KAPAA — The trophy tree at the Waikaea Canal has a new addition following Saturday’s Second Annual Wahine O Ke Kai fishing tournament. Jolene Spence, sea captain for the Garden Island Trollers, host of the fishing tournament, put up the
KAPAA — The trophy tree at the Waikaea Canal has a new addition following Saturday’s Second Annual Wahine O Ke Kai fishing tournament.
Jolene Spence, sea captain for the Garden Island Trollers, host of the fishing tournament, put up the tail of her 20-pound short bill marlin. It was dwarfed by the giant tail belonging to a catch (not in the tournament) which weighed in between 600 and 800 pounds.
“It’s the big fish and baby,” Spence, who snagged second place honors in the Ono class, said. “Mine was the baby. They call it a ‘short bill’ marlin.”
The fish was the sole marlin caught in the tournament, which featured 12 boats but was cut short by the passage of an offshore rain squall.
“It was pretty bad out there,” said Mike Oishi, president of the Garden Island Trollers, who also served as weighmaster at the Waikaea Small Boat Harbor, more affectionately known as Lihi. “It was raining almost everywhere. They had big drops, too. Most of the boats came in early with weigh-ins taking place around 1:30 p.m. The deadline for weighing in is at 5 p.m.”
The bad weather did not deter the wahine anglers as Brianne Pa and Bianca Higa, fishing aboard the Hana Pa, called in their biggest fish at 1:16 p.m., almost in the midst of the rain. The ahi, weighing in at 141 pounds, was the largest fish caught in the tournament.
Play N Hooky snagged the first place ahi which weighed in at 101.70 pounds, the heavyweight being called in at 12:49 p.m., again, near the midst of the squall’s passage.
Waianela Boiser, fishing aboard the Moloaa II, got her catch early, calling in a 39.90-pound ono at 7:17 a.m. for top honors in the Ono class.
“We were lucky,” Boiser said. “We had just gone out 10 or 15 minutes before the ono struck. That was the only fish we got before the rains came.”
Second place honors in the Ono class went to Spence whose Miss Jo snagged four fish within an hour’s time, her second place ono tipping the scale at 26.30 pounds.
The crew aboard the Iwalani snagged four mahi, the heaviest coming in at 12.10 pounds for top honors in the Mahi class. The Iwalani crew also logged fish at 12 pounds, and two at 10 pounds.
Annie Holstein and Jackie Capra, fishing aboard the Tsotsi, brought in a mahi which was radioed in as a possible contender, but the pair’s winning fish was an aku which weighed in at 22.10 pounds, handily breaking the 10-pound minimum for consideration in the Others class.
Spence said the tournament is hosted by the Garden Island Trollers which brings the community together to foster the spirit of good fellowship and unity among the women anglers on Kauai.
