Stories from my days as a fisherman: Fishing for mahi-mahi in the East China Sea

I decided to post some episodes that I couldn't include in
【Until I can love myself】

This is a story from when I was working on a transport ship.

After I finished cooking on the light boat,
since the three of us rookies took turns cooking on the transport ship,
my turn came up and I boarded it.

Cooking on the main ship was the toughest,
but there was an old guy on the main ship who was like a mentor,
and since he mostly planned the menu
and did the cooking, I was just helping out.

But we had to cook after hauling in the nets,
so I hated that.

Next was the light boat,
where I worked alone, but since there were only six people on board,
it was relatively easy, and we didn't have to haul nets,
so it was far easier than the main ship.

I also cooked alone on the transport ship,
but the kitchen was spacious and clean,
and we didn't have to haul nets, so the work was relaxed.

Besides that, when we were fully loaded with fish,
we would go to land in Japan, like Hakata, Kushikino or Makurazaki in Kagoshima,
or Matsuura in Nagasaki, so even though I was on a fishing boat,
it was so easy compared to the main ship or light boat that it felt like heaven,
and it was fun.

It was almost like, is it okay for there to be such a difference?
Depending on the unloading schedule and timing,
we could sometimes go out into town to have fun.

In Hakata, I would eat ramen at the Nagahama food stalls,
or go to a disco with the older guys,
and thanks to the captain's arrangements,
there were times we could get a bit of extra free time.

I had to do the shopping according to the lists requested by the main ship and light boat,
but I felt so happy
that I could buy the things I wanted.

Above all, I could see land.
Just that alone was enough.

Back in the China Sea,
I don't remember if I couldn't sleep at night,
if I was homesick,
or if I was depressed from being scolded,
or just sulking.

I was on the deck at the stern of the ship,
staring blankly at the sea surface, when
something came swimming along smoothly.

Two or three fairly large fish.
“Oh, it's a mahi-mahi.”
When I thought about whether I could catch it with something,

I remembered, “Come to think of it, my old man used to dry fish skin
and use it as a lure.”

“Is there anything I can use as a substitute?”...
I found it!
Couldn't this work?

I tied a large fishing hook to a thick fishing line,
and attached the substitute to it.
It was a rag.

Since it was hand-fishing, I soaked the rag on the hook
in seawater to make it easier to throw,
swung it around on the edge of the ship,
and cast it toward where the mahi-mahi were.

How did I know they would react to quick movements?
Did I just want to make it look like a swimming fish?

I reeled it in quickly by hand.

It hooked! Wow! It really hooked!
I was confident, but I was still surprised.
Are mahi-mahi stupid?

Thinking about it now, since we were in the middle of the ocean,
they wouldn't be wary (stop biting or get used to lures),
so I think they just bit without any suspicion.
I caught another one after that.

I remember feeling happy and my mood lifting.
I'm simple, lol.

Since coming here, I've started doing more city-style fishing,
haha.

When I go to a tackle shop and look at lures,
they often have things written like "effective for mahi-mahi."

I just think, "No way, you can catch mahi-mahi with a dishcloth, so any lure will do, haha."
I don't say that out loud, though,
because I don't want to ruin the romance of it.
By the way, you can catch scorpionfish and rockfish

with chewing gum stretched out thin
to look like a small fish.

I don't say that either,
because it ruins the romance.

I had it as a side dish for breakfast as sashimi.
I served the mahi-mahi that I had bled out in the morning
as sashimi.

My honest opinion is that it wasn't very tasty.
Small fish are delicious,
like horse mackerel, mackerel, and sardines.
I didn't really like yellowtail in the past either,
but I eat it now.

The older guys ate it just fine, haha.

I'll write more if I remember anything else.

Thank you for sticking with me.

Neko Turbo🐈