Spearfishing

This story is based on a conversation that I had with two local Hawaiians, Kahili and his cousin Manu. I had joined Kahili and Manu for drinks after work here in Michigan and they asked me about my recent trip to Hawaii. I shared with them that I had been spearfishing and the two Hawaiians began telling me stories about fishing together as teenagers in Waimanalo.

Me and Manu--we used to go fishing--spearfishing--after school. Remember, yeah? We would go Alan Davis. You know Alan Davis, yeah? The beach by Makapu’u. One big pole there sticking out of the rock. Good for jumping. They took it down. It's not there anymore. Maybe it's there again. I don't know. I haven't been in maybe two years.

There's good fishing there if you know where to go. You have to know where to go. Farther out. Around the side, you know toward tidepools. Past the rocks. Out farther. My granfaddah he show us where to go.

My granfaddah he show us everything. He knew the ocean. The whole ocean. Every place he knew. We bring back fish and he ask us “Ho, where you go today?” I say, “We see one big eel--thick as my leg.” My granfaddah say, “Ho, I know him.” He could tell me the rock: “Ho it's one big rock, looks like this…” He knew where that one eel lived. My granfaddah he knew everything. He could stand on the shore and know what we could see out in the water.

My granfaddah he’s the one show me how to see tako. You know tako, yeah? Octopus, yeah? He show me how to see it. I couldn't see it either.

My granfaddah he take me out, say “Boy, look.” My face in the water like this I say “I'm looking! I'm looking!” “No, boy, you got to look!” “I'm looking!” “No, boy. Like this.” He show me how to look for the colors. You know tako change colors, yeah? They blend into the sand like one shadow. You swim on the top and can see the sand change colors. From the light. The colors they are moving while you swimming. This way. This way. Tako, no change. All one color shadow. You have to know how for look. Then it's no problem. Oh yeah, tako you can catch. Simple. So simple. When you see it you stick your spear right in the middle. You see it wrap around the pole. The legs--the tentacles. It grabs onto your spear and kills itself. Simple.

In one day we catch maybe fifteen maybe eighteen fish. Manu, he was better than me. He always had more fish. But together, maybe sixteen, maybe seventeen. We come back on the beach with fish, you know, in the parking lot. We string them like this on our shoulders. Ha! The tourists wanted to take our picture. We were maybe seventh grade. So we hold them up like this, trying to look big for the picture. We tried to look tough.