Fishing alone can raise some interesting dilemmas. Without an extra hand, landing a fish is just one of the difficulties solo anglers may face. Landing a triple hookup… that’s a whole different ballgame.
Fishing by himself in a 16-foot Boston Whaler, Jeff got three hookups at the same time. Two of the fish jumped over the line of the other one, leading to a big mess with three fish on the end. To make matters worse, two of the fish then wrapped lines around the prop, killing Jeff’s engine, as he was trying to reel in what he thought was the bigger fish.
Jeff managed to bring the biggest mahi-mahi to the boat and gaffed it. Apparently the fish did not like that. It swam off, taking the gaff with it. The big mahi swam under the boat before shaking the gaff out.
Jeff could see the slowly sinking gaff, but the boat would not run due to the lines and fish wrapped around the prop. He was forced to cut those two lines, freeing two of the fish.
Jeff tried to retrieve his gaff but couldn’t get there in time. He was now determined to boat the remaining fish. He pulled hard and brought it as close as he could. He grabbed the cedar plug and steel leader and the fish’s tail, lifted it and body slammed it into the boat. Jeff then fell on the fish to keep it from jumping back out of the boat and lay on it until it expired.
That, my friends, is a good fish story, but as true as they get. Jeff was wired to the max and covered in fish blood and guts head to toe.
By Capt. Doug Rowe, Fish Rowe Charters, George Town, Exuma, Bahamas