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!

Mexican Shootout 2009

Just in from the Mexican Shootout 2009! Everyday we awoke to this type of beautiful sunrises off the coast of La Ventana's finest resort, Palapas Ventana. Our hosts Tim, Himena, and Karon Hatler rolled out the "Red Sea" carpet over looking their restaurant and we spent 5 days of diving in 80 degree water. With no sign of swine flu (not even 1 case) in La Ventana we were ready to dive!

Our boat captains were up early at the crack of dawn with boats in the water ready to go! 2 divers per boat provided ample space for all our gear. They were so fired up, that they always waiting for us down at the beach while we were on "hawaiian time" everyday.

Some of our highlights were spearing these large broomtail grouper that were down deep around 75-80 feet but all the divers managed to land a few with lots of teamwork. Team "Nigeria" Keaka Ching and Chris Paglinawan took top honors and Captain Camaleon was the winning Captain. Another great year with a variety of fish landed including Wahoo, Roosterfish, Snappers, Groupers, and even a shot on a Marlin. Gracias to Palapas Ventana and all our sponsors for making it a successful event. Can't wait for next year!

Surviving the Na Pali Coast

We went over to Kauai's Napali Coast to do some filming this weekend and we had a blast! "Surviving" the elements with nothing but the bare minimum was our plan and with dive gear and kayaks in hand we were ready for action. Jared Furusho was excited as the rest of us packing his fins and hoping for the best conditions.

This was my first trip to the Na Pali Coast and definitely not the last. Breathtaking mountains and deep underwater caves with spectacular views.

We slept on the beach under the stars and almost found overselves to be "road kill" at 2 am. more to come on this later.

Kevin, Tom, Brandon, Jon (Uku), Jared, Allan were the survivors here. What a great weekend in Kauai with non-stop action in and out of the water!

HSD EXPO

What a busy weekend at the 2009 Hawaii Skin Diver Expo. Doors opened at 10:00 am and there was a line of people who flooded the doors. We had a booth and lots of interested people came by to sign up for our free trip giveaway. In the first 45 minutes almost 400 people came through the doors.

Hammerhead Spearguns had the most elaborate booth with a big crew, cash register, computer, even this mounted fish to lure in the customers.

Jay Riffe along with his daughters Julie and Jill were present and showcasing their latest products. Jay is a legend in the spearfishing community and has more stories to tell than any other diver. We still haven't unpacked our boxes yet and with all these summertime surf we might just leave them in place for the next festival coming up in October.

North Shore Kagami

What a busy weekend! Did some work and did some play. No surf so that means dive! I was debating weather to go west but last minute went north. Good thing because I heard traffic was nuts on the westside due to a broken water main. I met up with National Spearfishing Champion Wayde Hayashi for a dive and he showed me how a champion dives. Weather was a little rough but when you are in the right place at the right time it doesn't matter. This huge Kagami swam up to check our chum and Wayde was there to make sure he didn't eat the chum. I see this huge 20+ lb silver flash of Kagami coming up from the deep and within a few minutes he was in the boat. Wayde will be heading up to Nationals this year and teaming up with Kimi Werner in the mixed team division. We wish them the best of luck as they represent Hawaii.

Kilauea lighthouse

Wind, wind, wind with no waves in the forecast for Hawaii means it's time to travel! I wonder if everyone already forgot about the June south swells and itching to surf. Next big trip is to Mexico August 16 for the Mexican Shootout! I hear there are some big onos being speared and with El Nino this year it may bring in more pelagics! Anyone know where this secret lighthouse is? Located on the Northeast side of Kauai, Kilauea lighthouse is a postcard view in itself. We will be filming in Kauai in a few weeks so can't wait to visit the local landmarks and eat some Hamura Saimin and lilikoi pie soon.

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!