Gone fishing

I went on a week’s holiday lately, on a boat in Madagascar! An all in one package for me really. Diving, sleeping, fishing, relaxing, eating… It was my wife and I and another couple, and their 14 year old daughter (Floater).

Earlier this year I got a small taste of what deep sea fishing can be like, when I went to Mocambique with a friend and eager fisherman from Norway (Oyvind). The catch was properly documented on this blog (http://stensbys.blogspot.com/2007/04/fishing-in-mocambique.html), much to rub it in for my friend that went home empty handed. This time I must say that I was looking forward to do some fishing, catch a big one and maybe rub it in even more… and document it like with all the salt and chillies to make it utterly painful for Oyvind, hahaha. Well, that was just a thought that snuck into my mind in a flash of a second… no more!

Well on board the boat, we are presented with the rules and we quickly move on to the priorities for the week. We’re a bunch of landlubbers and beg the captain for some calm waters. That means south of the Nosy Be Island sheltered by lots of smaller sand banks and islands. That also means bad fishing he says… I’m thinking to myself that during a whole week… if I keep the lines out at all times… I’ve bought some fancy lures… but I need all the luck now.

Kailash, the teenager on board has got a bellyring with lots of glittery stuff. We decide that she can be our floater… and all the tackles can easily be hooked onto her bellyring with an easy on and off clips… so Kailash is officially renamed “Floater”!
I take a look at the chart, and figure that our calm waters vary only between 20-30m deep. What big pelagic fishes can you catch in shallow waters like that?? I don’t know, but decide that I have to rely on “The Secret” as well… the power of the mind. Whilst all the others are relaxing and minding their own stuff, I will have to meditate on the fishing and visualize for myself how I battle to get that huge monster of a fish onboard the boat… then the fish will be “heaven sent” back to me as answer to my prayers. In these waters and the captain’s optimistic tone, that might be my safest bet… so the whole fishing thing fades out of my mind…

I don’t know what happened to the the prophets of doom… For two days there where nothing… but then suddenly one day the reel was screaming wildly. The captain had to wake me up on deck… fish, fish!! The line was pulling and pulling… and I just had to accept that only when this thing stops pulling can I start pulling back… but as soon as I started it was suddenly gone… F**K!! But at least something was lurking down there…

Only a minute later it happens again, and this time I landed a nice Cuta that I estimate must have been about 5kg. In an hour or two I landed two more, the biggest one now about 7kg… a little bit smaller than the one I caught in Mocambique, so still no proper salt to rub it in with for Oyvind… but I’m a happy fisherman… and me and Henk had 3-4 other ones on that we lost… so at least we had some good action there for a while!

As we are talking there at the back of the boat… my gaze is constantly swiping the horizon and in the direction of the fishing lines where our hopes lie… From out of the blue comes a fin… I jump up in the air, shouting shark, shark!! It could only be a shark or sharklike something big… and just as I’ve uttered the words the reel start running!! I’m at the rod in a second… but Ali the captain is shouting; “Let it go! Let it go!” I am too excited though and start pulling immediately. I can feel something heavy… and that it suddenly falls off sort of… It was Ali’s special tackle that went… a hairy piece of cotton is a fully good description of it!!
Apparently the cotton thing is a special thing for Marlins and Sailfish. They need to tangle up in the cotton properly before you bring it in… so I blew it big time with my eagerness… Like a premature e****lation it felt like… so bloody exciting but over before it even started!! Who could have dreamt of a Marlin before this trip…?

I’m scouting for fins in the water and Sea Gulls on the hunt now… Suddenly I see two more fins in the water, but nothing happens… Then again we see two fins… Sailfish Ali confirms. As we pass the spot I’m waiting and waiting… and there the line goes again. “Hold it, hold it” Ali is screaming! I’m ready with the cup belt and just waiting to pull and pull like crazy… “Hold it… hold it”; Ali goes again. I’m getting a bit impatient now… I’m wondering whether Ramadan and his fasting mean that he can’t take any fish either… and now he is buggering everything up for me as good as he can…?! Insh Allah (if Allah allows it)… isn’t it… and not for him to decide?!! The line has been running forever now, but then suddenly a huge Sailfish leaps out of the water like a mirror reflecting the sun, spinning around in the air and disappears into the blue again… “Bring it in!”; Ali screams now… and all my doubts in him are gone!
I pull and pull, and realize the fish went quite a distance whilst I was on a hold, waiting for Ali’s go signal. The sailfish jumps spectacularly out of the water again and again and threatens to circle around the boat. I feel very alive with that big thing wriggling, pulling and jumping out there. I am happy only to have seen this live… like on TV. Already I will have a hell of a story to tell… but I manage to land the beast though… the Sailfish only a tad more exhausted than the fisherman. Assany, my dive buddy and crewmember, takes a firm grip on the spear and gives it a couple of knocks to the head. Together we carry it to the front of the boat where it is all mine to cuddle and be photographed with. I really had to sit there for a long time to study in awe this amazingly beautiful creature… almost sad that it was going to the pots in a few hours.

Our chef on board made a lovely Sailfish carpaccio, followed by a lovely garnished piece of Sailfish fillet from the braai. Ali (the captain), Assany (dive-buddy/crew) and Gerrard (chef) shared the rest of the Sailfish in three equally big bags to feed their families. They seemed very happy with their share!! Although we did not have a weight on board we estimate that it must have been around 55-60kg. That’s rubbing salt into Oyvinds already wounded pride!! Cheers!!!
Ready for sundowners we pass a couple of Humpback Whales playing in the surface… I’m full of impressions for the day… and it’s still not deeper than 32 meters according to the instruments…

Fishing in Mocambique

For a while now I've been thinking - what the hell happened to that fishing story from Mocambique with Øyvind? I am so sure I wrote about it somewhere, but can't find it anywhere in all the articles. I've felt that I never got to rub it properly in for Øyvind... He being such a fishing enthusiast... whilst I'm pretty much waiting for wireless fishing to become a reality. To tell a long story short, I got fish and he didn't... I just need this excuse of an article to brag about my catch also of course.

It was pretty much thanks to the cyclones that the diving was kak, and we decided to give fishing a try instead. So, we went fishing with Wayne from Simply Scuba and Michael, a german tourist that seemed to be part of the furnishing of the place.

We were sitting there in the boat watching a shark leap out of the water... and some dolphins and flying fish riding the waves when suddenly something starts to scream. It was such an annoying loud sound that disturbed the peace and tranquility completely in the boat... the sun and the waves had made me nice and sleepy. Then this f**king screaching sound from my reel that had to ruin it all! Then as I'm slowly coming out of my sullenness... I realize that this sound is actually what we've all been waiting for!

Something down there is making an effort to run away with my bait... Not just away! To me it seems that this thing wants to eat in peace at the bottom of the sea, coz it's pulling down, down and down. After a hell of a lot of pulling it suddenly stopped... either it hit bottom... or it's tired. My turn now, so I started to pull back up again... "Hurry", Wayne tells me, "... or else the sharks will beat you to it"! Apparently it's a common problem that you only get half the fish out of the water... or just the head. So I'm working my rod like never before now... I don't want those sharp and nasty teeth to come anywhere close to my fish! No no, don't get any funny ideas... we're talking strictly about fishing here. That was unintentional!

Then the line is pulling out again... still down and down before it suddenly stops dead again. "Ahhh... there you go", a very disappointed and resigned look from Wayne and Michael. This was for sure the shark finishing my fish... killed it and ruined my trophy... I visualize only the skeleton left on the hook... but that is surely not the shark way! They bite it clean cut off and gobble the bones and everything... leaving whatever is left of the fish dead or at least unable to pull more line and fight back at all... I continue to pull in my direction... and something is still there?! Something with it's own will intact that doesn't agree to come up. Maybe the shark is still struggeling to bite off the spine of my fish or something. I decide to fight on until all my line and whatever else is out of the water. It's like football (soccer)! The match is not over before the referee blows the final whistle. I know this, coz I used to play football... and quite good at it too!! Wayne and Michael is like those old guys that always used to stand on the side of the field with their negative and sarcastic remarks when things weren't looking too good. "I told you!", or: "what did I say"! I'm not a quitter though!! Never was on the football field... and not now when it comes to fishing either. I'll show them! So I keep pulling and pulling something out of the abyss.

It's heavy, and I'm getting tired. As it comes closer now I can see that it's pulling sideways as well. This gives me new courage and motivation... My fish is still there! Maybe it's not about going down to the bottom for lunch any more... rather to escape the sharks... crossing and zigzagging in the water. Hold on fishie... I'll come to your aid and save you from those savages around you! What a bloody dilemma for my fish down there though! Between a rock and a hard place I'm sure... or between a pinnacle and a hard place in oceanic terms. No time for elaborate explanations though... communication is a problem in any event. Even with a thick wire, we're far from 3G or even GPRS here! I have to cut right through... make a decision and stick to it... Explanations later, when the heat of the battle is over. So I pull and I pull... until it's in the surface and Wayne can hook it with his handy tool and get it into the boat.
It's beautiful! Not a hair or a fish-shell is crumpled by shark teeth... so the sharks are safe of my wrath for this time. After about 15 minutes of eternity we managed to land it in the boat. Now it's writhing and jumping and trying to bite with it's nasty teeth as soon as I try to get near and unhook it. What kind of gratitude is that now after saving you from the sharks?! Bloody sardine!! It's a Cuda/Cuta though... or a Kingfish in english I think. Related to the Barracuda and part of the Mackerell family they tell me. Nice, shimmery and sleek it looks... but no manners whatsoever. So we give it a few well directed knocks to the head - and it's over! We're stating an example... that this is not acceptable behavior to all it's friends that are gonna follow.


We keep fishing! Me happy and high in spirit... and the other guys desperate now to catch up and silence this bloody first timer Norwegian. Øyvind also... the fishing expert of the two of us looking very tensed. I jack up a beer to celebrate... share with the other guys how good it feels and give them a few helpful tips... "The water is cold and unfriendly with sharks", they tell me??! What the hell has that got to do with the price of eggs? The fishing must have gone to their heads... surely! We keep fishing for a while... but nothing more. It's tensed aboard the boat. I get this mutany on Bounty kinda feeling... and I'm only too happy to feel the sand under my feet again.

The fish is photographed and weighed 9kgs... and then we (me and Øyvind) invite the whole divecamp to dine on the fish. That seems to ease up the atmosphere and make the not so lucky fishermen happy again. Wayne show off some of his magic when he fries the fish in some fritter concoction. I drink my beer as I observe and controle my fish being prepared. Potatoes and dip are thrown in to make it a full meal... and then we feast!