Despite Mike putting a line out for days, we’d not yet hooked a fish and were growing unceasingly envious during radio check-in as many of the other boats told tales of their catches, some implying that they didn’t even need a line and that the fish we’re launching themselves onto the decks, sacrificing themselves for the good of these hungry sailors. Now knowing how sailors and fisherman can talk a high tale this particular one I didn’t believe. Still, it was starting to irk us that we hadn’t had any success and Mike had a reputation to live up to from 2014, so the pressure was on.
So yesterday when throwing out the line, we mustered our very best positive fishing vibes and put a few beers in the fridge to chill. Positive thoughts people!!
It took a couple of hours but just in time for lunch the line went taught and we looked back to see a large lime green colored fish thrashing around off our stern. We knew then that we’d be having Mahi Mahi for lunch. He had a lot of energy, so we let him drag and thrash a moment longer to tire him out before attempting to haul him into the cockpit.
Turns out that Greg is a dab hand with the fishing gaff for as soon as Mike had pulled our fish in close enough, Greg took one swing of the gaff and hauled this green beauty on deck.
We threw the line back in the water just to keep the deck clear while we took care of our catch and almost immediately Greg yelled “fish on…again” I thought he was joking but I looked back to see a blue fin tuna on the end of the line.
Now this was a dilemma, the Mahi was a good size (about 5 or 6 lbs) and certainly enough for lunch and dinner. What on earth would we do with a blue fin too? Fortunately he made the decision easy for us because he managed to get away and as much as I’d have loved some blue fin sashimi, there’s only so much fish you can eat in one day.
Back in 2014 Mike had gone to the trouble to learn how to set a line and once caught, how to fillet a fish but he’d missed the important part about how to kill the fish. I will let you look back at the 2014 blog to see what that lead to or I will just say the words “hammer” and “bloodshed” and let your imagination fill in the rest.
Needless to say we didn’t want a repeat, this fine specimen was going to go peacefully. We’d read that a shot of vodka in the gills kills them quickly and so our fish took his last breath at the hand of a shot of Belvedere vodka. Only the best on Rapture!
As far as I can recall, this was the first time in my life that I had witnessed something being killed in front of me for my consumption and I have to say I was surprised by how very sad I felt. When a fish dies, it’s color immediately drains from its body and so I watched as this beautifully vivid green fish took its last breath and turned grey in a matter of seconds.
Not one to grieve for too long when it comes to food (fickle I know) I watched Mike expertly go to town on skinning and filleting our catch with an extremely sharp knife and a pair of chain mail gloves (safety first!).
In no time at all we were noshing on fish tacos complete with home-made slaw which Susan and I quickly threw together with the last of our fresh veg. We had enough for dinner too. Fish tacos twice in one day? It’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it.
