The bay that we’re in is totally packed with fish!
It’s crazy how fast I can catch them. I just plop my handline in, and just like that a fish is hooked! My record of how many I caught within the hour is about five or six. It may be great fishing, but there is still that annoying half hour in between regular fishing time (when the fish inspect and smell the bait to see if it is their dinner or their doom) and feeding time (which is when they bite recklessly not caring what it is attached to) when they will swim around the bait taunting me by looking at the bait, rushing the bait, and veering off at the last second, but none of them ever touch it!
Yesterday when I cleaned the barnacles and other growth off the bottom of our boat with Dad while Mom and Millie went grocery shopping it caused quite a feeding frenzy. Fish were darting all over the place eating anything they could find (including the occasional nibble on our flippers)! I also had to take a few swings at the braver ones with my scraper to keep them from biting at me! I got out because it got a little too cold for me, and a few minutes later, Dad started on the other side of the hull. Suddenly I saw him jerk backward and I asked him what had happened and he said that one especially brave fish came up and accidentally hit him!
Afterward when I went fishing it was like it was already feeding time. Fish after fish after fish they all came in so quickly, and in what felt like only 10 minutes I already had five! Soon after that, I saw an enormous fish. It looked like the size of me!
We still aren’t quite sure what he is, and our best guess at first is that it a type of shark, but now we think it might be a remora or a relative of some sort.
Here are some pictures that I didn’t include in my blog above…
Sailing Trismic 
Wow Nathan! That is quite a fish story!
It is interesting to read of your observations of fish behavior as well as of your success at catching them. Congratulations on the haul!
Scraping barnacles off the bottom of the boat seems yet another way to interact as the fish take the opportunity to observe you. Too bad the fish can’t write a blog!
Thanks for including pictures. It is always a good thing when a fisherman can actually show proof of what has occurred such as catching two fish at once!
You look so happy in the photos and you are looking very tall.
Thanks for the excellent descriptions of your evening fishing and of your barnacle scraping activity with your Dad. It is such a pleasure to hear from you.
Continue having fun as you take advantage of the next hotspot.
Lots of love and hugs,
GG
P.S.
Nice that you are helping Millie learn to fish. She was so excited!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for the nice message GG! A lot of the bays have lots of fish in them but not as many as that one. Nice to hear from you too!
Love,
Nathan
LikeLike
Hey Nathan!
I can only echo GG’s opening that that is some fishing tale.
You want to be careful using a mono hand line in those waters because if something big grabs your bait and takes off you could get a nasty line cut on your hands trying to stop him. I suggest you stick with a rod.
You really seem to have hit the jackpot in that anchorage and I am sure you and Capt Dad helped things along by scraping the hull.
Your enthusiasm comes through both in your excellent writing and in the photos and is wonderful to observe..
Thanks for sharing with us.
Love and hugs
Granddad
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for the nice message GG! A lot of the bays have lots of fish in them but not as many as that one. Nice to hear from you too!
Love,
Nathan
LikeLike
Thank you for your advise! I do prefer to use a rod but the reel on my rod had broken and I didn’t have a replacement at the time so if I wanted to continue fishing I had to use the hand line. It is very nice to hear from you and hopefully we can hear from you through the telephone soon!
Love,
Nathan
LikeLike
My, my Nathan, to start with, you are a skillful writer and with all your excitement, you held my attention right to the end. You could write a novel on just fishing, or maybe several fishing novels! I love the action, catching two fish at once, your fascinating observation of how reckless the fish can be and at times, taunting you. By the sound of things, you are really “hooked” on fishing. Granddad introduced you to a wonderful sport. Those barnacles really caused a stir, didn’t they? Imagine catching the big one, as big as you. Wouldn’t it be challenging to catch him? Your pictures are amazing and your passion for fishing is written all over your handsome face! The yellow snapper looks delicious. I had to look up ciguatera, sounds pretty serious. I really enjoyed hearing from you Nathan and I hope to receive more of your stories as you continue your journey to far away islands. Lots of love, Nana xo
LikeLike
Fantastic Nathan! You’re becoming quite the expert fisherman!! We all send big hugs to you.
LikeLike