HANALEI — Roger DeCamp and his team aboard the Hooker II may not have had the heaviest fish, but his team placed in two of the five categories and topped the special opala — trash — category Saturday at the
HANALEI — Roger DeCamp and his team aboard the Hooker II may not have had the heaviest fish, but his team placed in two of the five categories and topped the special opala — trash — category Saturday at the fourth annual North Shore Fishing Tournament.
Weighing in at the historic Hanalei Pier which received special reinforcing from DeCamp’s construction company, the skipper of the Hooker II finished with 72 pounds of marine netting snagged while out fishing.
He also came in second in the ahi category with a 224-pound beauty, but was edged out of the top spot by the team aboard the Jackie Marie who submitted a 223.8 pounder.
Pita Latu, aboard the Lilly-Belle, came in third place in ahi with a 217 pounder in the heavily contested category. More than 30 fish crossed the scales by the end of the 6 p.m. cutoff.
DeCamp also finished second in the ono division with a 42-pound submission, being edged out of the top spot by Marvin Lum and the team aboard Leimomi, who wowed the spectators with a 52.4-pound heavyweight.
Stan Morinaka and his team aboard the Staci Dee 5 filled in third place with a fish that settled at 41.2 pounds, Morinaka donated that fish and another ono as well as a mahimahi to the tournament for its banquet.
The team of Dennis Dato, Ryan Foster and Keoki Rapozo took the heaviest marlin and the heaviest fish in the tournament honors with a 262.8-pound marlin which Foster said the crew snared about the noon hour.
“We got our big fish so we thought we would call it a day and enjoy,” Foster said in a phone conversation. “No need to be greedy. Might as well have fun.”
Paul Schurch and the team aboard Kupono took the runner-up marlin category with a 166-pound fish.
Nelson Armitage and the team aboard Nanea topped the mahi mahi category with a beautiful 13.2 pounder followed by Pat Omo’s team aboard the Kai Lio with a 10.8-pound fish.
Troy Tanigawa and his team aboard the Keikilani topped the aku category with an 11.2-pound catch followed by Sequoia Phillips aboard the boat of the same name ending with a 9.6-pound fish.
John Kubeck and the team aboard the Sea Wolf finished third at 6.5 pounds.
A total of 56 boats and teams took part in the popular tournament which was moved up a month due to request from participating anglers, said Gary Pacheco, the event announcer and father of Chad Pacheco, the chair for this year’s tournament.
The Wai‘oli Hui‘ia Church sponsored the event, which packed the Hanalei Pier.
