Magee Gara! (まぎがら！）

(Apologies for the length of this post - it's a big deal.)

Two of the first five words I learned in Japan were まぎ (magee) and がら (gara). Both of those are Okinawan dialect; the first means 'big' and the second means 'Giant Trevally'. After leaving Palau empty-handed of a GT bigger than 30 pounds (but having lost a couple in the 50 lb. range), catching a big one became a top goal in my life.

But I've been a little let-down with the GT fishing here. It was supposed to pick up in early April and be good through July. Last year when I arrived in August I caught a 10 lb. GT from shore on my first first fishing trip. I have probably gone fishing 75 times since with little result. Lately my attitude has devolved into "well, it's nice to go kayaking..."

I woke up at 4:30 this morning to go but was deterred by the wind outside, but I went with wunderground's report and it was a good choice. I had to ride my bike to the northern part of the island where my kayak was stashed from yesterday's fishing. I was on the water a little after sunrise and just fishing along until 6:30am.

I fish with what are called surface poppers. They're big lures with cupped faces designed to splash water during retrieval. For some reason poppers drive GTs mad and they'll hit the lures with amazing force. This morning there was a massive commotion around my lure and before I could tell what was happening (the GT had missed the lure twice already in about two seconds) I had a fish on and I was referring back to all my well-laid plans for how to stay upright in my kayak should I hook a fish. I centered the pole over the bow for stability and held on for dear life.

The next step in fighting a GT is to try to keep him off the bottom. They nearly always go straight for 'structure' to try and break the line. So I tightened down my drag and put as much force against him as I could muster, which turned out to be far more than I expected the kayak could handle. The fish reached a point where I could pull him up a few feet then he would immediately go back down. I assumed this meant he was at the bottom. So now I really put it to him. Which doesn't mean much because it was like trying to pull a piece of plywood up. But eventually he gave in, and I was able to haul him up relatively quickly.

Bad things happen when trying to land a large fish. Especially on a kayak and especially when the fish isn't really worn down yet (I'd only been fighting him for 6-8 minutes). So I had to loosen my drag a bit in case there was a sudden run (to avoid 'pinging' my line, resulting in a break). But I also knew if I could get my hands on the leader (2 100lb. twisted strands), I'd be in good shape. I did get ahold of it, and as I started to pull him into the kayak he revolted. I gave him leeway on the leader, but he didn't take it so I hauled him back up and into the kayak. I was immediately blown away by his size. I didn't know what to do, so I held my hands in his gills for a few minutes before taking the rope from the bow and tying it through him. I still didn't know what to do (expecting mad thrashing at any moment), so I just pushed down on his head and put my legs over his body.



Fifteen minutes later I felt safe and started to relax, so I began kayaking home. The east wind had come up so when I turned the SW corner of Zamami it was a miserable last 30 minutes of kayaking into whitecaps. But I arrived in the village (at 8am) just in time to see another fisherman at the port. He freaked out and began calling. Within five minutes there were 15 people and another ten in the next five minutes. There were pictures abound, as well as measurements (22kg, or 48.5 pounds, and 85cm, though I'm pretty sure that's short by a lot since I'm 183cm). Also lots of people making claims to sashimi. Nice of them to put their bids in early.



I worked on the fish all morning and it was a lot of work! I had to cut pieces up for various people while still making sure to save some for myself. I had to cut all the skin off and deliver the head to one guy and the skeleton to another. I worked nonstop and didn't get around to going back for my bike until 12pm.


Though my life goal is to catch a GT over 50 pounds, I think I will be pleased if this ends up being the last big one I get. He was big. And he brought me lots of fame. And validation as a serious fisherman. And food for weeks.