by RJ Krause
Chapter 16
Fishing Tales
After the rodeo incident, things returned to normal around the Double ‘P’ Ranch for awhile. It took nearly a month for Pete’s shoulder to mend, and poor Noelani was his only companion around the house. Everyone else seemed to find plenty to do outside. I’m not saying Pete was feeling sorry for himself, but he was just not a good patient. Every morning he was up before sunrise, pulled on his boots, and took a cup of coffee out to the lanai. There he would sit watching everyone else get ready and head out to work. Paniolo Pete was not one to shun responsibility and relying on others to run the ranch didn’t sit well with him at all. By the end of the first week he’d just about worn out his welcome in Noelani’s house. Her sympathy was wearing thin and she finally told Pete to go find something to do.
“Paniolo, you no can just sit around here all day. You in the way! So what you have one bust up shoulder. Go fishing. You only need one arm to fish.”
So Pete took her up on the suggestion and began his fishing days. He would rise early, saddle up Kokoro and ride to the cliffs above Hāmākua. There he would cast his line, sit back, and wait for a bite. This went on for three or four days and Pete would proudly bring home his catch every night. There was always plenty of Onaga, ‘Opakapaka, and Ahi for everyone to eat. He seemed to be happy and more relaxed, and Noelani had succeeded in getting him out of the house. Even better, she had fresh fish to cook every night. Harmony had once again returned to the house. Life on the ranch had gotten back to its smooth routine.
One evening, Kokoro returned to the ranch without Pete. They had left early in the morning to go fishing, but now the horse seemed a little on edge and kept nudging Keala with his nose. Keala thought Pete had maybe fallen off his horse and had been hurt out on the trail. Without a second thought, he trusted the horse. If Kokoro had returned for help, Pete’s ‘aumakua was leading the way.
Noelani came out of the house, took one look at the riderless horse, and ran back into the house. She quickly returned with a basket full of medical supplies that she kept handy.
“Keala, you take this. Ikaika, Pekelo, go with your father and help. No stand here, go! Paniolo Pete needs you.”
The two youngest Kahiona boys ran to their horses and saddled up. Within minutes, the three of them were following Pete’s horse down the trail. They reach the Hāmākua coast early the next morning. The closer they got, the faster Kokoro walked. All of a sudden, as they were making their way down a narrow cliff trail, the horse snorted and took off in a quick trot. Now as I said, this was a narrow trail, not more than a couple of feet wide with a sheer drop of hundreds of feet. Waves were crashing into the jagged rocks below as they stopped their journey across the ocean, but that horse of Pete’s trotted off like he was running across a grassy pasture.
Keala had spent much of his life picking opihi from those rocks, but his two young sons were not familiar with this area. Most of their hunting and fishing had been done closer to home. But a true Hawaiian doesn’t know the meaning of fear when it comes to trails, cliffs, or any other obstacles nature puts before them. They have a deep respect for danger but also a strong belief that their ‘aumakua will protect them. Never once did they hesitate or slow down on the trip down those narrow cliff trails, and when Kokoro broke into a trot, they naturally followed. I reckon I should mention that even though the boys’ horses weren’t in a class with Kokoro (who was one of a kind) those animals were of good country stock. They had been raised walking trails like these and they were sure-footed, even if they weren’t as big or as fast as Kokoro.
The three Hawaiians had lost sight of Pete’s horse, but kept making their way down the trail. Suddenly, over the sound of the pounding surf, they heard Kokoro’s wild scream. Fearing the worst, they quickened their pace down the side of the cliff. As they neared the bottom, they heard a loud familiar voice.
“Come on you big overgrown tadpole! I’ll stay here all week if I have to. If you want to fight you better do it now. My friends will be here soon and then it won’t be a one-armed old man like me you’ll be up against.”
I think Keala was the most shocked by the sound of Pete’s voice. As long as they had known each other, Keala had never heard Pete raise his voice. It sounded like a fight, but at least Pete was alive. He was still out of sight, but without a word the three Kahionas dismounted and started toward Pete’s shout. Twelve-year-old Pekelo picked up a tree branch with a look of determination on his face. Whatever they had expected certainly wasn’t what they found.
“Well, my friends, it’s about time you got here,” Pete said as they approached. “I hope you’re well rested. This big old boy is about to call it quits and I think I re-broke my shoulder. Noelani will scold me for sure this time.”
Propped up against a boulder was Pete. He was covered in sweat, feet braced against a large rock, and holding a thick bamboo pole that was nearly bent in half.
“If you don’t mind lending a hand, I’m about played out. Hawaiian, you take this pole, and if your two sons don’t mind helping me up, I could sure use a cup of coffee. I’ve been doing battle with this fish all night.”
Keala took the pole from his friend, braced his sturdy legs, and felt exactly what Pete had been dealing with all night. Below, in the outside surf area was one of the greatest fish Keala had ever seen. Cutting through the surf was the fin of a very large A‘u (marlin). This was indeed the biggest fish Keala had ever seen, and in no time the big Hawaiian was laughing and shouting at the same time.
“Braddah, Noelani going bust your butt when you bring dis buggah home for her to clean. She plenty worried you get hurt and here you been all night, talking story with this fish. We go make poke and smoke fish when we get home.”
All four men were soon laughing, and Kokoro was prancing back and forth glowing with excitement. Pete had not re-broken his shoulder, but it sure was sore. As he sat back sipping his coffee and relaxing after a long night, he realized that this was another of those special moments in his life. He was thankful for having good friends. He remembered the day long ago that he roped his first cow with Nickel and Paco. He had been just as sore then as he was now. He knew he was just as happy. Both times he had been in the company of the best friends a man could ask for and with a mighty fine cup of coffee to savor the moment. Keala’s shout suddenly jolted Pete out of his daydreams
“Braddah, we no can lift this big buggah up here. Why you no fish off the beach like most people? Mo’ bettah the boys go down and grab ‘em.”
Although the fish was tiring considerably after nearly twelve hours on the hook, it was still a formidable opponent. This was evident by the veins straining out on the arms and neck of Keala. Ikaika and Pekelo began their descent down the rocky cliff and in no time they were wading into the surf.
The marlin is also known as a billfish because of the long sword-like structure on the end of its nose. This one was no exception, and Pete began to wonder if Keala was fully aware of the danger his two boys faced. He needn’t worry. Keala’s sons were country boys who had spent their lives wrestling cattle, hunting boars, trapping mountain goats, and spear fishing along the dangerous reefs of Hawai‘i. With Keala trying his best to direct the sea monster closer to the shore, Pekelo began splashing to distract the fish. It was similar to the technique used when chasing fish into a net. The fish veered away from Pekelo’s splashing and shouting and swam directly toward his waiting brother. As the A‘u approached, Ikaika dove down to the bottom and waited for the monster fish to swim overhead. When he was directly under the fish, he darted up from the bottom toward the surface and cleanly slipped his knife behind the gills. Both boys immediately swam away from the thrashing fish and watched in fascination as the great A‘u did its final dance. It made one last valiant effort to free itself by pushing its tail through the water and raising its body well out of the surface. But it was all over for the great fish and everyone knew it. When he was sure it was safe, Keala shouted down to his sons to bring in the fish.
> “Boys, you go pull him in and I come meet you down there. Get going now, or something come steal him.” That “something,” of course, was sharks or barracuda.
Keala was almost dancing with joy as he waded out into the surf to help his sons. “Paniolo, you rest now. We go tie up dis buggah and bring him in. Then we eat some poke for sure!”
Pete dozed off for awhile, and when he opened his eyes, the huge fish was on the ground a few feet from where he sat. His three friends were busy weaving a large ti leaf basket to carry the monster home.
Four very tired cowboys rode into the Double ‘P’ Ranch the next morning. Behind them, being pulled by a not-so-happy Kokoro was a huge ti leaf basket supported by long bamboo poles that contained a 400 lb. Marlin. The feisty horse was anxious to be freed of this burden. Only when he was finally released did he seem to forgive them for the indignation of being used as a plow horse.
Noelani scolded each of them (mostly Keala) with appropriate comments:
“Thanks for sending word that you alright!”
“I thought you raised stronger sons than these two tired old men!”
“I no worry about you ever again!”
She then proceeded to attack the great fish with her carving skills. Noelani Kahiona was truly a master when it came to cleaning whatever animal her family brought home. By the time we had unsaddled the horses and washed up, the A‘u was cleaned, carved, and moved into the kitchen. As young Pekelo ran up to his mother, she shouted with glee.
“See, dis one raised good. He no forget limu for the poke. The rest of you too pupule to think of that!”
I supposed you’re wondering what limu and poke are. Limu is a type of seaweed that is mixed with the raw fish pieces along with green onions, sesame oil, and red chili flakes to make what the Hawaiians call poke. Of course, every chef has his own recipe and secret ingredients, and Noelani was no exception. Later that evening, we all sat down to grilled Marlin steaks that had been cooked over a Kiawe wood fire, poke, poi, fresh mango, and Noelani’s famous Haupia for dessert. By the time coffee was served, everybody seated around the table was yawning in peaceful contentment.
“Mo’ bettah we clean up all this mess before you all fall asleep at my table,” Noelani announced. “Come boys, you help me clean up. We leave these old kāne alone to talk story.”
I had arrived shortly before dinner and was treated to a play-by-play account of the adventure I missed. Earlier in the week I had gone into town to straighten out a few problems with some new stock for Uluwehi Ranch. I felt a little “left out” at the time, but when I think back, I reckon that was when I made my decision to leave Uluwehi and spend the rest of my days at the Double ‘P’, but that’s another story.
Although Pekelo and Ikaika were tired, they had enough sense not to grumble at their mother. They got up from the table and carried the dishes to the kitchen while their sisters saved whatever little leftover food there was. By the time Noelani returned with more coffee, Keala was snoring loudly, Pete was leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed, and I was nodding my head up and down on the verge of sleep.
“Hey! You no sleep at my table. Go, you old buggahs, go sleep now. If you no can handle, no more fish!”
The next morning Kawika and Keone, Keala’s two oldest sons, returned from Maui where they had gone to buy cattle. They brought with them three nice looking yearling bulls. One was a stocky Hereford and the other two were Black Angus bulls.
“Looks like you boys got us some mighty fine breeding stock,” Pete told them as he helped put the bulls in the corral. “Come on in the house. We were just sitting down to breakfast.”
Even though the boys had only been gone for two weeks, the family acted like they hadn’t seen them in years. Noelani jumped up and gave her sons big hugs and quickly made places for them at the table. As they helped themselves to poke and rice everyone started talking at once. How was their trip? What’s going on over on Maui? How were all the aunties and uncles that lived on that island?
“Hey, dis good poke! Who went catch the Ahi?” Kawika suddenly asked his father in the midst of all the conversation.
“That A‘u son, not Ahi. We went get him yesterday over Hāmākua side. Pete catch him, but no can handle. His horse, Kokoro come get us for help. When we got there, I took over for Pete who was about to drop from exhaustion. While I hold the fish, Pekelo scare him and Ikaika jab him. Kokoro pulled him all the way home and your mother clean him. I tell you, that fish was one mean buggah!”
The two younger boys basked in all the attention. While the two older boys were happy for their brothers in landing the great fish, they were a little envious that they missed all the excitement. When all had their fill of a delicious breakfast, it was time to get back to the daily chores at the Double ‘P’ Ranch.