I had the opportunity to hang out with the Lawai’a Magazine guys at the Tokunaga Ulua Challenge in Hilo yesterday.  The Tokunaga event is the largest ulua tourney in the state and this year 611 entrants participated, 20 of whom were female.

Tokunaga prizes!

Up for grabs were a very generous amount of custom rods, Shimano reels, quality coolers, Naoki fish prints, fishing line, lures, hooks, etc.  And the Jackpot was huge also.

First fish

The weigh-ins started up with a 78lb GT.  It held first place for a few hours and the big fish holders sand bagged by getting in line just before the 2pm cutoff.

the Winnah!

Weigh-ins continued for more than an hour after and the winning ulua ended up going 93.9 lbs and  was caught on a barbless circle hook. The largest fish in the omilu category went 22.6 lbs.

final placings

Here’s the final placings in both the Ulua and Omilu categories.  A nice friendly, family vibe was felt throughout the whole event.