That's right, we are in the middle of the prestigious annual Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament, which runs through August 10 this year in Kaila-Kona. The tournament is one of the biggest in the world, which makes sense -- boats running off the Big Island have snagged some of the biggest pelagics on Earth. Why is that? Just off Kona the shallow coastal shelf drops into inky blackness with water depths in the thousands of feet. The massive predator fish of the Pacific – blue marlins, bluefin tuna, swordfish -- come to this drop-off in search of a meal of smaller fish. The result? Boats launching out of Kona’s Honokohau Harbor have hauled in some of the biggest catches in the world; a small marlin is in the hundreds of pounds and the biggest have cleared the 1,000 pound hurdle. A fleet of tricked-out fishing boats manned by able captains also make Kona a fisherman’s paradise. Go deep, go big, folks! Captain McGrew Rice grew up on the Big Island and has hauled in several record catches aboard the Ihu Nui. (808) 329-5735.

—Alex, 08/07/07