Our trip from Portsmouth Harbor to Iles de Saintes was beautiful. With the dinghy safely stowed on deck, we set out in a light breeze that was forecast to build later in the day. Tricia broke out her fishing pole and the purple lure Cary and Ginny bought her for her birthday. It wasn't in the water long before we heard the cry "Fish On!" In short order, a diminutive blue fin tuna was gaffed, gutted and in the freezer. Enough for an appetizer, but we needed to find his big brother. Roaring along at 8+ knots in a mild squall, Tricia was thinking we were going too fast to catch anything. Then I saw some birds diving ahead of us and steered for them. In seconds, Tricia had a powerful hit! But I will let her tell you about catching "the big one".
Ha, so on board Music we have a plastic rod holder attached to our stern railing. Our one big Penn reel and rod sit in that holder until we hook a fish. I honestly thought that the rod holder would break, or the rod would break, or the line would break, not in that order. Getting the rod out of the holder requires talent, even with a small fish, and this wasn't a small fish. I have to stand on the aft seats which are angled, unhook the latch on the holder, and slide the rod out without dropping the rod, hitting the bimini, or falling overboard. Try this with the rod bent in half, and 6-7' following, rolly seas. So the rod and reel actually belong to my Dad, and all I could worry about was holding on for dear life so that I didn't lose $1000 worth of someone else's equipment. Once I was sure that the sucker was hooked, all I could do was fight it, in bare hands, on a rolly sea, under the bimini, with no room to pump, no fighting chair or fighting harness. I grew up learning how to fish the big salt water fish. These were not ideal conditions, but being the stubborn person that I am, I refused to let anyone else help. I wasn't going to risk losing that rod. And what the hell kind of fish was this anyway? I called out to have someone check the time - no one did. They didn't get it. Fish like this can be fought for hours! I fought it for at least 20 minutes, which at the time seemed like hours. It was long enough for me to to be out of breath, sore, shakey, and have blisters worn and popped on my right hand by the time I was done. Yes, gloves would have been helpful. Duh.
I have to give my family credit though, they have gotten good at the process of slowing the boat down so that I can fight a fish. Their execution was perfect, up to the point where the fish got close and made a run for underneath the boat. Had I been smart, I would have called for them to speed up. In the end, we were lucky and didn't lose the fish. We got it to the boat, and Mat made a perfect gaff, as he hung half-way off the stern ladder to pull aboard my 25# blue fin tuna. It sure felt like 200#. Well, it's been a long time since I fought any big fish, and this one was all muscle. That night we made sushi for the first time, with lots of fish left in the freezer for many meals to come.
Now if I only I can get the elusive wahoo, I'll be a happy camper! I think we have to do something like 10-14 knots to catch those crazy suckers. Mat would love it if we were going that fast! You may be wondering why we don't try fishing more often? Well, in some countries it's not allowed without a permit, but mostly we don't fish anywhere around the reefs to avoid catching reef fish that could be carrying Ciguatera bacteria that could make us very sick. We actually did catch some barracuda leaving St. Kitts, but those are one of the fish that tends to carry Ciguatera, so back over they went, and after reeling in two of them, the line came in for the day. Whenever we are doing passages the line goes out, but we aren't always lucky. But for me, it's entertainment.
Mat: After cleaning up and getting sailing again, we got the boat dialed in and, I am proud to say, caught the boat who had been ahead of us when we stopped to fish. Real fun sailing. And the entry into the Saintes was gorgeous. You pass between a point and a small island with surf crashing on the rocks. As you round up to lower the sails behind the next point, you see the welcoming harbor stretched out in front of you with tall hills on three sides, and another island to the rear. Very protected. In more ways than one, as you notice the forts on the top of each hill with embrasures that once held cannons with interlocking fields of fire. Maybe this wouldn't be so welcoming if you were an enemy ship?
There is a book in all of this =)
ReplyDelete