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The 'Reel' Story
12/05/00
Blaine Parks
It's
December 1st and we just finished the best tuna fillets ever! It
would have been even better had it been the Mahi Mahi -- but we'll get to
that later in our story.
It’s
a pretty well known fact that Blaine has never learned how to fish.
He just never took an interest, never went, etc. But, we knew that
we had to try and catch fish on the boat to supplement our fresh meat
supplies. We bought a trolling rod, reel, and various lures (no idea
what would work) while we were in Charleston visiting Blaine's parents.
We
also bought a rod holder that ended up being the wrong size to mount on
our stern rail. So, we sailed offshore from Charleston to Ft.
Lauderdale without being able to try out our new gear.
We finally exchanged the rod holder in Ft. Lauderdale.
We were so excited. Now we
could try our hand at fishing from the boat. We set sail from Ft.
Lauderdale to Miami today (20 miles). We forgot about fishing until
about halfway through the trip.
Blaine
brought out the rod and let out the one lure that he configured after
reading several chapters in a fishing book. Blaine has never
actually caught a fish, so there was no reason to get out the gaff or the
net -- He wasn't going to catch anything today, he never does!
Then, the boring wait began.
Fifteen
minutes later the reel starts clicking off the line (probably a guppy!).
Janet headed the boat into the wind to slow our speed while Blaine fought
with the "guppy". After a 10-minute fight, we started to
see what he's caught. On the end of our line is a 25-30 pound
Dolphin (Mahi Mahi). This was an absolutely beautiful fish --
silver, blue, and white reflecting as he came to the surface.
Coming to the surface, however, was the wrong move. Blaine reeled
him to the surface and then we remembered that we didn't have the net or
the gaff ready. We never thought we'd catch anything! Just as
he came up (with five of his buddies right beside him!!), he leapt from
the water and broke away from the hook.
We
were so dejected. Dinner was right there and we’d lost it.
But, we were ready now. We had both the gaff and the net ready if we
caught anything else. Out went the lure for a second try (Wal-Mart
special!). 15 minutes later the reel starts clicking off again.
It only lasted a minute or two before the fish broke away. Another
one lost! And you wonder why
Blaine never liked fishing!
We're
now 5 miles from the Miami inlet and still no fish! Blaine was just
about to give up when it reeled off again. This time it stayed on
the line -- and Blaine was not going to make the same mistake as last
time. We brought him up real slow, being very careful to not let him
surface and break free. When we finally got him reeled in enough to
see, we had a small tuna (10-12 lb) on the line -- but tuna nonetheless!!
Janet got the net and scooped him up. 'Charbonneau' had just
landed her first fish.
OK
-- so what does one do once you catch a fish? Don't ask Blaine, he
has no clue! It was back to the fishing books. We poured
alcohol in his gills to calm his squirming. We read that somewhere
(it worked) Janet brought up
the cutting board and the fillet knives. This is where Blaine is
supposed to gut and clean the fish -- yeah right! After Janet
reading several pages of instructions (like a nurse to a surgeon), the
fish was gutted and the head tossed overboard. Now we had to work on
those dinner filets.
Just
as we started reading and working on the fillets, we had to change course
towards the inlet and the boat began rolling horribly in the swells.
Blaine, our fish, and his fillet knife were rolling side to side in 20
degree rolls. Fish blood was
everywhere. We decided to finish the filleting when we got inside
the inlet - a smart move with such a sharp knife.
Long
story short, we just had four wonderful tuna fillets, seasoned with a
little lime juice and Cajon seasoning, grilled to perfection on
'Charbonneau's' gas grill. Even Max & Bailey had some fish for
dinner. We dined aboard while anchored on the west coast of
Sand's Key. This was an absolutely perfect end to a long day's sail.
Now this is why we came cruising!!!
We
just wish we had caught the Mahi Mahi and all of you could have joined us
for dinner.
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Here's the book
that saved us that day. We still use it today and refer to it
often. You can check it out by clicking on the book.
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