What a way to start your day, hearing the drag start screaming on a reel and Jim yelling “FISH ON”, before 8 am will jolt a man awake after a 4:30 am alarm call!
Nevin Honeycutt: How’d you know that was a wahoo before you ever saw the fish?
Jim (First Mate): Because there’s nothing else out here that’s gonna run that bait down as fast as we are trolling.
We landed two wahoo before 8:00 in the morning and then there was a little lull while we re-rigged and waited on the bite. Jim said, “If we can manage two wahoo an hour today, you all are going to have a pile of fish in that box at the end of the day.” That’s exactly what Captain Chris and First Mate Jim managed to do for us. I was told that wahoo usually come in singles, which kind of held true, but there were times that we had 2 or 3 on the deck at the same time, because we had Jim so busy gaffing, unhooking and re-rigging that he couldn’t get them on ice fast enough to clear the deck. Captain Chris would come down and rig ballyhoo just to help get everything caught up.
Chris and Jim provided a day to remember aboard the Predator! Jim told me that he had fished in Hawaii for a couple of years and the Hawaiian people call wahoo, Ono, which translates to the word excellent. Well I’m here to tell you, they hit the nail on the head! I made grilled wahoo steaks and served them over linguine in a cajun alfredo sauce and even the folks in our group that said they wouldn’t eat fish, chowed down on the wahoo. Jim texted a buddy in Hawaii and got me the recipe for Ono ceviche and I’m here to tell ya, it was like something out of Michelin Star Restaurant.
What a way to start your day, hearing the drag start screaming on a reel and Jim yelling “FISH ON”, before 8 am will jolt...
Thanks David! Looking forward to having you back with us again next year!