Pending World Record

On Friday, August 27 2010, Jordan Kilkenny shot and landed a 24 pound Short Bill Spearfish off the Kona coast of the Big Island of Hawaii. Other notable catches of Jordan include a 104 lb. Ulua, a Hawaii state record Yellow Spot Ulua and a Hawaii state record spiny lobster. His complete story is below!

This adventure began on a Thursday after chartering a dive/ fishing trip with good friend and boat captain of the Makana Lani, Kenny Fogarty. The divers on the trip were two friends, Joel Columbo, Austin Hicks, my brother Ryan and I. We were all pumped and ready for a fun filled day of trolling and diving. Captain Kenny told us that the southern FADs were probably the best option for the day because up north only has one FAD and if there's no fish it would kill a lot of time checking it. So that became the game plan for the day...head south.

Everyone was talking story remembering all the sick dive trips we had done in the past and how stoked we were to be able to go dive during the week and headed south. About half way to the next FAD we were interrupted by the sweet sound of clicker, zzzt zzzt zzzt, and a big splash behind the boat. "It’s a marlin Joel get in the chair!" said Kenny. Joel got in the chair and the battle was on. This fish was tough taking it time coming in. As the fish neared the boat it’s was awesome he was lit up with all kinds of florescent blues. After a few jumps the leader was in Captain Kenny's hand and after some pictures the tag was placed and the estimated 120lb blue was released.

When we got to the first FAD we were kind of disappointed because there were no boats and no marks on the fish finder. But since there were no boats I said what the heck lets jump in and check it out. So this time we took our time getting ready and Joel a little tired from the fight decided to be the palu man. I asked, "Joel are you sure you want to stay, I’ll stay if you want." He replied, "No man I’m fine I just caught a marlin you go." So I was first to slide into the crystal clear water. One handful of palu was thrown and hoggies began to devour every sardine sinking. Then Ryan slid in and as soon as he hit the water a nice female mahi charged in to the palu and below that a fat ono rolled in and behind that a big school of mahis holding one big bull! In the meantime Austin had got in and I yelled to Kenny and Joel, "Ryan shot an ono! Ah Austin shot a mahi! Joel get in here!" Ryan had a nice shot and the ono went screaming strait down taking his float 10 feet under before he even reached the surface. Then I see Austin lining up on his first ever pelagic fish and wham! The shot hit right behind the pectoral fin on a big female mahi the line on his reel was peeling out fast but he grabbed hold and began pulling her up and the bull shows up. A beast right there calmly swimming below Austin’s fish. He motion to me to come over fast. I dropped down and shot the biggest target in the water right in the stomach ahh perfect. Now the war was on and it began to pull me around.

While this was happening Austin subdued his fish, or so he thought he past it to the captain and it looked dead and then it flipped out knocking everything down and kept Joel from getting in the water. Ryan got his angry ono to the surface and waited to get it on the boat too and now I had the bull under control also. Austin’s fish finally gives up and was slammed into the fish box and Ryan's ono was dead due to the perfect shot and my bull was still after braining it. After everything calmed down and was untangled we remembered there were still fish to be had. We all gladly hopped back in the water this time to our surprise there was one more ono and two more mahis in sight. The two mahis came right to me and I couldn't resist and pulled the trigger... lights-out stoned a nice size female. Then Joel made a drop for the ono, which would have been his Wahoo as he would call it back in California, but the shaft came up just short and the fish dug out. With no more fish in sight we decided to head it to the next FAD to try it again with no luck and called it a day.

The next morning couldn't come fast enough and all we could think about was going back to that FAD and now my two younger brothers who haven't shot pelagic were ready to see some action too. But we were skeptical because when we arrived the same thing happened, no boats (usually means no fish) and no marks on the fishing finder. Man did we just waist our time coming back out here? I asked everyone, "do we really wana dive here again cause it looks like there's no fish?" after coming to the same conclusion as the day before we all decided to jump in except my brother Stephen and buddy Austin. Wrong move it was like I was having dejavu a group of about 10 mahis and on ono came in. I yelled back to the boat, "bra you guys get in there's mahis and onos!" long story short we all got mahis and the ono got away from Joel once again. Now we were on our way back home, but the trip wasn’t over yet.

"Hey Kenny what was that! It looked like fins," said Ryan. "Oh yeah I see it, keep an eye on it," said Kenny. Then he swiftly maneuvered the boat towards the small fins sticking out of the water two inches. "I think it’s a spearfish," said Kenny. So we first tried to entice the fish with lures and nothing. After taking a few passes with the lures and still no interest my buddy Austin yells," lets shoot it! "Kenny replies, "then get ready quick." I jumped down from up top and said, "Should I go?" To see if anyone wanted to do it and they all said yeah man do it. So knowing that it could be a world record thanks to Rob White from Blue Water Hunter, I got ready as fast as I could. I had a mask, fins, a speargun, tag line, and two floats(just incase) and thanks to everyone we cleared all the lines and the expert driving on Captain Kenny's part, they put me right on the fish and I jumped in. The spearfish was just out of range, but luckily I didn't scare it and he stayed on the surface and I got on the boat for round 2.

This time Kenny got me right up on the fish and I jumped in and it was right there. I had the shot but out of nowhere the wakes from the boat began to pound me and I was bobbing up and down. This made the shot nearly impossible but I trusted my aim and fired.... Oh no I hit it in the stomach. Well that’s just the way I had to play it, very gently. Now any line the fish wanted, it got, I was only holding on with my fingertips. After a few minutes I was slowly inching line up and when it reached about 50 feet from the surface I asked for an unloaded gun, for the backup shot. I then made a slipknot in the tagline and put it on my arm (not recommended) and loaded the gun. The whole time I could see the hole in the fish getting bigger and bigger. With the gun loaded I made a dive and half way down, the fish got startled and I had to surface. I quickly got another breath and dove again. I inched my way down the tag line remaining completely still I reached the mono, which meant I was close. Just a few more feet down the mono and I fired... CHEE HOO! Yes I did the tiger woods fist pump and everything cause I stoned it. Man it felt so good getting that thing to the boat after twenty minutes of not knowing if it was going to rip off. So after the hi fives we booked it back to the honokohau harbor. Since the scales were closed for the night we had to come back the next day to weigh it.

I put it on the scales and it read 24lbs... We were all stoked, the first ever spearfish landed as far as we know, and we just had the best two days of our lives. We ended up with a total of nine mahis, one ono, a marlin, and a 24lb spearfish our best dive trip ever.

Special that first of all goes to God for keeping us all safe and then to Kenny Fogarty on the Makana Lani for everything, Rob White at the Blue Water Hunter for the great gear and good advice. And to my brothers and two friends Austin and Joel for all the help getting me the fish of a life time. Thanks!