FISHING WITH A PURPOSE

I have rarely fished from BIANKA despite often having fish jumping around the boat in the evening. I keep thinking about it from time to time. But, until I implement the stern washdown system the idea of cleaning the deck after catching and cleaning the fish seems like a lot of work for a boat that stays on a mooring and not at a dock. Then I came upon this story of a charter boat captain who routinely tags and releases fish he catches. One of his tags showed up after 16 years on a 1,200 pound Blue Fin Tuna:

"In 1997, Anderson was working the Mudhole, a fishing spot southeast of Block Island. A man on his boat caught a very young bluefin tuna, weighing just 14 pounds. Anderson, of course, tagged it and returned it to the ocean.
As the years passed, bluefin tuna grew ever more valuable and ever scarcer while Anderson continued to take sport fisherman out to sea aboard his charter boat, the Prowler.
Then, about a month ago, a fisherman out of Nova Scotia was tending his longlines about 700 miles offshore when he hauled aboard quite a catch. It was a bluefin tuna weighing an estimated 1,200 pounds."

I might start doing the same there would be less mess and I would not have to worry about constantly cleaning the boat and not always feeling obligated to eat the fish I caught. But, I would also be helping to advance the study of the world's fish stock. Something to think about.


Tuna: An Angler's Guide to a Great Gamefish
Giant Bluefin
Tales of Swordfish and Tuna

THE LURE OF SWIMMING

I do love to swim  off the boat. There is something nice about just jumping over the side for a refreshing swim without having to pack things into a car and head to a crowded beach. During the summer I usually jump in for a swim two or three times a day. Though it is not without some surprises. The other day I jumped and was doing a breast stroke up toward the bow when one of my hands meet some resistance. I thought it might be a thin reed floating along the surface. Then my other hand met the same type of resistance. I soon realized I had run into a piece of fishing line.  It seemed to be connected to BIANKA's mooring buoy. I pulled on the line and pulled and pulled until I had a handful of fishing line. Then I saw a lure popping along the surface toward me. I soon had a new lure to add to my collection of others that I had found in previous swims and dives around the boat. Swimming is good!