Hanapa'a

Hanapa'a! After a fun week of south swells looks like the north will come alive next week, can't wait! Today we had an hour to spare so went to the pier with mamo on our mind and we got lucky! My nephew Maika casted his line and patiently waited for a bite. After 10 seconds he pulled the bait up, 5 seconds later he checked his bait, 5 seconds later got tangled on a rock, then after reseting his line, bam! Left corner went off, floater went down, and he was on! He was so stoked out of his mind and I think he is hooked:) He may be ready to dive soon. As the old chinese proverb goes.."Give a man a fish and feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime".

Got Fish?

Weather has been terrible lately with all this strong winds. March is typical for this windy no wave pattern so if you need fish check the United Fishing Agency (UFA) on Pier 38. This week there are loads of fish of all sorts, shapes, sizes. Wahoo, Ahi, Big Eye, Mahi, Opah you name it they got it all. I was debating to go out this weekend but instead indoors and paid a visit to UFA.

As a diver, I had to browse the tuna section to dream a little of what fish I would like to try and catch next. There were some big boys in the 200 lb range.

So I took my dive knife out and shoyu/wasabi and sampled one...nah! They do this so buyers know the quality of the fish. You can see the color, texture, and firmness and decide what fish you want to buy. So I watched the bidders in action, put my bid in, and bought one for this week.

Now I got fish for the whole week, breakfast, lunch, and dinner! Winds should be backing down later next week and we expect another good size northwest swell so time to wax up and get barreled!

Diver vs Fisherman

Today the water was a little rough as the trades were picking up so we had a couple hours to kill. Divers Owen Adams Sr.(above), Owen Jr., and Travis Masutani climbed on board and we headed to do some reef diving. We got a mixed bag of black and reds, with these nice stringer of menpachi, uhu, and jo-louis caught by Owen Sr.

After we finished washing up, we were talking story and eating lunch and this huge boat pulls up and in the bed of the truck is this giant Marlin.

They just caught it and it was so big it didn't fit in their fish box of this 30 ft. boat. Quickly the crew starts cooling the fish off with the water hose so it wouldn't spoil.

Then out comes Captain Ken, with a saw to cut off the bill so it would fit in their fish box. It weighed in at 425 lbs, so looks like lots of smoke marlin for this week. Let me know when I can swing by for a pick up. Ha ha!

Going on a Opah hunt

Today I woke up early to check out the "Hawaii Auction Block". Met up with Brooks Takenaka (right) and his crew at the United Fishing Agency on pier 38. If you haven't been here before you gotta check it out. Nobu-san, Guy Tamashiro, and all the big seafood stores buyers come here for the fresh catch of the day.

Ahi was the call and there were over 25,000 pounds of fish today from five boats.

I was in pursuit of Opah or moon fish for today. I've never seen these diving before so I thought I get some for the party.

Also picked up some nice "Big Eye" tuna which looked so ono. I wish I had a bowl of rice, wasabi, shoyu, and miso soup.

This fish has 30 percent yield so if you get a chance to eat it, chew slowly and enjoy! Thanks to Brooks, Nelson, and the boys for helping me get fish. Their website is www.hawaii-seafood.org. And I didn't even have to get into my wetsuit.

Ahi in August

The day I was leaving for Mexico, I get a call from my friend Dean Imanaka. He's was 3-4 hours away with a big smile on his face having caught his fish of the year, a 200 lb. Ahi and needs a fish print done today. I first begun my diving alot with Dean back in the days and till this day he looks the same and even has the same waist line from intermediate school. Yes, his PE shorts still fit! But on this occasion he needed his help from his crew and with the right "Gaji Lures" in hand it was a sure thing. Allan Sato (left) creator of the Gaji Lure brought his pink/blue skirted lure and it was game on! My Dad and Mom headed over and the gyotaku print came out awesome!

Gaji Lures

Happy 4th of July! Hope everyone had a safe and fun holiday. No better time to pull out the sashimi and poke with good friends and family watching the honolulu city lights going off. But to get that fresh sashimi you better dig deep in your pockets or have your favorite lures on board. Before we left on our trip to New Caledonia, we were blessed to meet up with Allan Sato of Gaji Lures who literally hooked us up! We hooked tuna, ulua, mahi, uku, and aku with his lures and were stoked on the performance of his lures.

Beth Oakes landed her first mahi weighing in at 26lbs and she was stoked to say the least. As an avid spearfisherman, I don't have as much patience waiting for fish to bite my lure or bait. I'll make a few casts, let out the lines for 10 minutes trolling, or make a couple of drops bottom fishing and if nothing takes the bait I get anxious and go in after them with my speargun. But when the bite is on, I'm there. If you haven't tried a Gaji Lure yet, you are missing out on all the action! Log on to www.gajilures.com and get hooked up before your next party!

BJ Gone Fishing

One more day before 2009 arrives and so much to do!  Like go fishing, diving, surfing...Here University of Hawaii's superstar, BJ Itoman got some time off the basketball court to land her first Ulua on one of our Red Sea Trips.  We were diving when we heard BJ yell, "Hanapa'a" and reeled in this prize Omilu.  Notice the electric blue-green colors and how vibrate it looks.  Probably one of the most tasty fishes in the trevally family.  I hope we can catch more of these this coming year!  Weather forecasting trades for the rest of this week with a bump on the north with light winds for next week so you know where we will be:) Be safe everyone!

Ahi Fever

Well looks like our ocean is heating up as "Ahi Fever" is just around the corner and the boys are already hooking up!  Rumor has it the auction block is full of tuna and prices are low if you are trying to sell fish so better just hook up, spear um, and eat um!  Ken Pang and his crew on "Aloha Friday" landed this beauty and was kind enough to save us a few slabs of sashimi for our family.  Winds are forecasted to back off a little more and surf on the south shore is on the rise so pick your hobby and get out there and stay cool!