KEKAHA — With about five minutes left to fish, the marlin hit the bait behind “Wahine Kepaloa.” “They got the strike and made it back within the weigh-in period too,” said Maxine Akita, one of the coordinators of the recent
KEKAHA — With about five minutes left to fish, the marlin hit the bait behind “Wahine Kepaloa.”
“They got the strike and made it back within the weigh-in period too,” said Maxine Akita, one of the coordinators of the recent Kikiaola Westside Boat Club fishing tournament.
That strike earned the crew — captained by Keala Lanning — the distinction of landing the heaviest fish, as well as nailing down the top slot in the marlin category, at the annual fishing derby headquartered at the Kikiaola Small Boat Harbor.
Lanning and his crew — Darick Akita, Frances DeCosta and Chad Kubo — landed a 687-pound marlin to win the overall category, as well as total weight for a single catch.
Runner-up for the marlin class went to Capt. Glenn Yoshida and his crew aboard the “Kara-El” who landed a 230.5-pounder.
Captaining “Plus One,” Wayne Kobashigawa nailed the top three slots of the aku division with fish weighing in at 21.3, 17.8 and 17.1 pounds. Tony Lazaro and “Kalena” secured fourth place with a 13.4-pound submission.
Aboard “Seacat One,” was just 8 ounces better than Brent Olson and “Hukilau” in the Mahimahi competition; Parker topped the class with a 12.5-pounder.
Tiani Kajiwara and “Wahine Kepaloa II” dominated the ono class with a 42-pound fish. On “Jeannie K,” Jon Kakuda came in second with a 31-pounder. Kakuda and Walton Souza tied for second, each weighing in 27-pound fish.
Aboard “Wet Dreams,” Mark Oyama landed the biggest ahi with a 184.5-pound fish, followed by Dale Pigao on “Ki-Lani,” whose tuna weighed in at 178 pounds. Peter Kali and Nelson Togioka followed with entries of 176.5 and 160.5 pounds, respectively.
Lazaro and “Kalena” finished with the “Most Pieces” on 44 fish submitted. Troy Martin had 25 pieces and Vincent Olores and Matt Munar turned in 20 and eight pieces, respectively to place third and fourth.
Bigger isn’t always necessarily better though. Olores also had the distinction of weighing in the smallest fish, a 2.7 pound aku.
