Capt. Jason Holtz, Pursuit

Home Port: Kailua Kona, Hawaii

Boat/Power: 38 Ricky Scarbrough/Cummins 480hp. each

Wins to Date: 2015 Firecracker Open, 1^st Place, 500 points.

Tackle: Shimano 130s spooled with Amilan on custom Melton Tackle rods.

The Firecracker win puts Capt. Jason’s winnings over the $1 million mark with his angler Jack Sanford. In the past Jason has won the Kona Kickoff twice, the Big island Marlin Tournament, the Championship and the Marlin Magic Lure tournament.

In The Spread

“In the Firecracker we pulled a Koya Poi Dog and a Koya bullet and also a Marlin Magic Ruckus and a Tantrum plunger from Australia made by our friend Nick Durham. All were rigged with single Bart hooks. My leaders are all 2.45mm Momoi no matter the size of the lure. I just pull four lures, no teasers. The big fish hit the Poi Dog with an 11/O Bart P’aa hook.”

Technique

“My tactic is the same every day: we try to catch the biggest one out there. Team chemistry is important too. We are all friends and have fished together a lot, from our angler Jack Sanford and his friends Lance and James to our deckhand Ryan O’Halloran. For this one we had my father Mike Holtz as second crew and gaff man. Everyone knows what to do and stays calm when it matters the most. I use 2.45mm leader on everything. Actually when the leader gets that size they don’t test breaking strength so it’s just measured by diameter. It’s probably around 700 pounds but we don’t use it for the breaking strength, we use it for the chafe resistance. You can’t pull and break 600+ pound leader, but you can chafe it off.”