There were fishing tales galore at the Third Annual Ho‘okuku Lawai‘a Punana Leo o Kaua‘i Shoreline Fishing Tournament this past weekend, but James Avilla and Summer Woolsey reeled away the biggest prizes. Avilla grabbed two top honors in both the
There were fishing tales galore at the Third Annual Ho‘okuku Lawai‘a Punana Leo o Kaua‘i Shoreline Fishing Tournament this past weekend, but James Avilla and Summer Woolsey reeled away the biggest prizes.
Avilla grabbed two top honors in both the Moi and O‘io categories. His 4 lbs. 5 oz. Moi was enough for the $250 first-prize, along with his 8 lbs. 1/8 oz. O‘io, which captured another couple hundred dollars. But he wasn’t done and decided to try his luck in the Ulua division and it seemed as if his next trip should be to Las Vegas, because he nailed down the second-place prize with a 66 lbs. 5 oz. Ulua for $1000.
A special inaugural recipe contest went down to the wire and when all the plates were empty, the judges chose Woolsey’s “Fire Cracker Deep Fried Salmon Laulau,” which just made my tongue drop to the floor.
The former FM97 radio disc jockey earned the first-place prize of furniture pieces from Two Frogs Hugging, valued at $800.
Nalani Kaneakua put the “Lime in the Coconut” for the second slot, as her Fresh fish cured in lemon juice squeezed the Holoholo Charter Cruise from the judges, which was valued at $189.00.
Spicy Garlic Fish with Lemon Wasabe Tobiko sauce (geez, lucky judges) prepared by the infamous Meagan Nelmida-Rice was the third best dish at the Kaua‘i Community College (KCC) grounds. She ran away with a Radisson Kaua‘i Beach Resort Prime Rib and Seafood Dinner, worth $124.80.
Charmaine “Don’t call me Rachel Ray” Moises had her “Ali‘i Soft Fried Fish” on the table and judges couldn’t resist the tantalizing aroma and decided to let her walk away with the fourth-place prize, which was a Banana Patch cermic ware, valued at $107.
Not to be outdone and the only man to place, proving that men are just as good in the kitchen as women, was Keali‘i Ka‘imina‘auao, with his “Garlic Ahi.” He’ll be enjoying a nice Anara Spa treatment at the Hyatt Regency Kaua‘i, thanks to his tasty creation.
But back to the live stuff, as Robert Bihm captured a 72 lbs. Ulua for the $2000 first-place prize. The third-place check of $500 went to Pono Pananganan, with a 62 lbs. catch.
Other winners included: Tyson Rabago (9 lbs. 5/16 oz. Papio, $1000), Sheldon Fu (9 lbs. 1/16 oz. Papio, $500), Shawn Baliaris (8 lbs. 5/8 oz. Papio, $250), Jose S. San Agustin (3 lbs. 3/4 oz. Moi, $150), Mike Teruya (3 lbs. 3/4 oz. Moi, $100), Mario Barran Sosa (6 lbs. O‘io, $150), Gareth Souza (5 lbs. 3/16 oz. O‘io, $100), Kalama Matsushima (8 lbs. 1/8 oz. Catfish, $250), Adam King (3 lbs. 1/2 oz. Bass, $150), Vincent Fermin (3 lbs. 1/6 oz. Tucanary, $100), Kai Watson (27 lbs. 5 oz. Ulua, $100), Stanton Yoshimori (19 lbs. Barracuda, $75), Paul Apilando (3 lbs. O‘io, $50), Tylor Pacheco (9 lbs. Kahala), and Daniel Cartwright (3 lbs. 1/8 oz. O‘io).
Probably the best part of the event is watching the catch that comes back from the keiki division and this year was no let down with Matthew “Baby Nelson” Panit bringing back the biggest fish. The star soccer player, who showed Kaua‘i that he can fish too, caught a Papio, which hit the scale at 2 lbs. 3/4 oz. Hopefully his cousin Cody (Manibog) will be as talented with the pole as he is.
Namaka Park caught a 2 lbs. Tucanary which bent his pole, but luckily with the help from his parents, he managed to land the second-place catch.
Taylenn Daligdig’s 1 lbs. 1/8 oz. Moana was a fishing tale in itself. Daligdig had to dig deep and ended up with the third-place prize.
This shoreline fishing tournament was a huge success and the best part about it may have been that it all goes to support Punana Leo O Kaua‘i, a nonprofit Hawaiian language immersion preschool. For more information, call 245-1755.
