38th Annual Larry Libres Fishing & Diving Tournament

August 5, 2026, 5:44 AM HST

Listen to this Article
3 minutesLoading Audio... Article will play after ad...

Melcor Boco became the first back-to-back winner in the tako division of the 38th annual Larry Libres Fishing & Diving Tournament. PC: Truman Taoka.

Mauiʻs Melcor Boco became the first consecutive champion in the 38-year history of the Larry Libres Fishing & Diving Tournament at Kanahā Beach Park last Saturday. Despite strong winds, Boco utilized the current to secure the top spot among 207 divers, catching a 3-pound, 13.5-ounce octopus.

The only other two-time champion prior to Boco was Jules Ino who won the inaugural contest in 1988 and then again in 1992. The now 79-year-old Ino was again among the competitors diving in this year’s tournament.

The event also featured 186 shoreline fishermen who encountered strong and gusty tradewind conditions, even at the 8 a.m. shotgun start.

Boco, a 47-year-old Kahului truck driver, called his win, “unbelievable,” saying, “It’s a good feeling to win back to back. It was pretty windy, the current was pretty strong, so I just go with the current.”

Boco entered the water just north of the lifeguard tower and waited for everyone else to hit the water.

“I just let everyone go because I didn’t want to tangle with everybody.” Riding the current down, Boco said, “I got this one (winning tako) just before the breakers.” (Tako is the Japanese word for octopus, widely used throughout Hawaiʻi, particularly in culinary contexts)

He weighed in three other octopuses. In all, 58 legal size catches hit the hanging scale, in what experienced Kanahā divers were calling a “lean summer” for catching tako.

Boco had no special strategy. “No secret, just luck. I haven’t been diving as much,” he said, noting his occupation with work.

C.J. Salsido Park, of Wailuku, was second and the first to hit the scale. He weighed his three-pound, 6 ounce octopus, 70 minutes after the contest start.

C.J. Salsido Park was the first to weigh-in and placed second in the tako division. PC: Truman Taoka.

Jade Enomoto was the top female and placed third. She was diving with her dad, Clement, and was second to last to get to the scale with her tako, just before the 10:30 a.m. cut-off.

Enomoto, an eighth-grader at Kamehameha Schools, said, “It was really fun. I hard a time, I kept running out of breath so my dad helped me. I helped putting it in the bag.”

Jade and Clement Enomoto with their third place tako. PC: Truman Taoka.

“She did great,” said her dad, Clement. “We try to get out as much as we can. It’s events like this that make us come out.”

Only three oama were caught during the event. Tami Matsumoto, of Honolulu, and Alex Rose, of Kīhei, caught oama in the 13 and over division. Juan Manuel hooked the only oama in the 12 and under division. Contest officials measured other shoreline catches to round out the top five places.

Results