36th annual Larry Libres Fishing & Diving Tournament

Glenn Sato, a 71-year-old retiree, won the Tako Division at the 36th annual Larry Libres Fishing & Diving Tournament, Saturday at Kanahā Beach Park in Kahului. Sato is the oldest tako champion in the 36-year history of the event. He was the fifth oldest of the 201 divers who dove in the north shore waters for the event. A total of 90 octopuses were brought to the scale by 56 divers.

Sato, a Pukalani resident who started diving 20 years ago, brought his winning octopus to the scale at 9:40 a.m., an hour and 40 minutes after the 8 a.m. shotgun start.

Placing in the Libres event, had been a goal for Sato. The top 10 tako placers receive awards and prizes. “Twice I was just outside the top 10. This was on my bucket list,” Sato said. “I always used to pick up a pretty big tako, but then I would always be out of the running. So this time when I found this one I was really surprised, thought I had chance to win.”

Sato described how he found and bagged his 5 pound, 9 ounce winner.

“I got it maybe 50 yards offshore, past the lifeguard station close to the stone house. On the way back, I see this little old hole which was kind of big. I looked inside and I could see he was home. It was pretty difficult to bring it out. [It] kind of clung to the side of the rocks. [I] had to kind of play with it. [It] came out. I grabbed it [and] had a hard time putting it into the bag.”

Twenty-four minutes before Sato came to the scale, Darrell Naeole was the first diver to weigh his octopus. Naeole’s four-pound, one ounce catch held up for third place.

“I was on the Hoʻokipa side of the lifeguard stand, coming in about half way,” Naeole said. “I figured you know what, I’m going to check this one spot, like midway. Figured maybe a big boy [would] pop up. Five minutes after that, I look in a hole… all I see is this rock. [It] looked kind of disturbed but maybe it wasn’t. It was camouflaged so I figure I [would] just tap it and sure enough that was the four pound, one ounce. I was pretty impressed.”

Gary Hashizaki, of Pukalani, who won in 1991, kept his string of competing in every Libres contest alive. The 79-year-old was able to bring two takos to the scale.

Corey Kaneda, of Wailuku, caught the longest oama in the 119-person 13 and over oama division. Emre Shigeta of Kahului, with the help of her father,
topped the 65 keiki in the 12 and under division.

The free event was sponsored by the Maui Boardsailing Association.

Tako

1. Glenn Sato, Pukalani 5 pounds 9 ounces
2. Jesie Juan, Kahului 4 pounds 1.5 ounces
3. Darryl Naeole, Wailuku, 4 pounds 1 ounces
4. Keoni Nishioka, Makawao, 4 pounds
5. Lokene Duarte, Haiku, 3 pounds 11 ounces
6. Micah Rieta, Kahului, 3 pounds 8 ounces
7. Harry Yoshioka, Wailuku, 3 pounds 5 ounces
8. Jerycho Medeiros, Makawao, 3 pounds 2.5 ounces
9. Melchor Boco, Kahului, 3 pounds 1.5 ounces
10. Clayton Gamit, Kihei, 3 pounds

Oama 13 & over

1. Cory Kaneda, Wailuku, 10.9 cm
2. Donn Shigeta, Kahului, 10.6 cm
3. Jonathsn Rebo, Makawao, 10.5 cm
4. Liana Sanchez, Kahului, 10.5 cm
5. Nathan Nakama, Wailuku, 10.1 cm

Oama 12 & under

1. Emre Shigeta, Kahului, 10.9 cm
2. Elias Alexander, Haiku, 10.7 cm
3. Mya Moyer, Kahului, 10.0 cm
4. Makena Terraras-Regalado, Kahului, 9.8 cm
5. Mia Moyer, Kahului, 9.6 cm