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How's the Diving on the Big Island of Hawaii? An ongoing series of freediving journals by Rob White December 21, 2003
I met Jeff years ago when he purchased a spear gun from The Blue Water Hunter. But living in Oahu I only saw him occasionally when he was over for business or diving with some friends. Which is difficult to keep any kind of friendship because you just meet and than you don’t see eachother for a year, so it starts all over again. It wasn’t until Bruce Ayau told me about this really cool bruda that is fanatical about diving and was going to be working on the Big Island for a little while. I told Bruce I would be happy to show “this guy” some spots where he could see nice grounds and pick up some fish. Well “this guy” turned out to be a great friend and a great human being, and his name is Jeff Kinimaka. If you’ve read previous journal entries you would have noticed Jeff’s name in several of them. Jeff has accompanied me on numerous occasions and was with me on the incredible day that inspired me to make and keep this journal going (see January, 2003 journal entry). Another detail you might have noted is Jeff’s desire to spear an Ulua, but not just an Ulua, his FIRST Ulua. As a diver and a spearfisherman or spearfisherwoman you all should know what it’s like to want to spear a “big fish” of whatever species you may have locally. Well, here in Hawaii it’s the Ulua (Giant Trevally), which pound-for-pound is touted to be one of the strongest fighting fish in the world. They do incredible things to your dive gear. Jeff has the drive and desire of a Bull Dozer and will not give up for anything. He also smokes cigarettes so when we first started diving together he was having some issues with depth. I don’t mean to embarrass Jeff, actually quite the opposite, because now he can do an easy seventy-foot dive when he wants to. We all started off somewhere, but it is if we “improve” or not that tells about or personality. Jeff and I joke and remind eachother about all the INCREDIBLE things we saw this year while diving together. But the one thing that has evaded us, or Jeff, was his first Ulua. Jeff received a call from a friend of ours named Jimmy (I don’t know if Jimmy wants everybody to be calling him so I’ll leave his last name out) who has been working his tail off at a ranch near the coast. Jimmy told Jeff that the conditions were unreal so we dropped everything and ran. When we made it to “the spot” we couldn’t believe it…for an area that regulars 30-40 mile an hour winds, it was dead calm; almost scary. The conditions were truly unreal however the current kept us in check. We drifted quite a ways seeing many smaller reef fish species but no Ulua’s. We checked a couple holes but nobody was home either. So we ended up swimming a million miles up and down current than back up again working the area hard to find an Ulua or any nice fish. Finally, on one of our zags from our zigs, I spotted a free-swimming large specimen of the fish variety. At first glance it looked like a huge Uku (my favorite fish) cruzing along the bottom about thirty-five feet below. I looked over at Jeff, who was right beside me, and he not only saw the fish but he was already making the dive. I admit I was jealous as hell when I saw Jeff diving because it is rare that I see an Uku this size and it had been a long time since as well. I stopped swimming to watch the action and to reduce the “noise factor” so Jeff would have the best chance at getting a good shot on the fish, when I realized the fish was not an Uku but an Ulua. The Ulua didn’t even see us because it was directly below and heading straight on. Jeff’s approach was slow and quiet but without any structures to hide behind I hoped the Ulua wouldn’t sprint away when it noticed Jeff. Everything looked perfect until the Ulua suddenly twitched and turned to the right and gave one kick to head away (Jeff told me latter that the Ulua turned when a loud squeeeeeeeeek came from Jeff’s ears as he cleared his clogged sinuses). Still well within range, Jeff waited for the Ulua to turn enough to make a solid shot and took it…I thought he stoned it. But in the usual Ulua-like fashion he just sat there for a second than took off. The Ulua fought steadily but Jeff obviously got a good shot in a vital area because I’ve seen Ulua do a lot more damage than it did. Jeff had the “first Ulua mask face” as he swam to the surface with it full of water caused by a smile brighter than the light of day. I was enjoying every minute watching Jeff get pulled underwater time and time again. I’ve never see a happier Hawaiian drowning. When the Ulua finally came up Jeff dispatched it by bear hugging it and breaking it’s spine. Just kidding…sort of. The Ulua weighted in at 44 pounds. Jeff continues to humbly say that it’s small-kine, but he’s not realizing a few things. First, he’s been spoiled by in incredible year and seeing Ulua so big that they would test the will of even the most experienced divers; and second, a 44 pound fish of any species is a damb nice fish! But through Jeff’s humbleness the smile shines bright. Jeff and I stopped by Jimmy’s house to thank him and to offer him and his family some of the days catch…ok, and to brag about Jeff’s Ulua a little. Seeing Jimmy, which had been almost a year for me, and his family at the ranch was another incredible experience for this day or for any day. They welcomed Jeff and I warmly and showed us around a bit. The view was awe striking! Almost 360 degrees of ranch grasslands and coastline. I didn’t realize that Jimmy had been so busy working on the ranch that he didn’t have the time to go diving. Again, you, as a diver and spearfisherman and spearfisherwoman, can at least try to understand how frustrating it must be for someone as passionate as Jimmy (a Hawaiian) is about diving and the ocean and to see it with such an inviting view every day but not to have a few minutes to jump in…and he’s only five minutes driving distance! You can also understand the feeling I got by giving Jimmy and his young children some fresh fish they haven’t had a chance to enjoy for almost a year. I would have given them my arms and my legs if I could… Just another day in Hawaii
December 14, 2003
Jason’s father, whom I know as “Dad,” Jason and I took off speeding toward the buoy’s early this morning. We shared stories of late and anticipation for today. We realized that we have similar goals and interests for spearfishing so we talked about all the different ways of trying to accomplish our goals and how we would work together today to make them work. One of which covered not to pull the trigger on a fish if you didn’t have a good shot. We pulled up to “F” buoy and jumped in. On the way in we had noticed a boat trolling a tight pattern up against the buoy in what seemed to be an attempt to catch a Mahi Mahi that was hanging under the Buoy. So we kept our distance while swimming around and throwing palu. Eventually the boat started heading off so Jason and I went in to see what was there. At first we didn’t see anything under the Buoy but after a few minutes I decided to make a shallow dive, which can make a Mahi curious. I looked back to check on Jason while about twenty feet down and noticed a lone Mahi swimming in his direction. Jason passed on taking a far shot as the Mahi continued toward me but staying right on the surface. I stayed where I was hoping the Mahi would come toward me but she continued crusing on the surface. As I started to rise toward the surface in her direction she kept a watchful eye on me. I felt I was well within range but realized I was shooting at an upward angle so I aimed a smidgen high to account for the quick drop of the shaft when shooting upwards. Well, my great equipment did what it was supposed to do and hit exactly where I was aiming…high in the back. The Mahi took off and immediately ripped free. I guess I was closer than I thought so there was no drop in the spear shaft. Realizing I just took a shot that wasn’t a “sure thing,” like Jason and I had just talked about, I was sick with disgust at myself. I apologized over and over to Jason and felt I had just broke one of the Cardinal Rules of spearfishing especially after just talking about it. Jason just laughed and told me it was no big deal. After a few minutes more in the water we decided to board the boat and head off to try some other sights. Without any luck at the other sights we turned around and headed home. All I could think about was the Mahi that I had missed. In a desperate maneuver I headed outside to try and find something floating in the “rubbish lines” which were also in-line with “F” buoy. We didn’t find any rubbish but we ended up back at “F” Buoy, right where we started, but this time things were a little different. We had just jumped in the water when I looked toward Jason and saw a Mahi heading straight for him. I think I was more relieved that Jason would get his fish for the day and the focus would be taken off of my earlier mistake. Jason pounded his Bull Mahi with a point blank shot using a five (5) banded gun shooting a 3/8” dia. shaft. I stayed still and calm hoping there might be more when I noticed Jason making a hand movement like there were more on the way. Within seconds a second Mahi showed up completely oblivious of her pal that was thrashing beside her. A secure shot to her head didn’t slow her down as she took off to the left than to the right, than right toward me, than to the right… Now Jason and I look over at eachother and laugh as we are both fighting our Mahi’s and three others show up to feed on the palu between us, again oblivious to their thrashing brother and sister. Jason and I tried our best to boat the two Mahi’s so we could reload and try for the other three still feeding on the palu. By the time we were reloaded the remaining Mahi’s were nowhere in sight. Throwing more palu did nothing to bring in the remaining Mahi’s so we decided to call it a day. Now we all had smiles from ear to ear. But it was I who was relieved. As we laughed and talked about the experience I couldn’t help but think about the missed shot this morning and to strive to be a bit more conservative with my shots. The day ended with Jason and I landing identical weighted fish at 21 lbs. and some great filets to share with friends and neighbors.
Dec. 11, 2003 Some days are better than others even at my job. Quite often I wake up in the morning and ponder what life might have in store for me today. I know I can’t predict the future but it’s fun to try anyway. This day would hold an event that was predicted, or should I say it was just highly anticipated? You see, I knew someone would call me at work and tell me that there is an abundance of fish at a particular spot and knowone is there to catch them. I just didn’t think it would take six years to happen. I guess you could say it was predicted? Anyway, Mark Barville comes by the dive shop today about 12:00 noon with a bent spear shaft and in an understated frantic demeanor, like he drank too much coffee he exclaims, “Can you replace this bent spear for me?” Looking around like a kid that just did something he shouldn’t have, Mark whispers to me “look….” Sitting in the back of his truck is about a 50-pound Ono. Thinking to myself that is supposed to be “out of season” for big Ono I ran out to get a closer look. Mark followed me out to the truck and says, “…and there’s a bunch more. Do you want to go???” I said uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhh OK!!! So I put a note on the door that stated I will be back at 3:00 o’clock, grabbed my stuff in record time, shut the doors and locked up, got in my truck and burned rubber to meet mark at the shoreline…except for the oversized Coca Cola truck blocking traffic in all directions for about ten minutes trying to back into a driveway that was WAY to small. FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF*^%&^**&^%$##%%^&*&^%^%##%^&**… Finally I managed to work my way to where Mark told me to meet him right as he was getting in the water. Suiting up in record time I crashed through the pounding surf with a timely jump into a horrible looking valley where the waves come in, crash against the wall, than wash back outward. Time it poorly and you fall about fifteen feet to some nasty Lava than meet a wall of water that will pound you against the Lava rock wall again and again… With a tangled tag line around my neck and feet I manage to work my way out past the washing machine only to meet a gnarly current ten feet from shore in ten feet of water! What did I get myself into!?! For the next two hours I kicked my hardest to keep up with Mark. I don’t know if it was the current, Mark swimming fast or Mark swimming so fast he was creating a current but I haven’t worked so hard in my whole life. Add the anticipation of seeing a large number of large Ono and YOU TELL ME how to keep the heart rate down??? Never the less we were hunting and we needed to find some Ono’s before 3:00 pm. We worked the entire area very well seeing tons of Opelu (Ono bait) swimming around as well as some other fish but no Ono’s. Finally I look over at Mark and I see him poised and beginning a dive. Off in the distance I could see four shadows heading in Marks direction. I turned and swam back up current and over a bit to try and get a second shot on an Ono after Mark gets one. Surprisingly the Ono’s don’t present Mark with the “perfect shot” that the good spearfisherperson waits for. As Mark headed for the surface I dipped below about fifty feet away to see if I could draw the pack of Ono’s curiosity. But they wanted nothing to do with me and they kept milling around about fifty feet away. Mark made another attempt to no avail. I noticed each time Mark or I sat on the surface the Ono’s would start to come in to investigate but as Mark and I would dive they would swim away. So I decided to just hang loose on the surface and guess what…they all swam right to me about twenty feet below. I noticed the two larger ones came in first and the two smaller ones just a few feet behind, but as soon as I started my dive the two larger ones were also the first to leave. Lining up still on the largest Ono, hoping that he might turn around and come back, I decided not to get greedy and take one of the much closer and slightly smaller Ono’s. The 3/8 ” dia. shaft easily sailed through the Ono, which was now secured by the 400 lb. Mono shooting line. Without the resistance of the spear shaft lodged into the fish the Ono whipped off into the distance with my Riffe Torpedo float behind. My massive Riffe Blue Water Gun rigged with a Full Wing Kit and a 3/8” dia. shaft made easy work of a fifteen-foot shot, which would have been pushing it a bit for my Comp. 4X, so I’m glad I lugged the “Big Gun” out there with me. Mark stayed in chase hoping to get a shot on another Ono but the other three seem to disappear. I tried to leave the speared Ono, which was now tired and only keeping pace, down about thirty feet in hopes of attracting the other Ono’s back or even another type of game fish to no avail. The current had pushed us far from the area we first encountered the Ono so we tried desperately to swim up current, but the shore line was getting further and further away. Deciding to head in, Mark congratulated me on the Ono and a fast pace swim. I thanked Mark profusely and explained to him that I was only trying to keep up with him…Thanks again Mark, that was a great mini vacation. Driving back to the shop I had to laugh thinking about how lucky I am to live in a place like this AND to have a job that I do… because it is considered a work related activity right?
December 7, 2003
No particular calling, except for the word that Marlin are around, made me want to check the FAD’s. I know the general rule is to load your gun BEFORE you enter the blue but I felt a bit lazy this morning. Easing into the water at F-buoy, the initial cool water peculated into any open space the wet suit could not contour. I waited a few seconds for the bubbles to exit the suit than released my death grip from the boat as a girly aaaaaahhhhh escaped from my snorkel. Simultaneously as I released my hand from the boat I spy two Mahi on the surface coming straight at me and a girthy Gray Reef Shark about twenty feet below them. I start laughing as they pass me, and me with my unloaded gun in hand, but I had a feeling I would see them again. So very slowly, like I never saw anything, I load each of my three 5/8 dia. bands onto my favorite Riffe Comp. 4X gun rigged with a customized double barbed 5/16 dia. Hawaiian shaft and throw a small handful of Palu to let the games begin. Within five seconds here they all come, shark included, and start whacking the Palu. I hit a personal depth record of five (5) feet (just kidding) before firing a downward angled shot right through the Bull’s head. The shaft never slowed down after it penetrated the Mahi so the Mahi and me sat there for a second thinking alike wondering did something just happen??? I slowly rose to the surface as the Bull started swimming through the Palu like nothing ever happened but didn’t eat anything. Meanwhile the shark and the other Mahi were still going to town on the rest of the Palu. Finally the Bull figured out that something wasn’t quite right and casually started swimming off with me gently hanging onto the tag line. I didn’t want to cause the Bull to fight quite yet for fear of the hungrily aggressive shark would make things hard for both of us so I fed the Bull as much of my tag line as I could give him. I swam in the Bulls direction for me to ditch the still feeding shark as well. As soon as the Riffe inflatable Torpedo Float reached my hand I tightened my grip. Right than the Bull took off and was pulling me through the water like I haven’t been pulled in a long time. I look around to see if this action has caught the attention of the shark but all I could see was the other Mahi about three feet to my right looking at me like…”so, do you come here often?” I smiled at her and thought to myself…yes, I’ll be back to “see” you again. My captain whipped the boat around quickly as I was skiing through the water. I handed up my gun to put on the boat so I could manage the Bull better and get it out quickly if the tax collector arrived. After a few more good runs I managed to hoist the Bull to me and grab it by the throat. Now the shark was close and eyeballing me and the Bull in hand. The other Mahi was close by as well watching the whole event as it unfolded. I boated the 35 lb. Bull Mahi, blood splatterring throughout the deck as I climbed aboard the Twin Vee. Well, I thought, it’s just part of life. So I reloaded my gun and repositioned the boat closer to the buoy. This time I jumped in with my gun loaded, swam to the back of the boat, and threw one more small hand full of Palu. Within five seconds here comes the other Mahi three feet under the surface. At this time I had been in the water a total of about ten seconds and I’m no more than five feet from the boat when I fire from the surface and break the Mahi’s spine. When I pull it up the captain, looking at me with an open mouth said, “You just got in, how the…” Boating this 25 pounder made for a total of 55 pounds of Mahi Mahi in about five minutes. With an almost full box of Palu we decided that we had enough fish for one day. So I dumped the rest of the palu as a donation to the fish below and headed for Kealakekua Bay to just hang loose. After a few minutes inside Kealakekua Bay about forty Spinner dolphins came right into the area, where all the tourists (and us) were swimming around, being extremely playful. They stayed with us for a little bit on our departure from the bay, soon after we were under full speed heading for home. “Just another day” in Kona.
September 6, 2003 Without the unpredictable, timely reminders of the "small pleasures" in life we can become disoriented, like water in the inner ear, seeking personal achievement and feel as if we are racing up a steep sandy dune in ski boots on a hot, sunny day. Our admission to the worldwide club known as freedivers, spearfisherman and spearfisherwoman may be unrealized that we are all seeking these small pleasures to which may evoke any or all of our human emotions but only when we desire it most are we rewarded with a particular personal achievement in the water world. That being said, you may have realized this day of diving was extremely uneventful except for one happening and the usual experience learned about the ever-changing costal waters and our mental and physical selves. Joining a local boy visiting from the mainland, Shalom and I choose to dive a sheltered area protecting us from a recently passing "Hurricane" which luckily turned out to be nothing more than some big waves, rain and some higher than normal winds. My well-loved wet suit of custom fitted titanium, green camo. neoprene is seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and must be retired, at least for this day, recovering from my overly anxious blue water entry from last weekend which nearly separated the upper half of the suit from the lower half. This day I will grab a blue camo. XCEL 3/2 and do some "product testing." Doing what diving partners do, I turned to check on Shalom about one minute after entering the water. To my surprise at the edge of visibility I notice a large figure dodging back and forth right behind an unaware mesmerized diver starring at the bottom admiring the crystal clear early morning surroundings as we all do especially after spending any time on the mainland. Having no idea what this large object was but expecting the worst I franticly lifted my head out of the water to yell at Shalom. Possibly mimicking my movements or simply by chance the ominous figure following Shalom lifted it's head out of the water as well. I yelled to Shalom, "Shalom--behind you!!!" Now realizing the only harm this Monk seal would have caused Shalom was to lick him like a puppy dog we enjoyed the moment and swam around ducking and diving as it was. Trying to take notice of the tag I wanted to see if this was the same Monk as my friend Jeff and I had swam with months earlier at the same location (see January Journal). The rest of the day consisted of numerous attempts to spear some Uhu after spending some time in the Blue water and seeing nothing. All I can say is this spot has either been picked over by many other divers, the Monk seal was hunting around here and scaring the fish or I need to go back to school on how to approach Uhu because I couldn't get close to even pull the trigger. I estimate about thirty attempts on different Uhu to no avail. I like to hunt Uhu in deep water, 40 - 80 ft., due to the fact they don't notice your approach as easily as in shallow water. In fact usually the Uhu doesn't even move by the time you pull the trigger distracted by their feeding and other fishy obligations. Today these Uhu were becoming nervous as I approached on the surface 100 plus feet away. That is one of those "indicators" all of us divers need to add to our mental notes so we aren't to hard on ourselves on those days we work hard out there and come home with little or nothing, indicating influences that may deter certain fish from being approached by anyone for a while.
Aug. 30th, 2003 I’m sorry it’s been a while. Life has been getting in the way of me doing what I like to do second best…that is to relive the events of the weekend diving adventures by righting this journal. I have had some experiences that are worth remembering maybe not for the great fish that were speared, but never the less the drama remains. Leaving the Harbor in the morning never seems to be early enough…like I’m going to miss something if I have to take the time to flick the mosquito off my nose. So I slam the throttle forward on the twin Honda’s and watch the mosquito’s wings peel back until he can’t hold on any more and his legs release from the skin on my nose…yet he’s still there! Crossing my eyes to capture the moment in real-time I take note as the mosquito’s straw-like drinking device is imbedded so deeply into my flesh that we are like Eskimos greeting one another. Finally, as the Twin Vee gets up to speed I can hear a faint diminishing scream from the mosquito as our noses separate and he tumbles through the air behind the growling twin four stroke Honda’s. Finding OTEC buoy is always a bit of a challenge for me especially when the wind is up, which it is usually. Seeing millions of small Aku jumping as I approach the buoy I started yanking my beautiful wet suit over my wide, flipper-like feet. When I reached the mid section of the suiting-up procedure I tried to pull it on with one big efficient swoop only to hear the infamous rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrip. My custom one piece now looked like a two-piece for Barney Rubble with all the threads hanging from the top half. Thinking to myself, the fish don’t care what I look like and I know they are waiting for me, I calmly said, ooops, and jumped in the water. Throwing some palu, the entire ocean started closing in from all sides. I was mobbed by billions of Aku, small Ahi, some good sized Kamanu and one Ono…oh ya…there were two girthy Galapagos sharks. I felt like I was in a game show where I was supposed to figure out the most valuable item, place all the items in a line according to value (taking into consideration the quality of the item, size, ease of acquisition, possibility of acquiring a second item after acquiring the first etc.) while they were speeding by and to do so as quickly as I could AND each item kept changing AND don’t get eaten by the sharks. So I chose the Ono. An easy, calm dive, I dodged the sharks that were busy with the palu and targeted the Ono. Leveling off at about twenty feet I had to make a last second mental check of my priorities because one foot from the 25lb Ono was a Kamanu about the same size…, which is a big Kamanu! Hammering the Ono with the spear, he took off like a bullet with both sharks in chase. I fed the Ono some line so he could outrun the sharks and one of them pealed off to return back to the palu. The other shark gave sporadic chase to the Ono every time it slowed down so I started hoisting it in as fast as I could. The shark followed the Ono all the way to my hands. Pushing the shark away with my right hand I tried desperately to control the thrashing Ono in my left. The hungry shark swam a small circle around me and the Ono which gave me just enough time to grab my Riffe SS Teflon coated knife, with a 4.5 inch blade, and plunge it into the top of the sharks head as he made another run at the secured Ono in my hand. I’m still not sure if I stabbed the shark out of fear for my well being or out of greed to preserve every bit of flesh on the Ono for my dinner not the sharks. Either way, several thoughts went through my head instantaneously…I penetrated an area between the sharks eyes which could have killed it, which I didn’t want to do, but I knew I needed to hit it in a vital area so he wouldn’t come back again. This may sound strange but I felt guilty for stabbing the shark like I did. Ironically the shark turned and slowly swam away but looked at me like saying, “You just did something to me. I’m not sure what you did, or even if it hurt or not, but I know you did something to me.” This experience furthered my understanding of a Sharks resilience and ability to survive in the harshest of environments. A thought of the effect of a 4.5-inch blade penetrating a Human’s head brings gruesome images of blood and pain if not instant death. But to the shark it appeared no more than an inconvenience and a blow to his ego. Within seconds after our violent encounter both sharks were engaged in commanding the remaining palu from the Aku and small Ahi. So as for residual permanent damage to the shark…I don’t think so. Boating the Ono I tried desperately to gain the trust or curiosity of the Kamanu and the larger of the Ahi’s. I was reaching the end of the palu so I decided to dump the remainder in hopes that an abundance of palu may attract some larger Ahi down below. Oh my &%#…it was like an open house at your local strip club, animals of every shape, size and species appeared to get a piece. This time my priorities were clear. There was one Ahi that stood out among the rest which was about 50-60 pounds. Not huge but not bad either. But he had my number and every time I dove he would stay right outside of range. It was a truly amazing experience just being part of it all and interacting with an abundance of marine life. It’s what dreams are made of…
August 3, 2003 So the next weekend (after the Ahi) I NEEDED to practice some reef diving due to the fact the largest Big Island tournament is coming up on Saturday, Aug. 16 2003. So my friend Jeff and I go to a favorite watering hole to check and see how many other divers had the same idea. Luckily it appeared that all the usual "pets" are there and are happy to see us. You see, when you know an area well enough, certain fish are always there and it becomes a close relationship between human and the beautiful splendor of a vast watery world and the creatures below. Ya right, they just come to see if they can get a free meal from us. Regardless of the reason, the point is it's nice to see some familiar life forms. Again Jeff had exclaimed his desire to shoot "The Big One" otherwise known as a large Ulua. Some Ulua's came and went but I promised Jeff I wouldn't tell the whole story so he wouldn't be embarrassed--boy your're asking a lot Jeff!!! I guess what I CAN talk about is what I experienced--oh man I want to tell the whole story Jeff (biting my lip). After seeing many nice Ulua's (Jeff) and not pulling the trigger I finally couldn't resist. I had a nice pink Kumu and an Uhu on my Kui when an Uku showed itself. I took the first opportunity he gave me and shot. The Uku headed straight for the rocks to find a place to break my line so I had to fight and keep him from doing so. After a strong but relatively short battle he ripped free and swam away to my amazement. I was pissed but I kept going looking to redeem myself. Jeff pointed out a couple sharks that were tailing us, probably smelling the already speared fish or the struggle of the Uku. I thought the sharks were beautiful but I had never seen this type before. I will have to do more research to find out what it was and get back to you. Next, I ran into a large school of small Kamanu, which is an exciting experience due to their tendency to hang out with sharks and other large pelagic fish like Ono and Mahi Mahi. But this time nothing came in other than more and more small Kamanu. Circling around towards where we started, Jeff and I ran into a plethora of Uhu and other things including some large Mu--now this is where the story gets interesting. Attempting to do the usual, laying on the bottom and kicking up sand trick, these guys were much to schooled for that. So I tried the next best thing and just hung out with them and sipped some tea while I waited. No not really, but they didn't mind me being there after, what felt like three hours, a while. I noticed within the school of Mu that there was one fish that appeared to be a "small" Ulua but it was swimming in the same manor as the rest of the Mu. I thought my mind was playing tricks on me when I realized that it was not a "small" Ulua but an extremely "large" Mu. Now I'm open for public debate here because the largest Mu I've personally speared was 13.5 pounds (measured on a legal scale) and I'm not sure how large they actually get in Hawaii or the rest of the world. So let me know if you have any proof of state or world record Mu otherwise known as "Big Eye Emperor Fish." I didn't land this one so I don't know the actual weight, but since I know what a 13.5-pound Mu looks like and judging by that, this Mu I'm referring to in this story I estimate around 18 - 20 pounds!!! Is that even possible??? So check this out-- This huge Mu is distracted by another Mu he's chasing around so he doesn't notice me dropping down. At the last moment he looks up and flinches enough to show me tail for a little bit but soon turns and shows me profile. All I can say is due to the Mu's size and my diving blue water "too much" ignoring my own rule which states "know your equipment and trust in it's ability" I aimed a bit high thinking I would hit him on the downward arc toward the end of my range. Well, he was closer than I thought and I hit him right where I was aiming--high in the back. He broke free after a brief struggle and swam off with more knowledge that will help him become even larger. I think it hurt me more than it hurt him. At the end of the day Jeff and I ended up with some nice fish even after losing some very special ones. This catch of Uhu, Kumu and one Ulua will be donated to the Tournament on Aug. 16 which is required as part as the "entry fee." It's all good considering it's just another excuse to go spearfishing anyway.
July 28, 2003 New Pending Hawaii State, United States and North American Record Ahi
First, rather than last, I would like to acknowledge my mentors of diving, (because we all have them) and they deserve more credit than I can put into words. Without Brian Bradley (founder of "The Blue Water Hunter" in California and owner of The Blue Water Hunter Hawaii and custom diving suits by "Deep Thought") the road to personal success would be long and boundless. And of course my Brada Bruce Ayau who has opened my eyes to the bounty and potential of the ocean. Capitalizing on all the recent tips from fisherman and divers alike I set life aside for a special day on the water with my sister Lucia visiting from California. And I have to give her all the credit in the world for merely knowing how to tread water and willingly getting in the water with an Oceanic White Tip shark. The shark was hanging around "C buoy" looking for an easy meal that a fisherman or a diver may hook up with. But without hesitation she jumped in when I mentioned to her, sitting on the boat, the shark swimming below. After a short while the boat traffic became hazardous for a diver so my sister Lucia and I packed it in and headed for "UU," "B" and "TT" buoys south of "C." Passing some Pilot Whales, Dolphins and many birds we enjoyed a cruise down the beautiful, calm, sunny weather the Kona side has to offer. What we didn't see south was any boats, which most often means there were no fish, and the theory again played true. Heading back home direction I decided to check "C buoy" again since enough time had passed that all but two small boats stayed at the buoy. It's about 1:30 pm and once again I enter the water with my massive Riffe Blue Water gun with a full Wing Kit and stretch the four (4) 5/8" dia. custom shortened rubber bands to their full length to optimize the 30 - 35 foot dead accurate range of this behemoth. Dropping yet another handful of palu (chum) I tiredly watch without even an attempt to dive on these speeding bullets as the 5 - 10 pound Aku and Ahi devoured lunch. With only a couple handfuls of palu left I decided to trade my Blue Water gun for my more agile Riffe Comp. 4X "reef gun" rigged with a 5/16" dia. shaft and a single flopper Hawaiian style shaft dull from the last rock I shot and three (3) 5/8" dia. custom shortened bands. My plan was to spear something (anything) enough for grinds. I attached the tag line and Riffe inflatable float to the Comp. gun and slipped back into the water. From the water I reach into a mushy slime bag of thawed palu which slipped through my fingers making a frog-like gurgling sound as reddish-brown fish juice squirted between my fingers and the smell was beginning to make me gag through my snorkel. I tossed the soupy palu behind me and rested face down in the water breathing deeply trying to clear the fowl air from my lungs. With little time to purge my lungs, my new-targeted 5 - 10 pound fishies were whacking the palu with senseless vigor so I needed to make my dive soon. The flavor of the palu dissipated as my thoughts changed to that of a hunter as I tried to choose the largest of the speedy footballs. Leveling off about twenty feet below the surface the jittery juveniles dove for the depths. Beginning my usual scan of the surroundings I looked directly in front of myself and saw what looked, for a split second, like the mouth of a shark. About one or two seconds after I starred at "the mouth" coming at me it turned enough for me to clearly see the beautiful, long yellow sickles that are unmistakably unique to the Ahi (Yellow Fin Tuna). With the natural magnification water gives objects and my lack of experience with large Ahi, I found it extremely difficult to judge the distance and size of it. Studying the length of the sickles and the clarity at which I can see definition in the eye of the Ahi helped me determine the best possible moment and range to fire. I patiently waited and watched in awe as this football-on-steroids swam slowly around me on a path to the palu. It's eye would look at me than at the palu, than back at me, than the palu, until I made up my mind that the Ahi wasn't going to come any closer and took the shot. I noticed the Ahi start shaking as if the water instantly became ice cold. I tried desperately to see if my shaft had penetrated through the fish, and it had, however something was wrong--my single flopper wasn't open. I have experienced many times a fish scale or even the fish's flesh will keep the flopper in the closed position. The Ahi shuttered toward the surface, breaking it enough for my sister on the boat to yell "Is that a Marlin?!?" Normally a broken spine on a smaller fish would simply require a diver to pull the fish toward the surface to secure it. In this case the fish was large enough that even with a broken spine the muscle twitches alone was enough to pull me through the water, combined with the single barb stuck closed required me to play this fish as if I had five pound leader/shooting line. Yelling a gargled salt-water yell I exclaimed, "I JUST SHOT A WHALE!!!" Taking me literally my sister yells "You WHAT!?! Speaking a foreign language she couldn't understand, I yelled a stream of requests--handmemycamera, aaaaaaaahhhhhhhh, getinthewater, aaaaaaaahhhhhhhh, handmemyothergun, aaaaaaaahhhhhhhh, getinandfilmthis, aaaaaaaahhhhhhhh, yougottoseethis, aaaaaaaahhhhhhhh-- My excitement was laden with fear of losing this beautiful fish due to the stuck flopper. I played the tag line as gently as I could. The Ahi directed itself enough to head for the bottom. Reaching about fifty feet it leveled off as another Ahi, a bit smaller, swam up side by side with the speared Ahi. As amazing as this was it also made things more difficult by causing the speared Ahi to fight more vigorously and my stress level to rise higher than my libido. After several minutes of this game and watching my shaft pull further and further out of the fish I felt the need to do something rather than just wait. All I did was to apply a small amount more of pull on the tag line and than relax it hoping the weight of the shaft, which was now toward the rear of the fish, would weight the tail slightly more than the head and force it to swim toward the surface again--and IT WORKED. The iridescent rainbow of colors on the body and the long brilliant yellow sickles on the top and bottom seemed to illuminate as the sunlight and the clarity of the surface water combined added to the intensity of the moment where now the Ahi was swimming right into my arms like welcoming a friend or relative from a long vacation. As the Ahi shuttered slowly to the surface I saw that my barb opened up but had only caught a 1/2" piece of skin. I remembered a story from Maas's book "Blue Water Hunting" where his 398lb Blue Fin Tuna record he had noticed the same, barb barely catching the skin on the way out, scenario. As I calmly approached the Ahi I grabbed the spear shaft and forcefully rammed it back through the same hole, reached around and manually opened the barb just incase the Ahi decided to wake up again. I flipped the Ahi upside down to calm it, than swam it back to the boat. Coordinating efforts with my sister we pulled it into the boat. Within seconds a 6 - 7 foot Blue Shark appeared at the back of the boat snapping at the blood streaming through the drain holes in the gunnels. I was tempted to get back into the water to film it but didn't want to push my luck. Final results:
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