Fishing for relief

KAPAA — The weather is hot, humid, and not very nice for staying home. 

Relief is not in sight until late Monday, or Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service, but that does not bother Marie Alejo.

Alejo packed a cooler of bait, some drinks, and her fishing pole, and took up a spot just oceanside of the bridge along the multi-use path spanning the Moikeha Canal in Kapaa Friday.

“Her name is ‘Marie,’” said Seth, a local worker. “Her mother’s name was ‘Mary,’ and they both know this area like the back of their hand because they fish here. They’re the queens.”

Marie, plying her bamboo pole in search of oama, or goatfish fingerlings, said her mother, Mary Alejo Napoleon, used to fish the canal, and she used to tag along.

“Now, I have to get ready for football to watch my grandson who plays for Kapaa High School,” Alejo said. “Today, I’m fishing. It’s very enjoyable, but it’s slow — the fish not biting.”

Alejo said the activity was brisk Thursday afternoon around 2:30 p.m.

“When it’s fast, you just put the pole in and pull ‘em up,” she said. “When I go to Anini for oama, there are guys who have a short pole and with barbless hooks, the fish just drop in the bag. Today, the rubbish fish (they hang out by the rocks) only getting the bait, but no can help —the oama hanging out by the rocks. I only have about 12 oama.”

She said her sister, Ruby Tsukamoto, is “da real fisherwoman.”

“Ruby goes all over,” Alejo said. “Me? I like stay here, or maybe Anini, but Ruby goes wherever the fish stay. She’s the real fisherwoman.”

Alejo said she likes fishing, especially at the Moikeha Canal, near the ocean.

“I just like the ocean,” the grandmother said. “People come and talk story. But it’s hot and I can stay here all day — maybe I’ll jump in the water afterwards, too. It’s better to be fishing than staying at home.”