December 19th, Fishing Stories

Ok, this one didn’t get away. This is for all my fishin’ buddies back home… You guys know who you are. And please, can somebody from SVA send our blog address to Nate and Katherine Toby. Nate will appreciate this post, and he’s one of my fishin’ buddies. Thanks to Fred my captain and coach we landed a beautiful 26 pound yellow fin tuna. The experience started as an invite from Fred Friday morning. He asked if I wanted to join him for an evening fish. Of course I replied “Absolutely”. This was a great experience. Taking his 20ft skiff outside the reef and several miles into the ocean to a spot called minor “FAD”. A “FAD” is a Fish Attraction Device. The locals take out 5,000 to 7,000 feet of ultra strong cord and attach it to a big weight. The weight anchors the fad to the bottom of the ocean and along the top is netting and a wood boom. Only about 30ft long, the netting and boom support small fish life and protection from predators. Anyway, birds and sea life are attracted to the “FAD” as a feeding ground. You see, every once in awhile these little fish venture out of the fad and get preyed upon. The yellow fin, marlin, and other game fish like to hang out around the “FAD” and feed. So Fred and I ventured outside our beautiful lagoon into the big blue. The South Pacific ocean is really amazing, the visibility can be 200-300 feet in the open ocean, and I’ve never seen a blue like that in my life, and can’t really describe it. We fished in water that was 5,000 feet deep. Basically we were trolling around the “fad”, using 40 pound test, with a 30 pound leader that was about 3-4 feet long. We fished with a simple 4-5 inch long flat fish that resembled a small fish in the area. We used about 300 feet of line, and fished about 6 inches to 5 feet below the surface. Yellow fin are major predator fish and like to hang out about 200-600ft below the surface. Once they spot prey they shoot toward the surface and attack. Just like a missile. Sometimes they are moving so fast they can’t put the breaks on and launch 10-15 feet out of the water. They are one of the fastest fish in the ocean, and it’s not uncommon for them to rip off 600-800ft of line once they hit the lure. My fish was not on the aggressive side, but still took about 20 minutes to land. Fred made it clear that they can spool you easily and there is absolutely nothing you can do. You can guess that we fish with very large reels with “lots of line”. Long story short, we landed the fish (It was a pretty nice size -about 26 pounds), and came home as tuna conquerors. Later that night we enjoyed the Ahi of our labor; it tasted amazing! It was a thrill being in the middle of the South Pacific fighting a yellow fin tuna, with the warm tropical breeze blowing, nothing around us but a small island in the distance, and 5,000 feet of Pacific blue below us. Fred mentioned that if the engine broke down, we might drift into Hawaii in a few months, but the chances would be slim. At one point in the day, Fred told me about a story months ago when his wife hooked a yellow fin, and just as they were getting it to the boat, a very large shark broke surface, swallowed the yellow fin, and disappeared as quickly as it struck the fish. Just after this story Fred snagged his lure on the “FAD”. I eagerly told him I would jump in with the mask and go retrieve it off the “FAD”. Suddenly, my senses came to me and I remembered the story from earlier in the day. As Fred told me how amazing it is to swim in the deep ocean and peer down 200 feet into the deep blue, I was quietly remembering the story and politely told Fred he could have the honors and I’ll man the boat… I get another chance to fish with him in a couple days, maybe I’ll take the plunge.
On a side note, Maddy and I went out with Fred and a group of people “outside the reef to snorkel”. I must tell you how proud I was of Maddy to jump in and snorkel in the deep ocean. We spotted several large turtles and many amazing fish beneath us in about 25-40 feet of water. All of the other people on Fred’s boat got sea sick, and were a little nervous about the open ocean. Madelynn was by far the brave one, and the swells didn’t even bother her! Cheers to Maddy, the brave one!