The Crew:
Russell Tanaka

Captain Russell Tanaka is the heart and soul of Magic sportfishing, and what many captains around the world have aspirations to become as a charter boat captain. He caught his first blue marlin at the age of 9 and started running his own boat (the Mary I) at the age of 19. In 1995 he became the Captain of the charterboat Magic docked in Kewalo Basin in Honolulu, Hawaii, and has continuously maintained and upgraded her to the highest standards of any fishing boat. He goes beyond the industry standards and meticulously performs his job to the best of his ability on every fishing trip, and it shows in the fish production. A somewhat quiet man around the docks, Captain Russell opens up on the boat, but keeps his eyes constantly searching for signs of fish. Every thing done on the boat before, during, and after the trip serves a purpose, which is to produce fish. There are never any cutting of corners in any aspect of the business, and you will not find a harder and smarter working captain and crew anywhere in the world of sportfishing. Need a few examples...?

  Captain Russell has had the most Yellowfin tuna over 100 lbs every year since 1981, the most blue and striped marlin every year since 1996, most total fish over 100lbs every year since 1991, most fish over 1000 lbs (1174, 1106, and 1032 lbs,) 10 days with 10 or more yellowfin over 100 lbs, most mahi-mahi in one day (65), most yellowfin tuna in one day 3 times (14, 16 and 17), most blue marlin in one day (5), most striped marlin in one day (11), and in 2004 Magic had 8 fish over 500 lbs (768, 751, 735, 600, 600, 538, 502, and 502 lbs). There was also a 425, 415, 340, and a 315 lb blue marlin caught on Magic in 2004, not to mention numerous other billfish up to 300 lbs. How about 4 blue marlin in one day ranging from 180 to 287 lbs? The day before that was a pair of blue marlin weighing 538 and a 425 lbs. Other than monstrous billfish and strength-testing yellowfin tuna, 58 mahi-mahi were caught in one day in November of 2004.  There were also many trips where numbers of mahi mahi caught were over 10 per day. No matter what the season, Captain Russell will go after whatever fish is in the area at the time.

Captain Russell Tanaka also holds the distinction of being the only Captain that weighed in 2 fish over 1000lbs in 2 different tournaments. He caught the largest blue marlin in the 1982 Pokai Bay fishing tournament (1032lbs), and the largest blue marlin in the 1997 Lahaina Jackpot tournament (1106lbs). His 1106lb blue marlin is also the largest blue marlin weighed in a tournament when 2 fish over 1100lbs were brought in the same day.
  These numbers are by no means the only ones credited to Captain Russell, there are more. But you would be hard pressed to learn of them from him due to the fact that he is one of the most humble men in the business. He knows his capability, but doesn't need to elaborate on it. He is going to try to do his best on every trip, and if that means staying out a bit later, so be it, (hope you didn't make dinner reservations or have a plane to catch because he isn't cutting any fish off.)  As a matter of fact, if you make a reservation for a 6 hour private charter, you could get booted to another boat should an 8 hour trip become available on the date of your trip. Why is this? It is because Captain Russell feels that if he is going to come in for a trip, it better be one that is long enough to be able to have the best chance for catching fish. He'll let those not interested in a full day go on a different boat. To him, it just doesn't make sense to spend only 6 hours on the water chasing trophy fish. 8 hours is oftentimes barely long enough in his mind.

More could be written about some of the days Captain Russell has experienced, but it would make for long reading, and there is a memory limit for the search engines:) But the best way to find out is to book a trip and you probably hear some from him.