We had just entered Nahant Bay around the time our log crossed 3000 miles. Then I heard a noise. The reel on our fishing rod was spinning away. I said to Maryanne "You gonna get that fish?" She rolled her eyes and, looking put out, slowly got up to find out how much seaweed she caught. The rod was really bent over, so she told me to slow down. She reeled and reeled and said it didn't feel like anything was on the line. Then I saw it jump. It was a real fish! A Striped Bass. She gave me the rod and got the net. The fish was too big for the net! Luckily, the poor thing was so tired that it didn't put up much of a struggle. She gutted and filleted it while I kept from hitting things.
Now she's already talking about needing a 'fighting belt' for the next, bigger one.
[Maryanne]I can't explain how elated I feel, that we have finally caught a fish. I can't imagine anything we did much differently from the many other times, but we were using the new "popper" lure that my new expert adviser brushed with luck for me. I guess it was my turn :-). I have previously fished for much smaller fish (mackerel, etc) - so when it came to preparing the fish, my usual technique did not work. I made a mess of filleting the fish - but we did manage two big steaks for our dinner tonight.
I had planned to cook my first fish on the grill - but the weather was threatening a thunderstorm and I didn't want to risk ruining anything, so I prepared them baked, with a breadcrumb based crust recipe from my good friend and master chef Kate in Norfolk.
3000 nautical miles with our Gemini and 1 fish - I'm hoping I don't have to wait another 3000 for the next one. Before I even met Kyle I tried to explain the allure of sailing - and part of it included "fishing for one's supper", I'm not sure if one fish every 3 months is going to stave off starvation, but tonight I am very happy.
Kyle was sweet, he could not watch while I killed it, and said a few kind words of thanks before he ate the fish. It was GOOD! I don't think Kyle was too worried he didn't get his pasta tonight.
6 comments:
Congrats! I'm sure that was some of the freshest, best tasting fish you've had in your life.
You might also want to consider that one of the secrets to fishing is to keep your pole in the water. Deploying my fishing pole is as much of my "getting underway" routine as turning on the gps, radio and depth finder.
I know you guys are into the hardcore sailing, but I don't think trolling a lure is going to slow down your boat much.
YEAH!!!! WooHoo. I feel like you've just crossed the English Channel or something at least as momentous. Congratulations on the day's catch!
Way to go, Maryanne! How sweet the taste of victory - literally! ;-)
Now I'm curious.... was there even a split second when you considered the possibility of stuffing your prize instead of your bellies?
;-)
Here's to many more freshly-caught suppers - and a bigger net!
Congratulations!! I'm so happy for you that I don't even care Kyle followed his "poor thing was so tired" sentence with one that included the word "gutted." Rockfish is my all-time favorite fish so it's very cool that was your first. And you were inspired by my breading! I feel sure this will be the first of many fish you catch for your dinner.
Congratulations on the fish! I thought for sure the story was going to end with Kyle admitting he had swum under the boat and hooked it on.
Poor fish indeed (blah, blah). The funny thing is that I didn't even need to gut it, I could have (should have) just filleted it, but I'm still learning (I'd never caught a fish that big before).
Also I met with my fishing expert today who told me that I did everything wrong for my first catch - wrong lure for trolling, wrong speed even with the right lure - maybe I should do more wrong and less right to keep up my catch stats!.
Thanks all for (pretending) to be so excited for me. :-)
Maryanne
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