Mahimahi Strike Big
For Some Epic Kayak Fishing!

If you've been following our fishing tales you'll know that the Uyeda brothers, Kevin and Gareth, have been having a truly great year. Within a week of boating their second ono (big one at that), they joined Aquahunter.com's Isaac Brumaghim, Mike Ichiyama, and Craig Colburn for some kayak fishing that put them up a few notches on the in-progress Aquahunters Makahiki Tournament and gave them a day they'll never forget!

Here's the account passed on by Kevin Uyeda of their unbelievable trip!

While we were getting our gear ready, we saw the most selfless thing ever. Craig had quietly gone and cleaned up all the trash around the area we were in...and there was A LOT of trash. Our beaches would be spotless if everyone did even one tenth of what Craig did that morning. We launched in beautiful conditions, around 6 AM and the hunt was on...LET’S GET READY TO RUMBLE!!!!!!!

Roc was the first to get a strike... We were about 1/2 mile away from him, looked over, and saw a big bull mahi leap out of the water! Roc said the bull was leaping out of the water toward some baitfish and gobbled up his bait instead. The fight was on! Roc's bull dove down and gave him a tough battle below the surface, using his broad body and head to keep Roc from bringing him up.

Isaac "Rocket" Brumaghim boats the first mahimahi of an unforgettable day!

As this was all happening, we took a strike on our main rod. Line peeled off the reel and then the jump! No time to watch Roc battle his mahi...we had one of our own. After some time, Roc landed his mahi and tried to get it in his bag, BUT it was too big, so half the fish stuck out of his bag. What a great problem to have!

Craig and Mike were there trolling around looking for any followers and just in case Roc needed help (safety first). After about 7 or 8 jumps and a deep dive, we finally landed our mahi, and HE didn't fit in our bag either...like I said earlier, great problem to have. No time to lose, we tossed another line out, paddled for about a minute and got another strike!

At first we thought this bull was smaller, but after a long hard battle, we realized that he was bigger. We got him to the kayak, just about ready to give him a kage shot, and he screamed out a bunch of line. A few minutes later, he was back at the kayak and we gave him a kage shot to the head. He got a burst of energy, bent our kage, and shook off!

Back in the water, he made another run with a hole in his head, fought for a few minutes more and we finally got another kage shot and lifted him into the yak. I cut his gills to bleed him out and we packed him away in our bag…well half way anyway.

The Uyeda brothers match Isaac's catch with not one, but two of their own mahimahi!

We (The Uyeda Brothers) now had 2 mahi (The Mahi Brothers) that didn’t fit in the bag and were up to Gareth’s stomach in the yak and we were having difficulty paddling. Roc had his mahi that was too big for his bag too. Luckily for us, Jimmy - Captain of the BlueWater Hunter - and his boys were out on the water! Roc called, they drove over, and packed Roc’s and our fish in their bag to hold for us. HUGE MAHALO to Jimmy and the boys in the BlueWater Hunter!

Mahi madness travels to Craig Colburn's line as he boats the third mahi of this crazy day!

Minutes later we saw a mahi jump behind Craig’s kayak. He stopped paddling, grabbed his rod, and another battle was on! Four mahi hookups in a matter of minutes!!!!! We tried to paddle over to get some pics but were too far away. I snapped a couple off anyway hoping to get a pic with the mahi in the air...no luck. Craig boated his mahi after a fun and exciting battle with Roc right there to capture the moment with his digital camera.

Mike got on the radio and said, “I guess I’m bringing in the rear.” Not to be outdone and no more than 30 minutes after saying this, we saw him grab his rod and he’s on a fish! Mike landed his fish, and it was a good one...a twelve pound uku! But wait...Mike wasn’t done yet, a mere minutes after landing the uku he was on another fish!

A few minutes later, Roc asked, “What you got there?” and Mike responded, “Two ukus.” Roc responded with something like, “You gonna have to go to the barber shop if you keep getting ukus.” Fish count/scoreboard by 8:30 - 4 mahis, 2 ukus, and a few lost fish. Craig had other obligations and paddled in around 11:00 with a 20# mahi in his kayak

Although not on the camera, Mike Ichiyama turned in a great catch of two uku and a mahi!

The bite ended, or so we thought, and we paddled for quite awhile. Later we saw why things were quiet. Roc had another mahi AND a kawakawa in his yak, but hadn’t said anything. He was in stealth mode the whole time...sneaky bugga! We were getting tired and were about 3 miles away from Mike and Roc, so we decided to start paddling toward them. Just then, Mike got on the radio and reported there were mahi around his kayak. We were about two miles away by this time and were paddling like mad. We got close just in time to see a mahi jump out of the water, blues, greens, and silvers sparkling in the sun. This was the last fish of the day for any of us, a 7# mahi.

Isaac, Kevin, and Gareth pose for one last shot still not sure if the day really happened!

We all ended this EPIC day with smiles on our faces and a grand total of 6 mahi, 2 uku, 1 kawakawa, and one kaku catch and release.

Thanks to Roc, Craig, and Mike for fishing with us, and again a SPECIAL thanks to Jimmy and the boys on the BlueWater Hunter for helping us out.

Congratulations to all on a truly epic day, and a big mahalo to Kevin for sharing the unbelievable account!

Check out the Uyeda brothers' Tandem Fishing Kayak!

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