Captain Al likes to say that there is Kona fishing, and there is TOPSHAPE Kona fishing. With attention to every detail, Captain Al has set out to make the TOPSHAPE fishing the leader in luxury sport fishing in Kona.
Captain Al
- Owner and operator of TOPSHAPE
- President Goose's Edge Inc. 40 years
- Corporate sponsor of over 15 tournaments a year
- Fished Hawaiian waters for 25 years, mentored by Kenny Takashima
- USCG 25 Ton Masters License 14 years
- Multiple tournament winnings
- Former President of Hawaii Fishing and Boating Association
- Recipient of 2009-2010 Hawaii Big Game Fishing Club “Captain Dawley Award”
- Creator of the “Friendly Catch” radio show 2009-2010
- Yearly captain and boat of the Hawaii International Billfish Tournament (HIBT)
- Married father of 2
- Married to Suzanne Gustavson - The Billfish Foundation
TOP TAGGING ANGLER FOR SPEARFISH IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN
Award Winner 2010 & 2011 - Grandfather of 4
- Graduate Chico State University
- Bass pro and guide Northern California
- Consistently highly rated by HIBT angler scorecards.
John Bennett
- USCG 100 Ton Masters License
- Bachelor of Arts and Science Degree Florida State University
- Proficient in all aspects of fishing including: live bait, lures, and dead baits
- Ultra light to heavy tackle, and fly fishing experience
- Traveled and fished multiple seasons throughout: Florida (atlantic and gulf coast), Bahamas, Isla Mujeres Mexico, Cabo San Lucas Mexico, Hawaii, and Cairns Australia.
- Charter, private, and commercial fishing experience.
- Multiple tournament winnings
- Largest fish to date: 1021 lb blue marlin
Topshape wins the prestigious Richard Boone Award for 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2016
We are very proud and humbled to be selected again for the "Richard Boone Award." Which recognizes Topshape as the Best Tournament Big Game fishing boat for the 2014 Hawaii International Billfish Tournament which was graded by the anglers that fished aboard the boats in the Tournament.
This award is especially exciting for us because the teams selected us. The scoring goes as follows; each team at the end of the day will fill out a rating report that rates the Captain, Mate, Condition of Boat, Fishing skills from 1 -100. Of the 5 teams we had on board we were rated with a score of 199 out of 200 for a second time in 2014. In 2012 we were fortunate to be rated in second place for the Richard Boone award with a score of 195.
The award is named after actor Richard Boone, who was active in the operation of the HIBT and owned the charter boat "Goodbye Charlie." Boone was a regular at the dock and in the press room throughout many annual events until his passing in 1981. Because of his close association with the charter business, Boone sought a way for the HIBT to recognize excellence in craft, and the Boone awards were established in his name…
Please note, on top of achieving this very prestigious and coveted award, Topshape is rated the #1 charter boat on Tripadvisor with 98 perfect scores and at the time of this article has well over 42,000 fans on Facebook. This tells you how hard we strive to give a GREAT fishing experience to all our anglers on board the Topshape.
Thank you Kenny "TOPSHAPE" Takashima for being my mentor
