Watch: Teen catches 104-pound ulua while freediving off Kauai

Seventeen-year-old Elijah Wehner shot a 104-pound ulua while diving off the south shore of Kauai with his friend.

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – A teen from Kauai made the catch of a lifetime while freediving on Tuesday.

Seventeen-year-old Elijah Wehner shot a 104-pound ulua while diving off the south shore of Kauai with his friend.

He said they had been diving in waters off Poipu for two hours when he spotted the ulua.

His friend helped by clipping the gun to the buoy so the fish wouldn’t drag it away while Wehner went in for a back up shot with another gun.

“When I saw it I jumped, I thought it was like a shark or something, but it was just a big fish. So, I kept my composure, and I somehow hit it right in the head and had a head shot,” Wehner said.

 

“As soon as I shot it, I poked my head out of the water and screamed, ‘I just shot a huge ulua, I just shot a huge ulua.”

He said it took 45 minutes to bring the fish to shore.

His mother said this has been something he’s been wanting to catch for some time.

“I’m proud is an understatement,” she said. “It is pretty impressive for his age or any age. His passion is diving and goes out almost every day.”

And the wildest part of this whole ordeal is that Wehner said he’s only been diving for three months.

Now, what comes next for the fish? Wehner said he plans to marinate and smoke it.

State records show that the largest Ulua ever caught in the islands was a 191-pounder — that was reeled in by Al Gadow off Lahaina, Maui back in 1980.

By HNN Staff

Source: Hawaii News Now

 

 

 

 

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