As principle photography begins to wrap up, I followed Jason on one last fishing expedition earlier this week as he went out for dawn kayak fishing off the beautiful Puna coast. It was about a 45-minute drive from Hilo down through the mystical tropical forest to this relatively remote surfing spot in the cool October darkness. Jason and chase boat skipper Gary Young met me at the ramp and in just a few minutes we were out in the big waves.



I have to admit, as a land-loving cameraman the rolling swells so sought after by diehard surfers were a little bit daunting. Okay, I was terrified. At times Jason's kayak was riding up the waves ahead of our 12-foot skiff 10 feet over our heads …but there was a job to do and once I got some sea legs, tape started rolling and thanks to Gary's expert helmsmanship we got some great footage. Thank goodness I was way too scared to get seasick.



Topping it all off, in only about 10 minutes as the sun began rising out of the sea, Jason got a bite—and what a bite! After a lengthy battle he reeled in a 32-pound Ulua (for us non-fishermen, that's a great big fish!). Jason yelled "Monster!" as he pulled all four feet of it up out of the water and slung it across his kayak. "Next stop: Dinner!"



Skipper Gary looked at me and yelled: "Shall we keep rolling?" I said, "No, I think that's just enough! That's just fine, uh-huh. Why don't we go back in now?" We got back to dry land none too soon for me, but with a great scene in the can.