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Fishing on Spetakkel

     Because of all the questions I get about fish, fishing, and sea life, I have made a page dedicated to this. As I go on, I will update this page with recipes, fishing tactics and stories. Keep checking it out for updates.  If anybody has any tips, comments, or would like to know more please feel to contact me.

   How we fish:  Up until now, we have caught all our fish on a deep sea fishing rod. Normally, we put out a squid lure and drag it behind the boat at 30 meters as we sail until something bites. When we here the drag alarm, even though there is only one rod everyone has a job to do.  Be it steering the boat, clearing the cockpit, or getting the ready to hoist up the fish, which is why we all take credit for the catch.  Sometimes, as with the tuna, we had to take turns reeling it in as our arms could not keep up with the fight.  Baiting is also a learning skill and we have also made our own lures (Daan was good at this) with flying fish.

   NEWS: The Ray..  The fishing book says that if you get a Ray on the hook, gently release it and apologize to the fish gods. Well that is not what my French neighbor on anchor in Tahiti said. He said they were delicious. So after seeing rays around my boat for the last few weeks the temptation got too big and I got in the water with the spear gun. To get this creatures (don't take a big one, it will get away) you have to shoot them directly in the brain. The skull is hard to penetrate so you need to be closer that 10 inches. If you don't kill it right away, be very very careful because it will swim around like crazy and might cut you with the tail. Also, don't bring it up in a rubber dingy, it will guaranteed puncture it. I have written a letter about StingRay fishing. Press here to read it.

   The big One!  The best one yet was the 2.7 meter Sailfish we pulled up just outside Pearl Islands off Panama. We let Joar have the honor of reeling him in because he was the 'new crew'.  Normally we take turns reeling them in, not just because it is fun but also it is hard work. It was so big that we had to hoist it up with the winch in the mast and kill it with a hammer.  And with a storm creeping in we had to work fast catch, kill, cut, gut, clean, cut and clean.

 Our Favourite fish, The Dorado (Mahi Mahi, Dolphinfish):  We just Love the Dorado. We think this is the most beautiful and best tasting fish there is. Compared to other fish it is fairly easy to skin too. You cut out two long pices of meat from each side and it is ready to boil, fry or bbq. It changes color as it goes through stress phases. Below there are two pictures of the same fish who displays this odd transformation.

 Langosta (Lobster Spiny):  We have had Langosta on a couple of occasions. The ones we got in San Blas, outside of Panama, was by far the best. The locals came out in their canoes and offered us langosta daily and we gladly bought them. We have also learnt how to catch them ourselves but have not yet been successful. In San Blas we had two on the BBQ and one boiled. They look pretty similar to the ones we have at home but, they don't have the big claws.

  Conch:  In Los Roques outside Venezuela we snorkelled around and got some Conch. This was totally illegal here but, we didn't have a permit to stop either so what is one more sin. We consulted our fishing 'bible' and figured out how to open them. I can tell you it wasn't easy but after it was cleaned out and fried up as meat for the spagetti meal it tasted great. The meat is white, clean and rubbery, alot like squid(calamari).

  Tuna:  This is the fighter among fighters. As soon as you snag the tuna it dives straight down and keeps on doing this as long as it can. One time we had to fight one for over 45 minutes and had to take turns wheeling him in. The smaller ones are a bit easier but, they still fight and taste oh so good!

  Travelly:  We dont know much about this fish because we threw it back as a storm was approaching but, our fishing book says it tastes good so we will keep it the next time.

  Wahoo:  This fish traditionally gives a good fight but we were sailing over 6 knots when we caught it so it didn't stand much of a chance as the boat just dragged it in.

  Barracuda:  The Barracuda are notorious for beeing poisoned so we decided not to eat this one. If you can eat them depends on where you are so next time we catch one we will have to ask the locals if it is ok to eat or not.

  SHARK-Fishing:  This is a sport we are trying to get into. We are gathering some more shark fishing gear and then we will be ready. We got one shart after leaving Aruba on a regular hook. We did not pull it up, we knocked the lure out of its mouth with the mooring pole. Sharks have to be bled fast and soaked in milk or some other base to get rid of the ammonia that they have in the blood. If you don't do this right 'You Will' get food poisoning.