After about a year and a half time past, I was excited to get a green light from my old dive partner J.P.!
Being a family man means little time for diving! Jesse stopped by on Saturday and I told him the reaccount of Jarricks 1st Ulua. Hearing his story got him amped and we planned a drift dive from Kolekole beach park to Hakalau. I was excited because I had heard of a nice ulua house and was hoping to find it so that J.P. could get a crack at scoring his first ulua. Two first uluas in one weekend I thought....now that would be epic!
I woke up excited and started driving to Hakalau. I reached there and the water looked murky with a bit of swell. Jesse reached there a little after me and we loaded up in my car and drove to kolekole.
Upon reaching there we saw big swells with surfers. Not really feeling the green light we decided to just dive out of hakalau and swim right to kolekole.
The right side of the bay was protected the most but there was a little surge. We suited up and got an early start at around 10am haha! We reach the right side point and the water finally starts to clear. There is nice structure but not too much fish. Jesse takes a few shots but misses. After all this time he still however is able to hit the depths pretty well.
We swim and swim and swim and no fish! We come across a few whiptails and I signal Jesse to drop. He drops and swims down and fires at something else. Coming up im laughing hysterically at his accuracy percentage. He reports there was a nice kumu down there and tells me the gun lacks power due to the old bands. I continue to laugh and tell him to try the "mana gun". My goal of the dive was now to shoot a nice uhu with J.P.s gun, not only for the challenge but to spite him as well. hahaha.
I come across another whip whos busy feeding and see if I can dive bomb. I drop 25% and wait. The uhu continues to feed and does a circle and I go for it. I get within range and give a few kicks more and pull the trigger of old faithful. (Omer Cayman Carbon 110cm) Thud! Stone shot! I swim up and look for J.P. and there is a symphony of bubbles erupting from my mask due to the fact I am laughing up a storm!
We swim some more and I find a nice ledge with a small potential ulua house. I signal J.P. down and he hits the bottom at 55ft. He sees some uhus and 2 big joes which he chases and swims through the house. No fish but he comes up saying "Ho Keenan you pushing my luck today!" haha. We decide to turn around as its nearly 12:30pm.
I see Jesse bolt and he laters tells me he saw a nice ulua. We continue to swim back and I see JP drop again. A blue whiptail swims up from the reef and JP is on it. He connects and another uhu is added to the stringer. We hit the bay and the water seems to be much clearer and calmer than in the morning. We both get on shore safely, swap more laughs, stories and rest under a shady tree.
The Dark Knight rises! Hopefully we can continue to get more dives in!
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Saturday, October 6, 2012
Jarricks 1st Ulua
After a long hot week of muggy, voggy Hilo weather I was ready to jump into some clean, clear, cool water. Jarrick Dasalla texted me earlier in the week telling me the water out hamakua was flat with no wind. He was looking foward to diving Paauilo, where the weekend previously he had lost an Ulua on a big strike. He wanted to scout more of the underwater structure to form a conclusion of his own of where and how the ulua's pin his pole down far out from the cliff's edge.
I also had told him my ulua story and he was excited and hopefully to just see one. He met me at my house at 9am and we loaded up and headed out. We joked about him spearing his first ulua and how he never got to really use the remora reel on his aimrite 120 SV. We were both surprised when we pulled into the clearing and no fishermen in sight! We suited up and hiked down to the water. Jarrick and his friends also did an excellent job of trimming the trail with a pair scissors.
I wanted Jarrick to sample the "mana gun", so I told him to jump in first and try and spear a nenue for palu. As we both got in the water, the inside was a little surgy and murky but the outside was nice and flat with 0 wind. Jarrick shot a nice nenue with the "mana gun" and I shot a pualu with his aimrite.
I told him that was enough to start paluing and we swam out to the house.....
Upon reaching there, the current was pulling in the complete opposite direction then it normally does. Straight inwards towards the landing and back towards Hilo. The water was also extremely warm at 79F. We both reached the house and I pointed it out to Jarrick.
"Ho this is deep!" was his reply. I took a drop down straight to the bottom of the house and peeked inside. There were two smaller uluas inside swimming in circles and I saw that the cave went all the way through the other side. My watch read 72ft and I decided to head back up. Upon ascending a nice 20-25lb ulua comes straight up towards me. I line up my gun and make a pretend stone shot. (Good mental practice! haha).
As I hit the surface I yell to Jarrick "Did you see that ulua?" He replies "Ya how come you never shoot?!" I laugh and reply "All you today!" haha. We both laugh and keep watching the house below.....
I spot a bigger ulua swimming along the bottom and yell to Jarrick whos a little down current but he didnt see it. I look back down and cant see it either. :( I tell Jarrick to stay above the house while I palu the nenue. I grab the nenue from his back and swim directly up current and start cutting the fish up. Nothing comes around and I see the smaller uluas in the cave earlier swim along the ledge and out towards the deep. Thinking they were gone I drop the carcass down till it hits the ledge and drops to the bottom in front of the house.
I talk with Jarrick and tell him I want to try palu further out since it was nice flat and clear. I grab the palani from the float and swim out till I can't see the bottom. I start paluing and there is a school of opelu that comes around but nothing else. I look for Jarrick and see him still above the Ulua house. I swim to him and he tells me that there is a small ulua swimming around the nenue carcass biting it.
I look down and sure enough a small ulua at the bottom nibbling the little snack I left. I tell Jarrick that he can make the dive and he should hit the ledge and sneak towards the fish to get a shot off.
He breathes up and goes down.....
He hits the top of the ledge perfect and calmly looks around. I see him line up on the smaller ulua, then start to track something else. His gun fires and he starts to head up. I can't see the fish but can see his reel spinning rapidly. Upon hitting the surface I grab his arm and tell him to breathe. He recovers and I tell him his reel is still spinning! Fish on! The ulua runs straight into the cave and I tell Jarrick to swim out away from the cave. His reel is still spinning and he pulls and keeps tension on the line. He manages to get the ulua out of the cave and starts to pull it up.
I look at him and he signals me to put in the back up shot. Once the fish was secured we both exchanged high fives and started to buss laugh! We head in and Jarrick is super stoked. Ulua weighed in at 19.3lbs using my scale. Another epic hamakua dive!
I also had told him my ulua story and he was excited and hopefully to just see one. He met me at my house at 9am and we loaded up and headed out. We joked about him spearing his first ulua and how he never got to really use the remora reel on his aimrite 120 SV. We were both surprised when we pulled into the clearing and no fishermen in sight! We suited up and hiked down to the water. Jarrick and his friends also did an excellent job of trimming the trail with a pair scissors.
I wanted Jarrick to sample the "mana gun", so I told him to jump in first and try and spear a nenue for palu. As we both got in the water, the inside was a little surgy and murky but the outside was nice and flat with 0 wind. Jarrick shot a nice nenue with the "mana gun" and I shot a pualu with his aimrite.
I told him that was enough to start paluing and we swam out to the house.....
Upon reaching there, the current was pulling in the complete opposite direction then it normally does. Straight inwards towards the landing and back towards Hilo. The water was also extremely warm at 79F. We both reached the house and I pointed it out to Jarrick.
"Ho this is deep!" was his reply. I took a drop down straight to the bottom of the house and peeked inside. There were two smaller uluas inside swimming in circles and I saw that the cave went all the way through the other side. My watch read 72ft and I decided to head back up. Upon ascending a nice 20-25lb ulua comes straight up towards me. I line up my gun and make a pretend stone shot. (Good mental practice! haha).
As I hit the surface I yell to Jarrick "Did you see that ulua?" He replies "Ya how come you never shoot?!" I laugh and reply "All you today!" haha. We both laugh and keep watching the house below.....
I spot a bigger ulua swimming along the bottom and yell to Jarrick whos a little down current but he didnt see it. I look back down and cant see it either. :( I tell Jarrick to stay above the house while I palu the nenue. I grab the nenue from his back and swim directly up current and start cutting the fish up. Nothing comes around and I see the smaller uluas in the cave earlier swim along the ledge and out towards the deep. Thinking they were gone I drop the carcass down till it hits the ledge and drops to the bottom in front of the house.
I talk with Jarrick and tell him I want to try palu further out since it was nice flat and clear. I grab the palani from the float and swim out till I can't see the bottom. I start paluing and there is a school of opelu that comes around but nothing else. I look for Jarrick and see him still above the Ulua house. I swim to him and he tells me that there is a small ulua swimming around the nenue carcass biting it.
I look down and sure enough a small ulua at the bottom nibbling the little snack I left. I tell Jarrick that he can make the dive and he should hit the ledge and sneak towards the fish to get a shot off.
He breathes up and goes down.....
He hits the top of the ledge perfect and calmly looks around. I see him line up on the smaller ulua, then start to track something else. His gun fires and he starts to head up. I can't see the fish but can see his reel spinning rapidly. Upon hitting the surface I grab his arm and tell him to breathe. He recovers and I tell him his reel is still spinning! Fish on! The ulua runs straight into the cave and I tell Jarrick to swim out away from the cave. His reel is still spinning and he pulls and keeps tension on the line. He manages to get the ulua out of the cave and starts to pull it up.
I look at him and he signals me to put in the back up shot. Once the fish was secured we both exchanged high fives and started to buss laugh! We head in and Jarrick is super stoked. Ulua weighed in at 19.3lbs using my scale. Another epic hamakua dive!
Sunday, September 16, 2012
81lb Ulua
Haven't written here in a long time. I will try keep this blog updated more if possible.
Today was the day that I was able to harvest a 81lb ulua. It started off like any other day. I was a bit on the tired side from having a long week of work and school, but was itching to hit the water again.
Tyson was excited but was riding 4 wheeler till midnight so I wasnt sure what to expect if we were going earlier the next morning or not. By 6:30am my eyes were wide open but I stayed in bed. I was just about to shoot Tyson a text when my phone went off. "Ho bah. Morning cupcake. Call me when you up." We initially planned to hit the 1st horseshoe but I decided to check Pauuilo to see how the water looked. Upon reaching the cliff I was surprised to see no one there. It was really windy, with white caps on the outside, but the water looked clear and the in and out didnt look bad.
We both agreed on diving here since the wind looked pretty bad. We suited up at the truck and started to head down. Upon, reaching the landing there was trash everywhere! Looks like a bunch of campers forgot to clean up their opala! We jumped in and decided to swim left to check a productive ledge where in the past I have seen big kahalas, uhus, nenues, opelus, you name it! The visibility was excellent and the current was non existent. I spot two mus who look curious and signal Tyson to take a drop.
He drops and takes a far shot and connects but the mu rips off. We swim some more and Tyson signals me that the other mu is still around. I take a drop to 55ft and start throwing some sand. I look around and see the mu start to come in. I move my gun a little too fast and the mu spooks leaving me with my still loaded gun as I ascend to the surface. We continue to swim on and come across the ledge....
I drop my anchor and start to investigate looking on the hilo side. Tyson spots a pair of omilus down in a deep hole but they dig as soon as he approaches the hole. We swim back to the ledge and I see tyson diving on something. There is a unmistakable shape of a big ulua cruising parallel toward the outside of the ledge. Without breathing up I descend kind of quickly in hopes of cutting the school off. I kick slower as I approach the bottom of the ledge. The leader makes it to a big cave while some of the smaller stragglers pass right by me. I wait and see the smaller uluas make a u-turn in the cave and slowly start to come towards me. I wait a little longer and see a bigger ulua come out of the cave heading towards me to check me out.
I start to slowly swing my gun in his direction and he veers off a little, so I direct all my attention away from him while still keeping him in sight. Out of the corner of my eye I can see him coming towards me and I move slowly to point my gun in his direction. He swims straight up to me and gives me a slightly angled broad side shot. I take it and hit the fish right behind the left eye.
I can see that my shaft has not penetrated fully through and the fish slowly takes off while stripping line out of my reel. I start to ascend and am trying not to laugh as I see Tyson swim towards me. I hit the surface and he yells "Holy shit did it go through?" I reply "Uh oh" and try to keep a serious face but start to laugh. The fish is down deep and I can no longer see him, just the yellow spectra which is now getting low on my reel. I start to follow the general direction of my fish and try to gain back some yardage of spectra on my reel. The fish keeps pulling and pulling me towards deeper water. I look up to see tyson sprinting to the far left of me and see that the fish is fighting far from where I am.
The line gets tangled on a coral head but I manage to get it off....only to have it tangle yet again on a deeper coral head. :'( Tyson dives down and I can see him get within shooting distance and he fires. The fish fights again and line starts to shoot out of tysons reel. He is fighting the fish and at this point my shaft comes out but gets tangled around Tyson's shooting line.
The fish starts to come up towards mid water but keeps swimming circles around us. Tyson yells to me and I tell him to wait and let the fish tire out. At the same time I am praying that his shaft doesnt come out! Finally the fish starts to tire out and I dive down to put him to sleep.
We string the ulua up and swim back to our guns. My line ended up being tangled on a coral head at 80ft. Once I got that untangled, I was ready to head in. haha. We dive a little more to the left and tyson hits some uhus but they all rip off. We decide to call it a day and head in. Ulua ended up weighing 81lbs according to Tyson scale at Horizon Automotive. After weighing the fish, the Caitanos convince me to get it printed and I agree. We drive to Hilo and I get to meet Laron K who ends up printing my fish. Once the fish was printed we head to kens for a good time.
Pau.
Today was the day that I was able to harvest a 81lb ulua. It started off like any other day. I was a bit on the tired side from having a long week of work and school, but was itching to hit the water again.
Tyson was excited but was riding 4 wheeler till midnight so I wasnt sure what to expect if we were going earlier the next morning or not. By 6:30am my eyes were wide open but I stayed in bed. I was just about to shoot Tyson a text when my phone went off. "Ho bah. Morning cupcake. Call me when you up." We initially planned to hit the 1st horseshoe but I decided to check Pauuilo to see how the water looked. Upon reaching the cliff I was surprised to see no one there. It was really windy, with white caps on the outside, but the water looked clear and the in and out didnt look bad.
We both agreed on diving here since the wind looked pretty bad. We suited up at the truck and started to head down. Upon, reaching the landing there was trash everywhere! Looks like a bunch of campers forgot to clean up their opala! We jumped in and decided to swim left to check a productive ledge where in the past I have seen big kahalas, uhus, nenues, opelus, you name it! The visibility was excellent and the current was non existent. I spot two mus who look curious and signal Tyson to take a drop.
He drops and takes a far shot and connects but the mu rips off. We swim some more and Tyson signals me that the other mu is still around. I take a drop to 55ft and start throwing some sand. I look around and see the mu start to come in. I move my gun a little too fast and the mu spooks leaving me with my still loaded gun as I ascend to the surface. We continue to swim on and come across the ledge....
I drop my anchor and start to investigate looking on the hilo side. Tyson spots a pair of omilus down in a deep hole but they dig as soon as he approaches the hole. We swim back to the ledge and I see tyson diving on something. There is a unmistakable shape of a big ulua cruising parallel toward the outside of the ledge. Without breathing up I descend kind of quickly in hopes of cutting the school off. I kick slower as I approach the bottom of the ledge. The leader makes it to a big cave while some of the smaller stragglers pass right by me. I wait and see the smaller uluas make a u-turn in the cave and slowly start to come towards me. I wait a little longer and see a bigger ulua come out of the cave heading towards me to check me out.
I start to slowly swing my gun in his direction and he veers off a little, so I direct all my attention away from him while still keeping him in sight. Out of the corner of my eye I can see him coming towards me and I move slowly to point my gun in his direction. He swims straight up to me and gives me a slightly angled broad side shot. I take it and hit the fish right behind the left eye.
I can see that my shaft has not penetrated fully through and the fish slowly takes off while stripping line out of my reel. I start to ascend and am trying not to laugh as I see Tyson swim towards me. I hit the surface and he yells "Holy shit did it go through?" I reply "Uh oh" and try to keep a serious face but start to laugh. The fish is down deep and I can no longer see him, just the yellow spectra which is now getting low on my reel. I start to follow the general direction of my fish and try to gain back some yardage of spectra on my reel. The fish keeps pulling and pulling me towards deeper water. I look up to see tyson sprinting to the far left of me and see that the fish is fighting far from where I am.
The line gets tangled on a coral head but I manage to get it off....only to have it tangle yet again on a deeper coral head. :'( Tyson dives down and I can see him get within shooting distance and he fires. The fish fights again and line starts to shoot out of tysons reel. He is fighting the fish and at this point my shaft comes out but gets tangled around Tyson's shooting line.
The fish starts to come up towards mid water but keeps swimming circles around us. Tyson yells to me and I tell him to wait and let the fish tire out. At the same time I am praying that his shaft doesnt come out! Finally the fish starts to tire out and I dive down to put him to sleep.
We string the ulua up and swim back to our guns. My line ended up being tangled on a coral head at 80ft. Once I got that untangled, I was ready to head in. haha. We dive a little more to the left and tyson hits some uhus but they all rip off. We decide to call it a day and head in. Ulua ended up weighing 81lbs according to Tyson scale at Horizon Automotive. After weighing the fish, the Caitanos convince me to get it printed and I agree. We drive to Hilo and I get to meet Laron K who ends up printing my fish. Once the fish was printed we head to kens for a good time.
Pau.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Keauhou dive with Eli
After not being able to shoot a Mu the day before, I was determined to get one. Eli called and said that pine trees was a no go due to a SW swell. We then decided that he was going to check down Keauhou side to see if the water and visibility would be good to dive.
As soon as Eli called back telling me that the water was nice, I started the long drive to Kona town. Reaching there we suited up and jumped in. We swam around the point to the left and worked the coastline.
Most of the reef out there turned out to be barren. We swam along the drop off and didn't see any action. We swam across the harbor and I start scanning the reef and see a nice tako! I drop down and poke him out with my spear. He's in a nice crack but im able to poke him out and grab him.
Swimming back towards shore
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Mauna Lani Dive with Josh and Gary
This saturday we decided to do the same dive we did last saturday in hopes of seeing an ulua or shooting some Mu. Josh and Gary showed up at my house and I jumped on with Gary. We drove down to Mauna Lani and saw that there were other divers already in the water to the right of where we were going to jump in.
We head in just before dark and wash up. Another good dive at ML!
The water was really murky and we swam to the ulua house, Gary went to check if anyone was home. Seeing that no one was home we decided to try and hunt the infamous Mu pile there. We swam left towards the point and I finally came across a good sized pile. I took a drop behind a coral head and started to throw sand. I see some small ones come in but waited for some of the bigger ones in the back. They refused to come in so we continued on.
Josh then reports that he was able to get a shot off on a nice Mu from the surface due to the murky water and the range of his 125cm. He ends up losing it due to it ripping off. We start to head back and I try to find the ulua house once again in hopes that someone would be home. Just as I get around the G.A. Josh yells to me. He ends up shooting a nice blue whiptail uhu and I give him my knife.
We head in just before dark and wash up. Another good dive at ML!
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Pine Trees/ OTEC dive with Eli
Todays adventure took place out on the Kona side. Pine Trees is a well known surf spot I had heard about from my friend Brandon Fair. I met up with Eli at Pine Tree Cafe and we loaded up and drove down to the spot. Upon reaching the beach I was surprised to see so much people! There was tons of people camping, fishing and surfing! We drove to the left till the road ended. Suiting up I saw that there was a bunch of fishing poles and a bit of surge.
We swam to the right and Eli was able to spear 2 nice rois. I was amazed by the different structure and the sizes and depth of the caves we came across. We swim for about an hour and don't really see much. Finally we come across a fish pile and I see Eli point at a small uku and a pile of big Mus. Eli drops and tries to call the uku in but it refuses.
We start chumming the two rois that Eli shot and the next thing I know Eli grabs my arm. I look at him and he points to a 6-7ft black tip shark. Around the same time two small kaimanus come in to investigate the chum. They disappear but the shark doesn't.
We were about to jump in at this one spot when I decided that we should look for a safer in/out due to the surge and not wanting to lose any equipment! We walk aways an find a perfect in/out area behind a point. We jumped in around 3:30pm. The visibility was excellent. As soon as I jumped in I could see 2 big Mus hovering in midwater.
We swam to the right and Eli was able to spear 2 nice rois. I was amazed by the different structure and the sizes and depth of the caves we came across. We swim for about an hour and don't really see much. Finally we come across a fish pile and I see Eli point at a small uku and a pile of big Mus. Eli drops and tries to call the uku in but it refuses.
I end up taking a drop and am able to call the small uku in. He swam in straight at me and just as I squeeze my trigger he pulls a "juke x" and dodges my shaft! After disappearing we decide to head to deeper water in search of some pelagics.
We start chumming the two rois that Eli shot and the next thing I know Eli grabs my arm. I look at him and he points to a 6-7ft black tip shark. Around the same time two small kaimanus come in to investigate the chum. They disappear but the shark doesn't.
The shark keeps circling us coming closer and closer within my speargun. I could see she had a big hook with line stuck in her mouth from the fishermen on shore. The shark would disappear then reappear and show signs of aggression. After almost poking it in the nose a few times as it would come in straight for me she finally goes away. We start to see the edge of the reef again and I see a nice Ulua down deep. I tell Eli and hes like "WHAT? NO WAY!"
We head in just before dark and start to pack up the SUV. After the dive I end up washing my gear at Eli's place and he cuts me some plexiglass! All in all a good way to end the weekend!
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Mauna Lani Dive with GaryNKekai
Due to the ironman triathlon this weekend our choices of dive spots were limited. I decided to try our luck at the infamous ulua hole outside of Mauna Lani. After having a successful night dive the night before Gary was ready to dive. Josh was suppose to come along but ended up not going. We arrive at the spot around 3pm. Suiting up I start to think to myself "Its been awhile since I seen an Ulua." We decided to check the house and see if we could hunt some Mus.
Swimming out we find that the reef seemed barren. No uhus, goats, toaus or rois. We swam towards the house and just as I'm about to drop and check it a massive Ulua bolts out! Almost choking on my own bubbles, I yell to Gary to come over. He goes down to check it but the ulua is gone....( This was around 3:30pm)
We come across a cave and Gary drops and shoots a nice alaihi. While hes stringing his fish up, I take a drop. I see a Mu out in the distance but it refuses to come close. I start to see a nice grey shape swim towards me in the distance. At first I'm like awesome a nice big uku! It turns out
the tax man has come in to investigate the commotion. He swims right by me and disappears.
We swim further left and find a enormous Mu pile. There were two schools all 4lbs and up with about 10-15 in each school! Gary and I take turns playing "hide and go seek" but none come within gun range. On one drop I hide and start dusting sand. I peek over and see a small Mu start to come in with the bigger ones out of range. At the end of my breath hold the bigger one finally comes in slowly but surely. I line up and squeeze my trigger. MISS!
On another drop im hiding behind a big coral head and a nice sized one is hanging out just outside of my gun range. I lunge and take a shot and MISS again! haha 0/2! Gary later reports that a Mu was directly behind me! After some good laughs we swim in. Gary was able to shoot a nice alahi and I was able to shoot two nice rocks. Another epic dive at ML!
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