I am at the end of two-week passage between Tahiti and Tonga and have essentially run out of fresh food. For the first time since I caught the mahi-mahi a day from Tahiti (which was a month ago), I dropped a line in the water this morning, shortly after I passed Niue and about two days from Tonga. Within an hour I had a strike. I knew it was something different in the way it fought. When I finally got it close to the boat, I realized it was a billfish. I immediately recalled what a sailing friend of mine said once … “fish for what you want to catch ‘cause you don’t want to hook some big billfish.” I had a big problem. I lost my gaff when I caught the bigeye tuna way back. I was able to get a blacktip shark aboard because I targeted a particularly small one. I got the big mahi-mahi by wearing it out and grabbing it by the gill. That’s not something you want to do with a billfish. I will run out of wind tomorrow and I didn’t want to take the time to stop the boat, so I ran a loop of rope down the fishing line and after a minute it was around the tail. I could then use the rope to drag the fish aboard more safely tail-first. It is almost seven feet long. I am not sure what species it is. Maybe a reader can leave a comment if they know. Or, I can look it up when I have the Internet. I prepared it by taking two fillets and skinning them before chopping them up into large steaks. Fish only generally last five days in my fridge, but I laid them against the cold plate in hopes they would freeze. I know what I will be eating the next week.
