to work!



A blue missile rockets away from the boat…..





I tangled with some small AJs that showed up to crash the party….very strong for their size.













“EH? This feels different…grunt…….”….



Ha, I knew it!!!!!



Mrs. Mingo fighting some odd type of jack………..





The old tradition at day’s end………..you gotta love bluewater fishing. We landed 14 mahimahi, released many, kept some, got several tuna and small AJs and my wife landed her first marlin. A perfect day with a great guy. Thanks Russ!



After that we had a couple total “chill” days ahead to spend on our favorite beaches…………..



Butterflyfish are beautifull but very hard to hook with that tiny protruding yapper. It is 100% visual. The only thing I could get them to hit was a tiny Miyawaki euphasid, better known as a winter searun fly (thanks Leland). Believe me, hooking these fish is much harder than it looks…..



Amazing…….there’s no law that says you can’t enjoy nature’s beauty with barbless flies heh heh heh………..



This wrasse tore the place a new one and rocked me twice, a feisty specimen!





Entertaining the next generation of Hawaiian fishermen…..Uncle Mingo up to his usual tricks…..



Honu cocktail party……



After some Huggo’s ribs, nothing spells “dessert” like a Plantation Maitai from Don the Beachcomber’s….





This guy kept trying to talk to us, bragging about how he was “going to catch some big Moke iceheads” blah blah and “do you know any crooks with outstanding warrants?” blah blah blah. :rofl: he's a funny dude.....



Another perfect Kona sunset…….Aloha.

Time to warm your bones: Kona mahimahi and marlin report..and Mingo's aquarium pa

Great report, Mingo!!! Wonderful that La Minga got into a marlin. And you have to love Mahi Mahi. They're like cutts, so willing to play hard. [I wonder if I can convince the National Science Foundation in my next grant that I need a 7wt. spey rod to sample fish. You certainly have demonstrated the effectiveness of a fly rod and box of diverse flies to sample the local ichthyofauna......]

Thanks for sharing,

Steve

Time to warm your bones: Kona mahimahi and marlin report..and Mingo's aquarium pa

Dang! Nice vacation Mingo. I have to get over there some time sooner than later. That's a nice fish the wife got. Awesome good for her! What size rod were you using there for the mahimahi? You've got me thinking about these crappy grey skies more and more.... I will have to grab some life by the nuts soon!

Time to warm your bones: Kona mahimahi and marlin report..and Mingo's aquarium pa

Larry, I was using a 10 wt.

Time to warm your bones: Kona mahimahi and marlin report..and Mingo's aquarium pa

my hero

Time to warm your bones: Kona mahimahi and marlin report..and Mingo's aquarium pa

Always entertaining,, Great pics

Time to warm your bones: Kona mahimahi and marlin report..and Mingo's aquarium pa

Always great to see your posts Mingo. Though I was a little disappointed that there wasn't the classic "Mingo Expression" in at least one of your pics. Glad your had a great time. I can't wait to catch my first real mahi mahi (caught about a 20 incher when I was in the Gulf of Mexico many, many years ago.

Time to warm your bones: Kona mahimahi and marlin report..and Mingo's aquarium pa

Very nice, Mingo (aka "Capt. Fun," no doubt!). Thanks for making me feel even colder!

Uhhh, I've been wondering....
I met this rather suspicious looking individual on the beach the other day. A seasoned world traveler, like yourself, but who drifted in on the high tide. Claims to have met you once.
I asked for proof, and got this look in return.
Goes by the handle of "Musselhead."
Also claims to have met some dude named "Wilson" in his oceanic travels.
:clown:

Thanks for the report and pics!

Time to warm your bones: Kona mahimahi and marlin report..and Mingo's aquarium pa

Outstanding. I love to see the little guys you work off the reef just as much as the big ones. You caught no needle or trumpet fish right? How would they change the drinking game?

Time to warm your bones: Kona mahimahi and marlin report..and Mingo's aquarium pa

Homey, outdid your self on this report! I can't believe you guys caught all those pelagic fish; I know of so many people that go out and get . . . nothing. No yellowfin, no mahi mahi, no jacks, no nothing.

Great report!

P.S. Love those mahi mahi colored/design shorts. You need to PM and tell me where you got them . . .

Time to warm your bones: Kona mahimahi and marlin report..and Mingo's aquarium pa

Somehow, I have the feeling La Minga steals the show most of the time ... Mingo will probably admit, like many of us have to, that he married "above his average" ... much like those wrasse fight "above their weight" ...

I always enjoy your posts, Mingo. Thanks for sharing with us.

Time to warm your bones: Kona mahimahi and marlin report..and Mingo's aquarium pa

Sickening.. I am out with freezing guides and you are drinking tropical refreshments, rocking a nice boat, fishing with a good looking gal, catching fish and living the dream. Nice report.... Skagit Master? NOPE! Blue Water Master? Yep!

Time to warm your bones: Kona mahimahi and marlin report..and Mingo's aquarium pa

Hey Mingo,

Thanks for the post. Great pics!

Could you share a half-dozen or so flies you would have in your box for Hawaiian reef fish? I'm sure I would not pack a pink scud before reading your post. I'll be in Napili this spring and would enjoy learning the reef fishery.

Scott

Time to warm your bones: Kona mahimahi and marlin report..and Mingo's aquarium pa

Epic. Like wadin' boot said, I really dig the wading reef fishing you do. I'm hoping to get into that kind of stuff in Cabo this May.

Time to warm your bones: Kona mahimahi and marlin report..and Mingo's aquarium pa

Nicely done as always Mingo!

Time to warm your bones: Kona mahimahi and marlin report..and Mingo's aquarium pa

XXX sweeeeeet

Time to warm your bones: Kona mahimahi and marlin report..and Mingo's aquarium pa

Think I'm gonna have some good dreams tonight Thanks for an awesome report as usual!