Cool Thread Guys, sounds like something from an Alcoholic Anonymous meeting.....Hi my name is Kurt and I am a GT addict
In the late 80's, I was fortunate enough to work with a guy on Maui named Kimmy Bryce. He was previously the skipper of a game boat called No Ka Oi IV. He used take some of the Hawaiian popping pioneers, Peter Dunn-Rankin, Mke Sakamoto and others out to an island called Kahoolawe. The fishing was good there because it was a military island that was only open for fishing one weekend a month.
Once I got my first boat, we started talking about the island. We spend long nights talking about techniques for poppers and other lures. He had some great lines, "if you are not picking opihis with the lure you are close enough to the rocks." I used to get just murdered landing very few fish on the 20lb mono, but I was "hooked." Some years later, the military gave the island back to the Hawaiians and it was closed to fishing. There went my popping spot.
When I moved to Tonga about 6 years ago, I started popping again with my ancient Penn 850, 10' Uglystik, 65lb braid and an old box of Pili Poppers. I was still getting wasted. I had no idea that the equipment technology had gone so far over the years until Fukui came to Tonga for a fish. I took him land-based fishing and he left his gear in my van overnight. My son and I were in awe. We had never seen such "pretty" gear. His tacklebox was the size of a suitcase I would use if leaving home for over a month. It did not take long after he left for me to order my first proper GT outfit.
To make a long story short, the late Kimmy Bryce started the fire and Kenzaburou Fukui and discovering the great people on this site have rekindled the fire.
