Fishin in Fiji

Whhiiiiirrrrrrzzzzzzeeeezzzziiiizzz….FISH ON!

These moments come with various degrees of enthusiasm on Guava Jelly. Usually we are trolling a line behind Guava, never too determined to catch anything but it just seems logical to try in the fish-rich Fijian waters. By not determined I mean Ill put on any small rubber squidy as a lure, dump it in, set the drag and forget about it. Lately I have retired some old 3 legged, one eyed squids with rusty leaders and hooks and made up some fresh ones with the new supplies brought in from the states.

It’s not all fishin…we have to sail too. Haul up the main, hank on the jib as there is no roller furling on Guava, no self tailing winches neither…so everyone has to help…even if you are only 9 months old.

Here is Wade workin the mast.

Here he tends the jib sheet.

We had not tried very hard in the beginning to catch any fish..actually not at all. On our first couple of passages were busy fine tuning Guava and her systems after she had sat on a mooring in Savusavu for a year, busy keeping an eye on Wade as he explored his new floating playpen and therefore not concerned with catching fish. Han had also provisioned with a fridge full of meats and veggies.

Yes..we are prepared with the necessary items to catch fish.

Where’s the fish?

The degrees of enthusiasm are as follows
—Low or Meh (Hannah) She has spoke of not embracing the whole fishing experience. “I like to eat it but don’t really like the frantic action of landing a big fish, the blood, cleaning, the smell…" Fortunately her attitude has softened and when we hear the sound of the line panning out she always helps by getting the net, gaff or other tool all while holding Wade. Plus she is an amazing cook with whatever we bring aboard.
—Cool..but here comes a lot of work (Riki) Mostly I like to eat it though I do find enjoyment in the primal hunting, providing for my family, the problem solving. It is never easy to land a big fish on Guava as she is not set up for fishing..she is narrow beam and the space on deck is a sliver at best, difficult to find adequate space to clean it, yet somehow we manage.
—WOW..WAHOO! (Wade) That boy on the other hand loves fishing…or catching. When we have the big Mahimahi alongside Guava he has his eyes glued to the iridescent form as he stands just inside the cockpit looking over the combing at whatever mystery is on the other end on the line. He watches as I struggle to get the mass over the lifelines which is much more challenging now that we have the netting up to keep Wade out of the drink. He is agog as the flopping fish dances on the deck until I can knock him out.

A modest Mahimahi to feed a family.

Dolphin show while fishin.

WAHOO! said Wade when we landed this Wahoo.

The one that got away was this big.

So far this season we have managed to land a couple of Walu, a couple of Mahimahi (one quite large for Guava) and a nice Wahoo. The most exciting was the large Mahi as we were sailing in rough conditions and it took quite a long time to reel him to Guava. We don’t usually stop nor turn and run with the fish but just keep on sailing and hope for the best. It took multiple tries to get the lively beast on deck as he shook off the gaff twice while lifting him. Fortunately the hook held, the third gaff stuck but it took all I had to put him between the lifelines and cabin top. Whew…magi was not happy and Wade was already wondering how Mama was going to prepare fish for dinner…again.

Mahimahi Bulavu. Long Mahi in Fijian.

Everyone is happy about the windfall.

After cleaning him up we had plenty of fish for the week and gave some away to our friends on Tuuletar. Han made grilled fish, butter fish, baked fish, curried fish, sesame ginger fish, breakfast fish, lunch fish….and I made "shuffled sushi” with the first round. Yum.