01-24-2010, 11:41 PM
This is Jon Schwartz. I have an article about fishing for shortnose spearfish, the world's rarest billfish, in the current issue of Marlin Magazine.
[inline jon.schwartz.fishing.photography.spearfish.marlin.jpg]
The spearfish is the world's smallest billfish, and ironically, anglers that are hooked on the quest to catch one of every type of billfish often find that the one they haven't caught is indeed the shortnose spearfish. They seem to start by going after the giant blacks and blues, and then find that there's this little 40 pound fish they need to catch to get their royal billfish slam!
Many then head over to Kona, Hawaii, where they hire captains that specialize in the targeting of spearfish, guys like Captains Marlin Parker, Gey Terwilliger, and Gene Vanderhoek.
![[Image: jon_schwartz_fishing_photo_kona.jpg]](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fELYEmU6ntI/S1avyeypm3I/AAAAAAAAAXM/Jhntxd1h6Es/s1600/jon_schwartz_fishing_photo_kona.jpg)
I spent some time accompanying these masters while in Kona this past summer. They had some pretty interesting techniques for targeting spears- also known as "chuckers"- and they sure had some neat stories.
One captain- Gene Vanderhoek- said bluntly, "In Kona we have spearfish, and we have spearfish swallowers!". He told me that when he caught a grander blue marlin and they were hoisting it into a truck (he releases just about all but a few giants), a spearfish fell out of the big blue. Another time, he was going after the 4 pound test record for spearfish and had a "di
vantageous hookup". The fish went down and dogged him for 6 hours and 28 minutes and then was eaten...by a huge blue marlin!
Also, if you've ever caught one or have any cool spearfish stories, please share them.
Thanks and tight lines,
Jon Schwartz
[signature]
[inline jon.schwartz.fishing.photography.spearfish.marlin.jpg]
The spearfish is the world's smallest billfish, and ironically, anglers that are hooked on the quest to catch one of every type of billfish often find that the one they haven't caught is indeed the shortnose spearfish. They seem to start by going after the giant blacks and blues, and then find that there's this little 40 pound fish they need to catch to get their royal billfish slam!
Many then head over to Kona, Hawaii, where they hire captains that specialize in the targeting of spearfish, guys like Captains Marlin Parker, Gey Terwilliger, and Gene Vanderhoek.
I spent some time accompanying these masters while in Kona this past summer. They had some pretty interesting techniques for targeting spears- also known as "chuckers"- and they sure had some neat stories.
One captain- Gene Vanderhoek- said bluntly, "In Kona we have spearfish, and we have spearfish swallowers!". He told me that when he caught a grander blue marlin and they were hoisting it into a truck (he releases just about all but a few giants), a spearfish fell out of the big blue. Another time, he was going after the 4 pound test record for spearfish and had a "di
vantageous hookup". The fish went down and dogged him for 6 hours and 28 minutes and then was eaten...by a huge blue marlin! Also, if you've ever caught one or have any cool spearfish stories, please share them.
Thanks and tight lines,
Jon Schwartz
[signature]