The 8th Annual Blue Water Hunter Spearfishing Extravaganza

by Julie Ann Klaz

The stars were still bright in the sky above us as we raced full throttle down the Kona coast hugging the shoreline. I was driving with six fresh stitches in my right arm, I would be forced to watch the day's action from out of the water. With my new Riffe Competitor 3x speargun sitting in the back of the boat to taunt me, we were off!

We approached our first destination “C” F.A.D. Buoy approximately three to four miles out from Kealakekua Bay and deep in the blue water. We could already see another boat with 5 divers on it circling C buoy as we motored closer. "F.A.D." stands for "Fish Aggregating Devices". There are seventeen of them surrounding the Big Island of Hawaii. They are large round floating buoys with 2,200 pounds of chain and concrete anchors sunk beneath them. Smaller bait fish such as Aku (Skipjack Tuna) and Opelu (Mackerel) hide under them and these attract the larger and tastier pelagic species such as Ono (Wahoo), Mahimahi (Dolphin Fish), Ahi (Yellowfin tuna) and Au (Marlin), just to name a few.

With a turn of the wheel, our boat quickly changed directions and headed straight to the next buoy in line, UU buoy. Rob White, owner of the Blue Water Hunter and holder of Hawaii State's largest speared Ahi record and Garrett Nishihara, experienced blue water hunter and professional life-saver, were fully suited up and ready to go with their bungee lines and floats in the water even before I slowed the boat. Strategy in place, Rob threw the first handful of anchovy chum into the blue water.

Rob, having scouted all the buoys in the days before the tournament, laid out the game plan; "Jump in and if you don't see anything then we are going south to B buoy" Rob told Garrett as he finished throwing a second handful of silver palu into the blue ocean water. Garrett silently when over the side of the boat, gun in hand. UU buoy had been 'going off' with Ahi and Aku and the occasional marlin for the last couple weeks.

Rob's game plan was to make a brief stop at the buoys and if we didn't see anything fishy to keep going south to the last buoy his boat would reach, TT buoy. Then, if needed, we would work our way back up north up the buoys with a couple stops near shore to check in the “Ono Lane.” UU buoy was already surrounded by a couple fishing boats and we could see them pulling in one large bait fish after another. Rob threw chum off the back of the boat while I helped put their floats in the water. Rob made the call to leave for the next buoy before the silver chum was even out of sight. We almost had to drag Garret out of the ocean when I drove the boat over to pick him up. Today was Garrett's first dive in six months, because of his busy work schedule, and now he was surrounded by thousands and thousands of Aku and Shibi (small Ahi), as far as the eye could see. Rob made the call to head out because none of the fish within our reach were big enough to count as points, in his rules for the Tournament.

Since Rob and I had the fortune to dive at UU buoy over the weeks before the competition, Rob told Garrett with confidence; "These are only bait fish, let's go find larger fish". Garrett got out of the water reluctantly and we were off once again. Having finally seen fish, lots and lots of fish, woke all of us up and the early morning chill, of 70 degrees F, was soon forgotten as we sped onward.

Floats inside the boat, we raced full speed over the glassy ocean to the next buoy as the sun just started to show over Mauna Loa. As we sped south we were soon enveloped by a thick, brown haze of our very own Vog, a combination of the words volcano and smog, fresh from Kilauea. Researchers have concluded that these very tiny particles of Vog in the atmosphere actually suppress raindrop formation in clouds. So with this much Vog, we were going to have a very sunny day ahead.

Tensions were high as we approached B buoy, for we were running out of buoys and we could see what looked like divers already in the water hunting our fish. Our chances of being the first in the water at a buoy were growing slim with only these next two buoys within reach of our boat. As we drew closer to B buoy we could see what only could be the team of spearfishing guru Bruce Ayau and pro surfer Jeff Silva frantically packing spearguns, floats and themselves back on Jeff's jet-ski. Without a fish in sight at B buoy and having spotted us in Rob's "Blue Water Hunter" boat closing in on them quickly; the race to the final buoy was on.

With one last buoy on the west side of the island within the reach of our boat and fierce competition facing us we floored the engines and headed south into the open ocean. TT buoy is famous for its wind swell waves and because it is so far south it is no longer protected by the shadow of the island. This leaves it vulnerable to the full force of the open ocean winds and swell. Needless to say, that this was also the one buoy that we did not have logged into our GPS unit. Rob had tried earlier in the week to reach TT only to have to turn back or risk sinking his boat from the wild wind swells. So, not only were we racing to get there, but racing to figure out which way to go!

Without GPS coordinates to guide us and a jet-ski capable of speeds up to 50 miles per hour behind us we prayed for some wind and swell to slow Bruce and Jeff down. As we drew away from the shadow of the island, the ocean's surface was still glassy smooth and calm. With our boat running at its maximum speed, we could do nothing but watch as Jeff, with Bruce sitting behind him, gained on us with large grins on their faces.

Finding TT buoy would be challenge enough without fierce competition flying behind us on a jet-ski, for all the F.A.D. buoys drift up to several miles in every direction everyday depending on the currents and winds. Within a few minutes the ocean's surface began to change. Rob yelled over the crashing noise of the bow plowing through the building wind-swell; "Yes more...more!" As Rob focus not burying the bow of the boat in the ever worsening swell, Garret and I watched in trepidation as the jet-ski moved into our wake to avoid the brunt of the ocean's growing force and matched our speed.

The jet-ski knew no bounds and with one spectacular leap into to the air after another steadily gained on us, much to our disbelief. With Rob's focus on what was in front of us, Garret and I could only hold on and yell as we watched Bruce, Jeff and the jet-ski disappear in a giant explosion of whitewater each time it hit the water.

We shook our heads at the thought of what a pounding Bruce and Jeff were taking in trying to catch us. One full air after another they gained ground until we were resigned that they would be the first to reach TT buoy and any fish that were there. Then we realized that because they were so low in the water, they were dependent on us to find TT buoy for them. We debated driving in circles until their bodies gave out from the ocean's pounding but it was too late... TT buoy was in sight on the horizon.

As we adjusted our course, our tail must have seen the buoy as well for they moved out of our wake to overtake us. We watched transfixed as, in the ever worsening swell, Bruce and Jeff seemed almost superhuman in ignoring the brutal beating the ocean was giving them. With the buoy dead ahead the jet-ski suddenly came to a dead stop behind us.

What was to have been certain defeat turned into hope. As I struggled to keep the boat on course the guys readied every piece of their gear. I stopped the boat up current from the buoy so we would be drifting right by it. Rob began the chumming while Garrett dropped quietly off the right side of the boat. I overtook the task of throwing slimy handfuls of silver palu overboard from Rob so he could drop silently over the left side the boat to join the hunt.

Within seconds Garrett surfaced yelling; "Mahi, Rob get over here, you have to see this!" Garrett would later tell me that the minute he looked up after entering the water he was surrounded by more than forty Mahimahi and that the largest one was feet in front of him. As Rob finished rounding the stern of the boat to join Garrett in the hunt, I could even see from the boat all the beautiful flashes of Mahimahi yellow and green in the water surrounding the divers and the boat.

Within two minutes both Rob and Garrett had speared the day's soon to be largest two fish. The boat deck was filled with large flopping, beautiful, green Mahimahi, spear shafts and tangled monofilament line and two hunters grinning ear to ear. Blood splashed everywhere as the very alive Mahi fought for their last gulps of life. With Rob and Garrett frantically trying to untie their lines and reload their guns, Bruce and Jeff pulled right up into the action. It turns out that Bruce and Jeff had a float fly off the jet-ski and they had to turn back to find it.

I took Rob's unloaded Riffe Competitor 4x gun out of his hands and gave him my Comp 3x while unhooking his bungee line from the struggling fish. Comprehension dawned on his face and he lit up with a huge smile as I told him to leave the mess for me and to get in the water and go. Garrett soon followed suit and passed me up his unloaded blue water Darryl Wong Ono gun and I handed him his Darryl Wong hybrid reef gun with reel. With both guys back in the ocean, I quickly untangled spear shafts and monofilament from fish and readied Rob's gun and sat waiting for the next round in my blood spattered new white bikini. What better way to be sure of a boat deck filled with bloody flopping fish than to wear a white bikini?

Within minutes both Rob and Garrett were back aboard with two more Mahimahi, one a piece. In all the confusion during the slaughter, Garrett had to watch helplessly as his new, impossible to replace, Tibor slip-tip blue water spear shaft fell quickly past him off the boat to the bottom of the ocean. Garrett had to finish the day with his Darryl Wong reef gun, being left without a shaft for his blue water gun.

With our catch of five Mahimahi still wiggling on deck, the guys went back in the water for more. Bruce and Jeff caught their two Mahi and lost two more due to a faulty spear shaft. Within the next hour the wind swell became so large and steep that Garrett actually became seasick while in the water, imagine how I felt stuck on the boat. Bruce and Jeff soon departed to what would be a very rough ride back to a calmer part of the ocean. With no more Mahi to be found and my face feeling a nice shade of green, we yelled goodbyes to their departing backs and readied the boat to leave. We soon discovered that all the Mahimahi couldn't fit in Rob's large fish cooler. They were way too long and the lid kept opening up. Now these are the nice problems in life! With the now filled cooler, securely closed by Garrett's having to sit on it, we headed back to the island. All this before eight o'clock in the morning.

We debated docking the boat and going out to breakfast once we reached smoother seas and could think about food with feeling instantly nauseous. The thought that another boat or two might have gotten just as lucky as we did with our Mahimahi coupled with an intense love of the ocean kept us diving all day until two-thirty in the afternoon. We realized just how lucky we had been after stopping back by all the earlier buoys and never seeing another fish nor hearing of other fish caught all day.

By Rob's contest rules, one team can only win in one category; either the “Total Aggregate Weight & Points Prize” category or the Grand Prize cash category of “Largest Fish”. This way things are fair and one team cannot win all the prizes and the cash. Here are the results from the 8th Annual Blue Water Hunter Spearfishing Extravaganza:

Grand Prize for Largest Fish went to the team of Rob White, Julie Klaz and Garrett Nishihara for Garrett's Mahi of 23 1/2 pounds and Rob's Mahi of 23 pounds. Second Prize went to Calvin Lai, Jr. for his 22 pound Mahimahi and Third Prize went to Bruce Ayau for his Mahi.

By the contest rules, the First Place Total Aggregate Weight & Points went to team of Calvin Lai, Jr., Calvin Lai, Sr. and Rubin Rubio. Second Place Total Aggregate Weight & Points went to the team of Rob White, Julie Klaz and Garrett Nishihara and Third Place Total Aggregate Weight & Points was won by the team of Bruce Ayau and Jeff Silva.

The team of Jeff Kinimaka, Kimo Gaspar, Duane Sasada and Captain Jr. Minamishon arrived at the weight in an hour and a half late, due to engine problems, and were unfortunately disqualified from the competition. Jeff had caught the only Ahi of the day, at 22 pounds, and they had also caught two Mahimahi, at 17 pounds and 11 pounds. We were glad to see they arrived home safe and sound.

A special thank you to all of our sponsors; Riffe International for all their prizes, Mike Kawamoto from Kawabanga's Custom Spears, Clark's Spears, A.Q.A Watersports, the Lai Family for their wonderful coolers and their fish print trophies and last, but not least, Rob White at the Blue Water Hunter for hosting the event.

Please check for updates and details of the Blue Water Hunter 10th Anniversary Spearfishing Tournament to be held on November 3, 2007 here in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. There will be many divisions to compete in and great prizes for

both reef and blue water categories.