Keiki Tournament Report

The Hawaii and Waikiki Yacht Clubs held their first event of the year on Sunday, January 17, 1999, and it was a huge cooperative effort requiring the assistance of some fifty volunteers, twenty seven boats, skippers and their crews, almost twenty sponsors, the US Coast Guard Auxiliary, and a representative from the Division of Boating at the Hawaii State Department of Land and Natural Resources.

All these people pitching in so a hundred or so kids can go fishing.

We call this wonderful event the Keiki Fishing Tournament, and now held for the sixteenth straight year, it is one of the most significant contributions our yacht clubs make to the community during the course of a year. As many of you know, our other great event is the Goodwill Tournament which is held in June and follows the same format, however, instead of the Keiki, our anglers are clients of Goodwill Industries.

What makes these events, and this year’s Keiki Tournament in particular, so enjoyable is watching the smiles on the anglers faces at 0700 which in turn overflows to unbridled exuberance as they spend a sunny morning catching fish for prizes, food, and fun. There is no competition between the skippers in these events; we leave that to the kids. We just stand back and marvel as the endless sea of cheery faces tell the story of how great the boat ride was and how many fish were jumping at their baits.

Maybe we can learn something from these kids.

There was no bickering on the boats, no complaining on the dock, and nobody, absolutely nobody, got left out. This year, as always, we gave out prizes for the biggest fish, smallest fish, funniest fish, most fish, least fish, most total poundage, most colorful fish, most unusual fish, and a whole bunch of other categories. In fact, we made up so many ways to win that every single angler who participated was awarded a prize, giving a true air of validity to the theme of "Everybody Catches Something!"

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Weigh-in & measurement of the catch

We sent the boats out to the grounds at about 0800, and with only one boat returning before 1100, we knew the fish were biting. After the fishing was halted and the boats were tied up, the Keikis weighed in their catch at Hawaii Yacht Club. They peered into each other’s buckets, some with cautious optimism, others with reckless abandon, still others too young to understand the difference, to see what was being brought in by the next boat, and they remained infinitely patient as only kids can be while the results were tallied. Nobody waited outside the door of the board room to offer an unsolicited opinion, and the tournament directors were free to make their decisions without fear of repercussion, lawsuit, or scorn.

Maybe we can learn something from these kids.

During the tally and the who-gets-what-award process, Waikiki Yacht Club generously operated their "neato ferry boat," as one young girl called it, to transport the group from one side of the harbor to the other where they were met with a picnic and still another opportunity to win more prizes by swimming relays in the pool. Some of the kids were accompanied by their parents or other care-givers, while others came alone or with their friends. It didn’t matter because the cost was the same for them all: FREE.

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First time fishing for this little keiki!

The entire event was sponsored by the two yacht clubs, local businesses, and a school of skippers who received nothing in compensation for their time or use of their boats. In fact, nobody made any money on it - which might be the best feature of all - and we were once again supported and volunteered to death to make it all work.

Of the several hundred fish caught, the vast majority - about 85% - were released unfazed by the whole production. The kids loved it. They knew the fish were caught just for prizes and enjoyment, and they cheered in delight as they watched their fish suddenly kick away from our willing revivers’ hands. One even had the wherewithal to say he was glad the fish went back home so he could go catch him again another day. I’m pretty sure at age seven he didn’t understand the political or social ramifications of his statement, but then again, I don’t think he cared. He just wanted his little friend to go swimming and be free so he could go out fishing another day.

Our team of revivers carefully handled the fish after weigh in, and because we made the extra effort to resuscitate them, many which looked to be in poor shape did in fact make it back to the sea to be with their friends. I think the only thing more satisfying than catching fish is watching one smile as it gratefully swims away. Only about 15% of our weigh-in didn’t survive, and each one that didn’t was bid a sad farewell by the kids and wished happiness for their next life in fishy heaven. Since most Hawaiian reef fish are excellent food, we iced the non-survivors down and invited the kids and their families to take them home for dinner. The whole experience of watching released fish swim and preserving those that didn’t had a tremendous impact on them, and they were taught some valuable lessons about respect for the ocean and not wasting precious resources.

Yes, indeed. Maybe we can learn something from these kids.

From the sidelines, I watched as our volunteers cringed over the endless supply of angler-turned-aquakid energy, but those cringes held smiles which reminded me why they give their time to these kids year after year; namely fond memories of yesteryear tucked into the back of their souls rekindling and pushing forward to meld with their hearts and out through their faces. In the end, all that had happened was we felt good about ourselves, and as a reason to volunteer, I think that’s the best one of all. Thank you. Everyone.

Perhaps we have learned from these kids.

As all the kids were winners, we did not list each category winner. See February's HYC & WYC bulletins & Hawaii Fishing News, for further details.