Monday, April 5, 2010

How's the fishing?

To mark the end of one 'season' (Semana Santa) and the beginning of another (regular days slowly slowing), I thought I'd turn over the blog to my friend Chuck, way out yonder in the Marshall Islands. A good story is a good story and this one has fish in it! Carry on, Woodchuck!

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   It has been a very active time here at the edge of the world of late. The fishing has been exceptional, the local yacht club held its final race of the season, the drought has abated and life is good!
   A scheduled Marshalls Billfish Club Tournament was cancelled a week ago Saturday due to high winds and big seas. Our crew decided to go out anyway and found excellent mahi mahi and wahoo fishing. We were out for about three hours and caught 15 mahi mahi, 3 wahoo and 2 yellowfin tuna. The tournament was rescheduled for this past Saturday and it was a very productive tournament, one of the best ever according to members of the club.
   Our boat, “Kirtake”, was in the running with a cooler full of wahoo and mahi mahi and one tag and release Blue Marlin but we went 1 for 4 on billfish to lose out to the winners. We had one UFO right out of the gate after about two minutes of lines in the water that created a huge splash. No one saw the fish though so the species was questionable. Shortly after that we put a 30 pound wahoo in the boat. The morning was good for the little fish, mahi running between 15-25 pounds and wahoo 20-30 pounds. We raised one sailfish on a marlin lure that didn’t get hooked and jumped off a small Blue marlin of about 125 pounds.
   After an hour or so of no fish in the afternoon the tag line came down apparently because the rubber band wore out. (Those of you who know this style of fishing will understand more fully what I’m saying here but for the rest of you suffice it to say that the fishing lines needed some adjustment at this point…) There was no pressure on the rod and no sign of fish so I casually put on a new rubber band and hooked it into the tag line. Wouldn’t you know it but just as I put it into freespool to let the tag line fly a good sized Blue Marlin piled on and I watched a horrible backlash explode on the reel. The fish peeled off line and stuck her head and shoulders out of the water as if to laugh at the horrified expression on my face. The fish was a good one with very wide shoulders. Its bill looked like a windshield wiper as it thrashed it back and forth for a few seconds and then it took off again. The backlash, which had resembled a Condor’s nest at first, was almost gone before the line broke. I was sick. That could have been the Tournament winning fish. Coulda, woulda, shoulda…
   The guys on the boat tried to make me feel better by telling me that it could have happened to anyone and that it was just bad luck… But it happened to me! And I’m the one who brought the bunch of bananas along. (I’m not a superstitious person but bananas are traditionally considered bad luck on a sportfishing boat!) I feel so ashamed! I am unworthy!
   For those of interested in the results of this tournament check out the website.  www.billfishclub.com.

Thanks, Chuck! Lucky for you, there are other days and other tournies. Redemption is possible! Go well there, at the edge of the world.
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 Though the forecast says clear, the sky says grey and raining!!!! a nice steady rain, at least right this minute...but some rain is better than none! Sorry visitors (we really need this rain)! The radar looks clear farther out there , just hang in there awhile...in fact, it's stopping as I type....argh.

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