NAWILIWILI — Malie Miyazaki caught the most fish and Tryten Pongasi hooked the biggest fish Sunday. The two anglers were among the field of nearly 80 keiki taking part in the Nawiliwili Yacht Club’s 15th annual Father’s Day keiki fishing
NAWILIWILI — Malie Miyazaki caught the most fish and Tryten Pongasi hooked the biggest fish Sunday.
The two anglers were among the field of nearly 80 keiki taking part in the Nawiliwili Yacht Club’s 15th annual Father’s Day keiki fishing tournament in and around the Nawiliwili Small Boat Harbor.
Miyazaki took top honors with Most Fish caught (by hook), her top mamo coming in at 5.0 (length plus girth measurement) in the primarily catch-and-release tournament chaired by Bonnie Tiffany.
Miyazaki’s note by judges said it was the “whole family.”
The judges said Tryten’s kaku, or barracuda, came in at 27.50 and had the “sharpest teeth.” Kyla Pongasi came in two inches below Tryten’s submission at 25.50, his eel described as “spotted.”
Another eel, described by judges as “spotted and escaped,” came in at the final minutes of the game, the long eel generating squeals of excitement among the field of anglers waiting on weighing in as the eel wriggled at the end of Niko Laborte’s line. The eel measured in at 24.25 for Longest Fish honors.
Caden Shimabukuro’s moana, or goatfish, warranted a lot of looks from onlookers, capturing fourth place as Next Biggest fish with a measurement of 19 (17.5, plus 2), just half-inch shy of Xaiden Tumpap’s eel (19.5). Xaiden’s eel finished as “Next Longest Fish” to Laborte’s eel.
Kaylah Santos’ manta shrimp, described as a cross between a shrimp and lobster, was the Most Unusual, and Brendan Melendez had the Ugliest fish. Santos’ partner, Kira Weaver, brought in a kaku measuring 4.75 and described as “smallest, but scary.”
Kolten Gusman had a palani with a girth measuring at 12.0 for Fattest Fish, beating out Austin Oliveira’s hinalea which had a 7-inch girth for Next Fattest Fish.
Some of the other judges’ descriptions included “sleek,” for Isaac Nagahisa’s lai, “flatest” for Tryten Pongasi’s papio, “best pattern” for Chayse Garcia’s eel, “flying teeth” for Lucas Baliaris-Rivera’s sand opu, “lively perch” for Gweynn Arical’s toau, “floppiest” for Chayse Garcia’s toau, “fastest” for Nainoa Lopes’ mamo, “sporty” for Evan Yamauchi’s squirrel fish, and “it’s something” for Brendan Melendez’s brown fish.
Dick Olsen said nearly 80 anglers were registered, and with just minutes remaining in the two-hour fishing period, some 70-plus entries had crossed the rulers of Edd Schepker, the weighmaster.
With the fishing out of the way, the NYC returns to the final race of the Junior Invitational Series Thursday.
The public is invited to view the competition with the NYC Race Committee from the Nawiliwili Harbor jetty wall area when the first flags fly at 5 p.m.
Visit www.nawiliwiliyachtclub.org for more information.
