Monday, February 28, 2011

P-Pass going off!


One of my favorite right handers can be found in micronesia, pohnpei. If its on, its on! And this weekend while we had 2-4 ft surf, pohnpei was solid 8 ft. I got a email from the owner of the Pohnpei surf club saying to get over so Wade Tokoro and some boys went down and scored! This is probably as good as it gets and with more north swells headed our way if you want to surf this then shoot me a email and you can be there in a day.

Hawaii forecast looks like trades for first half and breezy konas for the second half with a mix of north swells coming so plan your week accordingly. Also congratulations to my friend Chris Palignawan for spearing the new state record Ono at 87 lbs! I can't wait to see the pics:)

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

HSD EXPO 2011


Worked all weekend gearing up for the upcoming HSD expo March 20th. Did some filming with Merlinda Garma (host of HSDTV) for our new show coming up on March 1st at 8:30 pm on OC16. Got some trips lined up with a few open spots. One diver seat to Palau (March 6-13) and one surfer seat to Mentawais (June 28-July 12).

If you want to get some deals on dive gear then make plans to attend this years HSD EXPO March 20th at the blaisdell. Lots of goodies and gear for you dive enthusiast. We will have a booth and Merlinda will be there to sign autographs as well. Next few days will be wet and wild so eat miso soup, watch HSD videos, and start packing or planning your next trip. Surf is declining, winds are picking up, water should be dirty for the next few days.

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Kole Hunt

Today was one of those days that even our meterologist could not predict. I debated where to dive for hours then made the call to stay nearshore. Then I as went to sleep last night the rains came down hard for hours and the water was sure to be dirty. Well we made it out bright and early. Kirby Fukunaga and Keith Yamane joined me for day of diving. The morning inside the bay was sheet glass but outside was a totally different story. 10-20 mph onshore slop!
Our first drops were slow on the pelagics but this curious Kahala came in for a bite on our palu and Keith put a good shot into it. It weighed in over 20 lbs. We worked the ono ledge for a while then decided to head in for some reef action.
Kirby wanted to test out his new guns for our upcoming trip and put a few on his stringer for tonights dinner. We were lucky to find some clean water and get some fish.
My agenda was to target "kole". I had the onos for small kine fry fish and pulled my 3 prong and t-bar and went old school diving while the boys played with their spearguns. A nice menpachi was hiding in a hole and luckily stayed there for me to spear.

After lunch we decided to head in and call it day as we had enough for our family and friends! Well gotta run and clean fish now so everyone have a safe and enjoyable presidents day holiday!

Monday, February 14, 2011

Valentines Dinner

Happy Valentines Day Everyone! Hope your day went well and you got your red roses for your valentine! We tried to make reservations for dinner but if you are last minute like us 3 musketeers there was no chance of finding any open reservations so plan-b was to go catch dinner.
Red was on our list so we decided to grab a handful of menpachi for tonight's dinner. We had one 3 prong on board so Travis Masutani and I took turns grabbing a few. Can you believe these little fish sell at the supermarket for $8 each. You do the math...

We had a bonus surprise as I dropped Kris Tyler at one of my spots and as soon as he jumped in, this Mahi made a B-line to my flashers and the next thing you know, the fish was on the boat. Did a few more drops looking for Onos but to no avail. Then Travis yells "AHI"! A half dozen tuna start feeding on our palu but they did not stick around long enough...oh well next time!

Saturday, February 5, 2011

On the Job(fish)

I've been on the working hard this past week knowing the weather was going to be nice, so made a few calls to my fellow dive partners, James Oshiro and Travis Masutani and we were all fired up to go. Put on my new dove wetsuit and was ready to go on the job.
The water was flat and with the morning sunrise it was feeling good! It was so clean with 100 ft. visibility we were able to scout and find some really good spots. We were working one area when we spotted to big Ukus (jobfish) eating our palu. One big one was hanging around and because of his greed he kept coming back for more. We made several drops as he veered away but with a few pieces of palu drifting down, the Uku came in for his last bite and Travis lined up and blasted it with his 120 riffe euro.
After what seemed like 10 minutes of fighting, I dropped down to take a good look at his shot and it was holding well with his slip tip so I motioned to pull it up. As he gingerly played the fish, we were lucky no sharks came in, allowing him to bring it up in tact.
The fish came up and it was huge! His personal best Uku was 18 lbs and this one was way bigger. We celebrated with high fives and decided to call it a day.

It clocked in at 26 lbs. just short of the hawaii state record at 29 lbs. We took pictures, made a few gyotaku prints and fillet the fish for the superbowl party tomorrow!

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Go-Naminori Party 2011

Last night we got invited to the Go-Naminori Party which was a blast! The gang from Okinawa, Japan, and Hawaii got together for a fun time on top of Waikiki. Kirby Fukunaga (right) has been a great friend and we share the same vision of making other peoples dreams come true.
Meet Naoka (Left), the man behind the computer of Go-Naminori! He works 8 days a week, 25 hours a day, and I told him to relax this time in Hawaii.
The Moniz kids were packed liked sardines on the couch with Kasuma (2nd from left) and Shun (right) checking out the action. These are the next generation of pro-surfers!
Craig Sako, pulled out all the stops and cooked up and unreal meal. He steamed Kumus, cooked the cow, made poke, and killer banana cream desert.

The night was still young at this point until the Bee Jees music started playing and Kasubo made his entrance "cutting up the rug" to say the least...stay tuned for more!