I am so far behind in terms of posting, but I have to interrupt the normal flow to report on a very exciting day. As you will learn at some point, we spent a few days at Block Island. This was the first destination of the Corinthian Cruise. Coincidentally, our friend Jim Desnoyers was staying at a house on Block for a week. Jim’s firm is hosting a fishing tournament. We arranged to meet him on Monday afternoon.
Jim was not only hosting a fishing tournament, but invited us to go deep sea fishing the next day. I could not say no. Jae reluctantly did, out of fear of seasickness, and that turned out to be a mistake because the sea was pretty gentle and the boat had a good motion. I am sorry she did not go.
But, I am delighted that I did. Sirius was at anchor in the Block Island harbor, so at 6:30 am, Mike Dowie, Jim and Ercole (a young delightful Italian fellow) came alongside, plucked me off Sirius and out into the deep blue we went. Mike had risen at 3 am to travel from Essex, CT to Block. His boat is a 37’ Duffy and is fully rigged for deep sea fishing. It is a nice boat. It took him 3 hours to reach Block and we motored for another 90 minutes or so, past the giant windmills that now power Block, to a place called Tuna Ridge. Along the way, we stopped once to try fishing, with no luck.
Just as we were arriving at Tuna Ridge, Mike saw a big school of fish on his fishfinder, so we stopped and Mike and Jim quickly rigged 7 poles with various different lures. There was a lot of discussion about their favorite lures and Jim explained to me how they work. I cannot say that I retained much, but it was very interesting. I now have a much better idea how to fish off Sirius. We started trolling again, wandering around at 7 knots or so, looking for that school. Much like a MOB (man overboard) mark, Mike had marked the spot on his fishfinder, but of course the fish were no longer there – they swim all the time, it seems.
We then spotted a large pod of dolphins and headed for them. Mike and Jim explained that any signs of sea life likely mean fish are around, so dolphins, whales, sea grass, all are favorable signs. We saw a lot of dolphins, so we were pretty excited. They were swimming and diving around the boat. Jim thought we also saw tuna flying through the air, as did I. Fish certainly were flying and I don’t think they were dolphins. We trolled around them for a while, feeling that we should pick up a fish any time.
And sure enough, two bluefin hit two poles at the same time. The boat went sort of crazy at that moment. First, we had to bring in all the other lines, so they would not foul the active lines. Then, Mike helped Ercole with his fish, while Jim helped me. They were both shouting at us to keep reeling to maintain pressure on the line and the fish. That was much easier said than done. A 25 lb. fish is a formidable adversary and my pole was severely arced out over the water with the fish swimming in every direction while I slowly, painfully brought it toward the boat. I was wearing a belt into which the pole could slot, but the pole kept slipping out of the slot. I could not keep up with reeling the fish, my arms and back were aching by this time, and so Jim took over the rod and finished bringing the fish close. Mike expertly gaffed the fish and into the boat it came. It was a beauty – see picture below. No sooner had this fish come in the boat, than Mike gaffed and boated Ercole’s fish. Now two were flopping around in the cockpit, with blood spattering all over. The need to wear old clothes was immediately apparent (Jim had warned me, but I did not totally comply).
As soon as the second fish was in the boat, Mike wanted to get the poles back in the water so we could catch more fish. That was a bit challenging given the two big fish moving around in the boat, but Mike is a pro and he and Jim had the poles quickly rigged and back in the water. Somewhere in this time, we saw a pilot whale roll partly out of the water, as only whales do. He was a big one, according to Mike, and we saw either that whale or another one several more times.
It seemed only minutes before another fish hit one of the poles and again we secured the other poles. By now, Ercole and I were beginning to understand what to do and we were more helpful this time. Ercole put the belt on (there is a superstition not to don the belt until the fish is actually on the line) and he began reeling again. He was working it hard and Mike and Jim were helping and telling him to have the rod follow the fish in the water and to keep the rod from touching the boat (it will break the rod). After many minutes, he got the fish close to the boat and Mike brought the fish with a net. This time, Jim carefully removed the hook, we admired the fish and back into the water it went. Ercole was exhausted and insisted that the next fish was mine. While I knew I would be worn out from it, I was eager to reel the fish all the way in this time.
Only a matter of minutes later, another fish was on the line and this time, Jim reeled it closer, before removing the rod from its holder and handing the rod to me. I was determined to reel the fish all the way in. We had discussed technique after the first fish and I was trying to remember the technique, keep your left arm straight and lean back, but in the heat of the moment that was quite difficult. Again, my arms and back were aching from the power of the fish. You might not think that 25 pounds of fish would be that much of a challenge, but that fish was all muscle and power, as far as I could tell. I have a new appreciation for the strength and stamina of deep sea fishermen. Like Jim, his son is an avid fisherman who once spent ten hours fighting a fish before landing it. Twice, my fish was close to the boat, it ran and dove both times. When that happened, there was nothing to do but watch the reel run out. The fish is just too powerful then. Once the reel stops spinning, however, you must start reeling again. I guess this is when the fish rests for a second, thinking perhaps it has escaped. And the reel reminds the fish that it is still on the hook.
I did get the fish to the boat this time and Mike netted it. I held it, we took a picture, and back into the ocean it went. By now, there were boats all around us. This happens because everyone is watching each over and when one captain stops his boat, the others all assume he is on a “ball of bait” as they call it, and they come over to catch our fish! We had caught all the fish that we were going to catch that day.
With a knife, Jim cut into each of our fish, they bled to death and we put them into the large fish cooler that is in Mike’s cockpit. Having them bleed makes for better eating because it avoids acid in the muscle that forms if they are killed in another fashion, e.g. alcohol in the gills. Someone has told me this does not affect the eating too much, but Jim wants to get it just right.
On our way back to Block, Mike pulled out his cleaning table and cleaned the fish.
Once back in Block, Jim swiftly took the fish to his house where he cut them into smaller pieces and iced them. Mike went back to Essex, where I hope we see him in a few weeks. I hopped back on Sirius, had lunch with Jae and then we dinghied to a venerable bar called The Oar for an early happy hour. Jim joined us with our share of the fish, which we brought back to Sirius.
And last night, at Potters Cove in Narragansett Bay, we had 7 people aboard for grilled tuna steaks, followed by a guitar jam. It was a blast and the fish was terrific. Thanks to Jim and Mike for my first deep sea fishing experience, which was wonderful. I am just sorry not to have a picture of the four of us with the fish.
