KAILUA-KONA — Rich Wilson will leave Kona with one less thing on his bucket list and a whole lot more hardware with his name on it.
Wilson and fellow Team Likeke angler Tony Crabbe won the 56th edition of the Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament on Friday.
“Tears were streaming down my face as we pulled into Kailua Pier. I dreamed of winning this tournament,” Wilson said.
Wilson has been in an extended bout with cancer and said the trip to the HIBT was meant to be one last hurrah in the Hawaiian waters he grew up fishing in.
“The doctors told me I would not see another Christmas,” Wilson said. “My dear friend Tony Crabbe came to Utah when I was in the hospital and told me I had to get better because we were going to the billfish tournament.”
It has been quite the journey back to Kona for Wilson, who was born in Hawaii and spent many years fishing here before moving to Cedar City, Utah.
“When my father had a heart attack we had to sell our boat and move away,” Wilson said. “But I never lost my passion for HIBT fishing. Hawaiian fishermen have the deepest passion for fishing.”
Team Likeke fished aboard the private boat Dojo with captain Ryan Foster all week.
Wilson boated a 447-pound blue marlin on Day 2 to push Team Likeke up the standings, and never moved out of first place after taking over the lead on Wednesday.
Every point and pound from the five days of fishing mattered. In the final standings, Likeke edged Sunshine Coast Game Fishing Club 2296-2289 for the Governor’s Trophy. Japan’s Kona Game Fishing Club – Kusatsu took third place. There were 31 teams in this year’s tournament.
Illusions, captained by Tim Hicks with crew members Chris Kam and Jordan Kilkenny, was the top boat scoring the highest number of points over the five days of tournament fishing.
A torrential rain cut the weigh-ins short, but left enough time for the only qualifying fish of the day to hit the scale.
The big fish on Friday was a 547.3-pound blue marlin caught by Keiji Matsuba of Kona GFC – Team Osaka. The catch came on Rod Bender. The team hooked up just after the start of fishing and Matsuba fought the marlin for four hours.
Japanese teams bookended the week with the two biggest marlin of the tournament. On the first day of fishing, Kona GFC – Team Kusatsu brought in a 573.4 pounder, the largest of the tourney.
“This was a memorable year at the Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament,” said HIBT Founder Peter Fithian. “All 31 teams and every charter boat in the fleet put points on the board. I’d say that is pretty close to perfect.”
