From left, Derek Bulosan, Capt. Shannon Kamaka, Leyton Kahalewai and Co-capt. Trent Matsumoto with their tournament-winning blue marlin. PHOTO BY DONNELL TATE.

The Shannon K, out of Kahului, won this year’s 19th annual Jonny Baldwin Halloween Shootout with a 419.3-pound blue marlin angled by Leyton Kahalewai. His team members were, Capt. Shannon Kamaka, Co-capt. Trent Matsumoto and Derek Bulosan.

Captain Kamaka fishes out of Kahului, so he headed out of Lahaina toward the Pailolo Channel to fish in his backyard. The waves started to pick up, so Shannon slowed the boat and decided to put out some lures and try to pick up some ono on the inside, shallower water.

They spotted a bird pile and headed out toward them. They worked the birds for a while, but things were dead, so Shannon kept going out to deeper water where he likes to fish. They changed out the lures to troll for marlin.

They were about four miles off Halawa, Molokai, in about 240 fathoms of water, when they had a strike on the short corner lure. The marlin grabbed the lure, made one half-body lunge and took off.

Derek saw the strike and started shouting, “Marlin on; marlin on!” He started clearing lines as Leyton went to the rod.

Shannon turned around and watched the fish run down the pattern for about 400 yards, taking half-a-spool of 130-test line. He couldn’t back up fast enough to keep up with the marlin, so he continued up seas until the lures were out of the water, and then turned the boat down swell and went after it. They knew they had something big by the way it ran.

The rod was in the port corner holder, with Leyton cranking as hard as he could, picking up good line. “Grabbing that rod and reel, knowing that I am the guy,” put a lot of pressure on him. The pressure on trying to get the marlin in, and not wanting to lose it.

As they started to get an angle on the marlin, Leyton moved the rod to the center holder and continued the fight. He pulled and cranked on the reel for the next half hour, getting it close.

The marlin was about 100 feet deep off the port side, but they couldn’t see color. Leyton kept looking at the side marks on the spool on how much line he had gotten back. The spool was pretty full.

Right at that point, whether the marlin saw the boat or got spooked by the engines, it took off again, almost spooling them this time. Leyton stood at the rod as Shannon turned the boat to chase after it one more time.

Leyton mentioned, “Just bringing that monster in, getting it close, and then it takes off again. Knowing that this was the fish we were going after, your adrenalin pumps more — your anxiety is a little bit more. I didn’t want to lose this fish.”

With the marlin off the port side, Leyton kept pulling and cranking, making sure to keep tension on the line and not let it turn and run again. After the second run, bringing it back in, feeling the tension on the line, working the fish, Leyton kept looking at the spool, thinking, “Okay, it’s getting there.”

“The marlin was getting tired. I was tired,” said Leyton. “It felt like forever fighting the fish.”

Being in a place where you’re not getting anywhere, as he looked at the spool, that’s how he felt. “I’m cranking, but what I was pulling in? The line was going right back out in short runs. When is this ever going to end?” Leyton thought.

A half hour later, they finally had the marlin to leader and saw color. They knew they had a big fish. They knew at that point they had a contender.

As the marlin came to leader, it was pretty calm but showing its color. It didn’t try to go into the props, and didn’t try to pass the boat, swimming along the port side as Leyton cranked it up. Almost a perfect ending to the fight.

Shannon put the starboard engine idle ahead, stepped outside, grabbed the leader, and pulled the marlin up. It rolled over onto its side. Derek stuck the first gaff, with Trent following it up to secure their catch.

They got a tail rope on it and hauled it over the port side rail.

“Definitely an exciting day. Definitely a day that I will never forget,” said Leyton. “A day that I was glad I was on the Shannon K.”

The team took home $24,650 in Shootout monies.