Note: Due to the graphic nature of the subject matter, this event may not be for small children or animal rights activists.

The 47th annual Hawaii International Billfish Tournament kicked off on July 24 on the Kona Coast of the Big Island. This is the the world series of billfish tournies, an event that brings in fish so big if one landed on your car they'd have to extract you with the jaws of life. Teams come from all over the world -- 30 countries in 2006 -- to reel out their lines off the sunny Kona/Kohala Coast. Marlins love the Big Island because the water drops from several hundred feet in depth to several thousand feet right off the coast (roughly two miles from shoreline) and the big guys like to pick off the little guys who stray to far. Catches can eclipse 1,000 pounds. I highly reccomend taking a trip down to the dock at Honokohau Harbor to see some of boats come in with their catch -- its an amazing sight. Want to enter next year's tournament? It's not that hard to do. Catching a fish, of course, is something else entirely. Also, the boats that sail in this tournament are mainly from the Kona Coast fishing fleet. The are captained by some of the most seasoned fishermen in the islands (the name Freddy Rice seems to come up a lot). Here's a list of past winners and many of these boats are still running, often with the same skipper. The tournament desk (808-329-6155) is happy to answer questions about when to come down to see the fish as they're offloaded and weighed.

—Alex, 07/24/06