These dorados can fight!
October 2, 2007 - Day 85 11.0205N,148.6414W
The same lure that I had used to catch my only dorado so far on this trip, got two more bites. The first one to bite fought the hook as I was pulling on the line and freed itself before it was anywhere near the boat. I wasn't going to give up trying...
I cast the line in the midst of another school of dorados a week later, and the line quickly went tight. This time it was a good bite, which resisted the struggle of the fish to break free. I collected the line one smooth motion at a time, waiting when the fish pulled, and pulling when the fish waited.
Soon the fish was next to the boat. It seemed to have a more bulbous forehead than the previous catch, so this had to be a bull dorado, a male which can be up to 25 lbs. I had to pull it out of the water part way and let it get tired outside the boat. If I took it straight on to my deck, in its thrashing, this big and strong fish could make a mess.
My gaff hook was out of reach. I pulled the dorado up far enough so its head was level with my oarlocks, and wrapped the line once around the rudder pedal to free a hand. I inched myself toward my gaff hook and reached it with my right hand, while holding the line with my left. The dorado was flapping its tail, thrashing to cut loose.
I came over the dorado, made my swing with the gaff hook, but the hook hit it at the base of its dorsal fin, a thinner section which would not have carried the weight of the fish. I lifted the gaff hook and tried to aim better, timing for a moment when the fish would stop spinning and turning. Then suddenly the fish hook broke on the lure, releasing the dorado back in the water. It had fought well and deserved to live.
The original lure had a triple hook on it which had been showing signs of rusting. Why people would manufacture fishing gear that can rust is beyond me. I fortunately had more substantial double hooks with me, made of stainless steel that could replace the broken one. It was a simple exchange to snip the broken rusty hook and to thread the new hook through the ring which still remained with the lure.
Erden.
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