Fish out of water
Pete reeling in his first catch on Catalyst
Among the toys we bought for our seafaring adventure were two trolling fishing rods
While Pete had some freshwater fishing experience, deep sea fishing is a new endeavor for both of us. We equipped ourselves in Cape Town, taking a “field trip” to a local fishing gear shop with Dave and Talishia, seasoned fishing captains who generously shared their expertise on what we should purchase as well as best practices for fishing the open seas. Ever the researcher, Pete also read “The Handbook of Coastal Fishing” prior to casting his first lines.
For three days, we trolled for fish throughout the daylight hours with only a single nibble. Then, last night, as the sun was setting and dinner being served, both lines suddenly started whirling. It was game on! Dropping our forks, we jumped up in excitement, with Pete grabbing one rod and Captain Dunbar the other. After about 15 minutes of fighting, they each landed a sizeable tuna.
The proud fishermen made good use of our specially constructed cockpit fish cleaning station to process the fish, agreeing that their filleting skills required some honing -- where were our salmon fishing/filleting experts (Pete’s brother Tom and our daughter Katia) when we needed them?! It was an exciting and productive adventure: we’ll have fresh ceviche tonight, with more fish vacuum sealed in our freezer for future dinners. Yum!!!
