NAWILIWILI — Chad Valmoja was a dual winner Sunday during the weigh-in of the first Kauai Youth Football Shoreline Fishing Tournament.
Valmoja took the eel category on a submission that tipped the scale at 7.3 pounds, and claimed second place in the papio class with a 6.1-pounder.
Kaikona Davis-Caberto wowed the gathering crowd at Nawiliwili Park when he proudly showed off his 3.9-pound oio while waiting for the line to dwindle at the scales.
The fish topped the oio class and earned top honors in the keiki-oio class as the sole entry.
Roland Rull brought in a trio of ulua, the heaviest tipping the scale at 70.2 pounds for top honors in the class, surpassing Clayton Ancheta’s early entry that settled the scale at 56.5 pounds.
Riley Refamonte was worried his fish would surpass the 8-pound cutoff for the papio division, but he made it by 0.2 pounds to claim top honors over Valmoja’s 6.1-pound entry.
“This was a good tournament,” said Brad Hiranaka, KYF commissioner.
“Going into this week, we only had a handful of entries, but at the last minute we ended up with more than 140 entries. We’re going to get feedback from the fishermen to see how we can make this even bigger, with more categories and better systems for next year.”
Nardo Nacnac, one of the KYF coaches, said the primary reason for hosting the tournament was to raise funds for equipment for a Westside KYF program where Coach Kyle Linoz has more than 100 applicants in the community for all age divisions, including flag football and cheerleading.
“With the Kmart store closing, there are no good shoreline fishing tournaments for families anymore,” Nacnac said.
“We’ll see how we can improve so families will still have a fishing tournament, and KYF can always use the funds to continue its football programs in the community.”
Hiranaka said the first tournament got tremendous support from the community.
Each keiki angler could earn prizes, and Pepsi donated a bicycle for giveaway.
Results
(Entry weight in pounds)
Ulua: Roland Rull (70.2), Clayton Ancheta (56.5), Allan Andres (38.7)
Papio: Riley Refamonte (7.8), Chad Valmoja (6.1), Alfred Aki III (2.9)
Oio: Mikio Tabata (5.4), Cale Fernandes (4.2), Kaikona Davis-Caberto (3.9)
Others 5 Pounds and Under: Kurt Oshima (4.7, 17.75 inches), Kevin Pongasi (4.7, 17.5 inches), Dwayne Akau (3.9)
Eel: Chad Valmoja (7.3), Travis Freitas (5.1), Edwin Shigemoto (4.3)
Keiki-Papio: Ziggy Pacanas-Grammer (2.3), Cayden Aranio (1.7), Cyler Aranio (1.4)
Keiki-Oio: Kaikona Davis-Caberto (3.9)
Keiki-Others 5 Pounds and Under: Jonah Javinar (3.1), Ashton Balagat (2.7), Jayvin Daligcon (2.4)
Keiki-Eel: Akoni Villatora (0.9), TJ Freitas (0.5, 20.5 inches), Trestyn Valmoja (0.5, 17.75 inches)
•••
Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
Good on these kids and super good on the parents and helpers who put it on . Its nice to hear about the good news,,,,,,, Mahalo,,, Ted