PO‘IPU — Ed Ford has had many strikes in 15 years, but everything changed Wednesday evening at Po‘ipu Beach Park. “We were right at the point and this big boy struck,” Ford said. “He gave me a fight for almost
PO‘IPU — Ed Ford has had many strikes in 15 years, but everything changed Wednesday evening at Po‘ipu Beach Park.
“We were right at the point and this big boy struck,” Ford said.
“He gave me a fight for almost an hour. It was a good thing there were a couple of guys watching because I sent some of the boys to my truck for the gaff so we could land him on the rocks.”
That strike turned out to be a 71-pound black ulua that Ford finally landed.
“This is the first one in 15 years that I’ve been going for ulua,” Ford said.
“My mom moved me here when I was young and I’ve been fishing ever since, but only got involved with ulua after buying a friend’s ulua pole.”
Myles Emura, a Kaua‘i Fire Department Ocean Safety Bureau water safety officer at the Po‘ipu tower, said he saw the ulua swimming earlier in the day.
After getting off the clock, Emura said he swam the bait, a live nenue, out to where he suspected the fish to be roaming.
“Usually, I swim the bait out to the sand beyond the breakwater, but this time it was a lot closer in,” Emura said. “We had to swim the bait out because it’s live and it needs to float because if it hits bottom, the eels will get it.”
Using the pole he got from his friend 15 years ago, Ford said he used 60-pound test with 200-pound scratch and a live nenue for the catch.
“He hit at six, straight up,” Ford said. “And he gave me a fight.”
Emura said he’s seen a lot of ulua swim through the popular beach park, the largest one hooked tipped the scale at 98 pounds.
“There’re at least two more out there, but they’re not as big as this one,” Emura said. “When I first saw them, there were three.”
