FITTED HAWAII

Very proud of my young cousin Dyana as she graduated from Waianae High School last week with honors! Go get’em cuz.. the world is yours and sky is the limit.

If you have ever stood on a skateboard you can’t help but admire DB’s style, speed and trick selection. The dude has it figured out.. just slightly wouldn’t you say?

Picked Capri up early from school yesterday as I had promised her the day before we would head out onto the water to watch her first solar eclipse. Even though all the viewing glasses were sold out all over town we still headed out. Although we didn’t have our glasses we did have a pole just in case and Capri being the lucky charm that she is we had a fish on before the line was even all the way out. My Girl.

I firmly believe that there is no better way to learn than actually being in the field experiencing your surroundings first hand, we all know that you can’t catch a fish sitting on the couch. Ms. Werner is living proof that there are alternatives to classroom life.

After countless trips on the kayak and a full day out on Uncles boat last week I was getting the sense that the Capri M. was feeling a bit neglected. Rounded up Kema and Logan to take her out for a spin on Saturday although they didn’t sound to happy about getting up at 4am. With Uncle taking his boat out and Kema’s boy Jeff taking his out we had a small fleet on the water that morning and we were all feeling optimistic as the bite has been mighty hot on the Westside lately. Jeff was on the water first and headed straight out, we launched next and Uncle was last to get on the water due to a small but very important piece of boat equipment missing… every boat needs a plug. We headed to the point and found a few birds at which point Logan strikes first and has a Shibi and a Aku in the box quickly. Uncle finally gets on the water and we give him and Jeff the locale and the good news… they both head our direction. Jeff and his girlfriend find us and boat a Shibi and Aku aswell and are amped after getting skunked on their last trip. Uncle blazes right by us determined not to let the young boys out fish him… friendly competition. With blood on the boat we decide to look for bigger game deeper and head out with Jeff following close behind. Uncle heads to his secret spot and we don’t hear from him until late in the afternoon, meanwhile I decide to change direction due to the increased winds. Jeff decided to head in due to fuel concerns. We head to my favorite ledge and pick up a nice Aku on a small lure and Kema silences Logans jokes with a fish of his own. Push a bit further down the ledge and the outrigger finally pops… the sound I have been waiting to hear all day. After a short run the fish jumps and Kema mans the reel.. we get it in the boat after a missed gaff attempt… but like I say any gaff job that gets the fish in the boat is a good gaff job. With the prize game fish in the box at the 7hr mark we refuel and head for home… Logan praying for some action. Uncle shows up at the house a few hours later with a respectable Aku load and everybody wins. Cuzzo light time! Big mahalos to Uncle for sharing his catch, Kema and Logan for bringing it, Jeff for letting us borrow poles and most of all Kristen and Capri for letting me sneak away.

Recently added another kayak to the fleet and have been eagerly waiting for the right time to test it out since it is equipped with a rudder. My yak consultant Mr. Carlyon assured me that once I go rudder I will never go back. Being a person that believes less is more having all the added hardware on the simple boat didn’t have me to pumped. So yesterday the rain finally cleared by early morning and nobody was at the office yet so I decided head out to my favorite spot in town. Checked my usual launch spot and the tide was so low that it wouldn’t allow for access to the outside reef. Checked spot number two and the water didn’t look so promising there either and by this time I was ready to head back to the warehouse and get to work but thought maybe check one more spot. After navigating ridiculous mid morning traffic I finally arrive at the third launch spot. OK now we are talking.. lots of sun, lots of sand and lots of glassy ocean. Drag the rig down to the beach and push off and hop in the yak. Oh shit this is hella uncomfortable!… with my feet on the rudder pedals my knees are in my chest. Didn’t help that I improperly installed the high back seat either… so by this time I’m looking like the Hunchback of Notre Dame… and extremely novice. Luckily I’m the only one around. Get about a 1/2 mile offshore and I am over it… always nice to be on the water but the lack of comfort had my mind made up… time to go in. Well as you can tell from the pics just as I am turning around to head back to shore the 12lb test line starts peeling of the reel and off the ugly stick like never before. So fast in fact that I begin to see the gold of the reel and I am in real danger of getting spooled. Now we are having fun!! Quick drag adjustment and it’s on… after a 10 min tug of war with this feisty fish I get it close to the yak and see that it is the biggest and strongest fish I have hooked up with yet on the kayak. Happened to have a small gaff with me and thankfully so. I mean I have caught a few pelagics on a boat but there is something really intimate about fishing of a kayak. Anyways head in and forget all about the cramped paddling position and feeling proud. Share a few flip phone pics with the boys and they all said that the Kagami Sashimi is choice. Mr. PK from Paiea Projects volunteered to slice this bad boy up and did a fine job if you ask me.