Shark competes with tournament fisherman

Kayak fisherman Isaac Brumaghim came within a few yards of getting on board more fish than he expected: a 9-foot Galapagos shark.

Brumaghim, 37, of Maili, said he was participating in a fishing tournament Sunday about two miles off the Waianae Coast when the shark jumped out of the water about 9 feet from the rear of the kayak and took his fish.

“I’ve never had a shark jump from behind me,” he said.

Brumaghim belongs to a small but growing number of kayak fishermen. He estimates there are 80 in Hawaii.

Brumaghim, who runs Aquahunters, which he describes as a kayak fishing and diving league, was participating in his group’s sixth annual kayak fishing tournament when he had the close encounter with the shark. The shark took his fish, a mackerel tuna.

Though he uttered a few descriptive words after the encounter and shook his head in amazement, as recorded on his YouTube video, Brumaghim said he wasn’t going to let the shark spoil what otherwise was a good fishing day.

He continued fishing, catching several. “The fish were biting, and the sharks are there to eat,” he said.

Brumaghim said he had a “pretty good” score for the kayak fishing tournament that day. The tournament goes on for about eight months, and there’s still time to register, he said.

Brumaghim has been promoting kayak fishing. He’s in the current issue of Hawaiian Airlines’ magazine Hana Hou and is scheduled to be on the television show “Hawai‘i Goes Fishing” Sunday. He has sponsorships from kayak firms and fishing gear companies.

With his jumping shark episode receiving hundreds of views on YouTube in just a few days, the publicity is growing about kayak fishing.

“Everything is just snowballing,” he said.

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