The Big Island of Hawaii – The fishing in Kona has remained very good over the past.  This being an El Nino year, the water temperatures have remained warm, holding good numbers of Blue Marlin, Yellowfin Tuna and Shortbilled Spearfish just off the cost of the Big Island.  Expect these El Nino conditions to extend our normal fishing season well into the months of November and December this year due to the warmer overall water temperatures in the Pacific Ocean.

This past week we saw a good number of Blue Marlin being caught.  While the fish remained on the smaller side, good numbers of smaller Blue Marlin were tagged and released in the 125 pound range.  The consistent action has been great for our guests on ½ day and ¾ charters, giving them multiple shots at hooking up to a blue marlin on shorter fishing charters.  Below are some of the recent catches on our fishing charters over the past week:

Sunday July 19th – we went 1 for 2 tagging a small Blue Marlin about 150 pounds and we also caught a 168 pound Yellowfin Tuna, winning the Tuna Division in the Kona Classic Tournament.

fishing in kona

Friday, July 17th – we went 0 for 2 on Blue Marlin and caught one nice Yellowfin Tuna that weighed 120 pounds.

Kona Fishing

Thursday July 16th, – we went 1 for 2 tagging a Blue Marlin and also tagged a nice Shortbilled Spearfish.

Sunday July 12th – we went 0 for 1 missing a good Blue Marlin bite but we managed to also catch a nice Ono (Wahoo) for our charter as well.

fishing in kona hawaii

Over the last few days there have been some really nice Blue Marlin caught in the area.  Four Blue Marlin in the 500 pound range were caught by other boats this week.  A fish in the 600 Pound range won the Kona Classic Tournament this past weekend.  The fish that was caught, when three blue marlin surfaced in the spread and struck different lures, was not the biggest of the three fish, but the 600 pounder was enough to take top honors in the tournament.

If you are planning to book a fishing charter in Kona in the coming weeks, be sure to check our availability on the booking calendar below and lock up your fishing charter before all of our dates our booked for the popular summer fishing season.  We have just a few full day, ½ day and ¾ day fishing charters still available sprinkled throughout the remaining part of July and the month of August.  You can always get our best rates on a Kona Fishing Charter by booking your trip right on our website.

We hope to see you soon and look forward to fishing with you on the Humdinger.  Aloha and tight lines!

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Meet the Captains

Jeff Fay, Captain Owner and Operator, Captain Jeff Fay, has been fishing in Kona, Hawaii for giant blue marlin for over 40 years. In addition to his numerous decades of knowledge and experience he has collected in Kona, Captain Jeff has operated several sportfishing charter boats for owners worldwide.

Captain Jeff began his fishing career in Kona crewing for Terry Truman aboard the Kua Lua in 1966. Shortly thereafter he moved to the Malia where he crewed for West Vannetta. In 1975, he partnered with Captain Peter B. Wright and purchased the Humdinger, a 37′ Rybovich located in Tampa, Florida. After moving the boat from Florida, Captain Jeff and Peter chartered the Humdinger out of Kona until the mid 1980′s when Capt. Jeff bought out partner Peter B. Wright and then briefly partnered with globetrotting big game angler Jerry Dunaway. Shortly thereafter, Captain Jeff purchased Jerry’s remaining interest in the Humdinger and has been operating sportfishing charters on the Big Island of Hawaii in Kona from this classic Rybovich ever since.

Captain Jeff has enjoyed a rich and successful career in the big game sportfishing community. After capturing his first “Grander” in 1972, Captain Jeff has gone on to assist anglers on eleven marlin over 1,000 pounds worldwide. Additionally he has captained anglers to numerous world records, the two most recently in Kona when he captained Debra Dunaway to her last two world records to complete her bid to be the first angler in history, man or woman, to hold a world record for every species of billfish in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

Captain Jeff is the only Four Time Winner of the prestigious Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament’s “Henry Chee Award” presented to the top-scoring Hawaii charter fishing captain in the tournament. He now shares his passion for big game sportfishing in Hawaii with his son Brett who now Co-Captains the Humdinger along side his father.

Brett Fay, Co-Captain Co-Captain Brett Fay is a native of Hawaii; born on the Big Island and raised in Kona. Brett grew up fishing in Kona with his father, Captain Jeff Fay, on the 37’ Rybovich “Humdinger”. He enjoys surfing, hunting, and fishing and just about anything that involves being outdoors. At age five, Brett caught his first Blue Marlin, and has been “Hooked” ever since.

Brett literally grew up on the Humdinger, learning the trade of Big Game Sportfishing in Hawaii and boat handling from his father Captain Jeff and mentor, Captain Henry “Butch” Chee Jr. Brett received his U.S. Coast Guard Captain’s License at age 20 and began assisting his dad chartering guests on the Humdinger. Brett is an accomplished Captain and boat handler and works hard to share his passion for Hawaii, the Outdoors and Sportfishing in Kona with his guests and clients.