A HUGE FISH CAUGHT BY THE TAIL

Last week Thursday afternoon, a woman was taken aback while she was pole fishing [kā mākoikoi] at the Alakea pier when a large fish was caught [paʻa] on her hook [makau], and because she was overcome with fear when she saw it floating on the water’s surface, she just left behind her fishing pole [mākoi] which was lost, being pulled away by the fish.

Fishing for mullet [ʻamaʻama] is what brought the woman to Alakea pier, and after catching her ʻamaʻama and surgeon fish [pualu], and while having fun fishing, there was a tugging [konikoni] at her hook, and she pulled at it. But all she felt was something heavy. There was no pulling [kiwi] back like there usually is with fish, fleeing when caught [lou] by a hook.

She kept pulling at her big fish, and because of its weight, children and passersby came to the pier to see the big fish bending [hoʻolāpuʻu] the pole [mōkoi] of that woman. Some of the people thought she had snared on her hook a bag of opium, or something else that was thrown into the water.

The woman kept pulling calmly at her pole until the entire fish came floating up. Lo and behold, it was a turtle. Whereupon she immediately abandoned her fishing, and the turtle pulled away the line and pole and disappeared into the sea.