NAWILIWILI — Time was running out yesterday. There was about 30 minutes left for fishing in the annual Father’s Day Keiki Fishing Contest hosted by the Nawiliwili Yacht Club, and reports of fish were sparse. “We have a lot of
NAWILIWILI — Time was running out yesterday.
There was about 30 minutes left for fishing in the annual Father’s Day Keiki Fishing Contest hosted by the Nawiliwili Yacht Club, and reports of fish were sparse.
“We have a lot of crabs,” one family reported. “But no fish.”
More than 40 young anglers set out along the shorelines of the Nawiliwili Small Boat Harbor to try their luck, and with time running out the NYC weighmasters opened up their weight books and set up “By Hook” and “By Crook” pages.
By hook were fish caught by hook, line and sinker, while by crook were those snared by nets and included crabs. Or, are crabs considered fish?
“The fish aren’t biting, so gotta do something,” Rastin Peahu’s mom said, rigging up a length of driftwood with some fishing line, and improvising a weight setup.
She proceeded to palu the water, and as the minutes ticked down, Rastin showed up with a hinalea snagged with his improvised setup. His sister and brother also did some improvising, but were not as fortunate.
Cal Koga’s camp had a fabulous backdrop as one of the Norwegian Cruise Lines’ ships lay at anchor.
But, that didn’t help fishing.
“We had three strikes, but nothing held,” Cory Nakamura said. “They must’ve been sharks. So far, we have nothing.”
But that changed in the final minutes as Koga showed up with a bucket containing a kaku, or barracuda, that measured in at 18 inches with a seven-inch girth. The appearance of that fish created a stir in the NYC Clubhouse as people clustered around to see the catch being measured.
Weights are normally taken at fishing derbies, but to ensure the catch-and-release goal of the NYC event, only lengths and girths were taken.
NYC’s Sharon Gibson, who doubles as their scorekeeper during the racing series, said the children are the winners because they have such good responses from the community. These community businesses contribute to the prizes that the young anglers become eligible to win once they enter the contest.
Sponsors include True Blue Charters, Island Adventures, First Hawaiian Bank, Kapa‘a Branch, Hawai‘i Fishing News, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Burger King, Wal-Mart, Costco, Kmart, Avon representative Ann Cabreira, Hollywood Theathers, Kalapaki Beach Hut, Cost-U-Less, Kaua‘i Lagoons Golf Club and Pete and Nina Peterson.
NYC resumes its Junior Series, Race No. 3 (of 4) Thursday.
The public is invited to view the competition from the jetty wall where the first flag flies at 5 p.m.
