The risk-taking and bravery of our fishermen may be unknown to many of you. When a large yellowfin tuna or billfish (sailfish marlin etc) is hooked, these brutes exert enormous and lightning-fast pulls, causing sudden entanglement of hands or arms and dragging the fisherman into the sea. Yet, the courageous men maintain complete control over the beasts.
There have been many such incidents in the past. Even now, some encounters happen. Fishermen have caused significant finger injuries and physical damage.
I’ll write about two incidents that happened in Fuvahmulah.
Ahamaadhee, an experienced fisherman, was in a small fishing vessel known as a dhoni. The vessel was propelled by an engine. One day, Ahamaadhee and his friends headed out to catch yellowfin tuna off the coast of Fuvahmulah.
As usual, he set up his 150-pound monofilament line. He attached a live mackerel scad (rinmaha) to the hook. He then threw the bait into the sea, allowing the scad to swim freely.
Ahamaidhee sat on the dhaoni’s deck for almost two minutes after releasing the fishing line. Suddenly, a large yellowfin tuna darted towards the bait and swiftly tugged on the fishing line, throwing Ahamaadhee into the sea. His right arm became entangled due to an unexpected knot.
The powerful yellowfin tuna drew him to a depth of approximately 15 feet. Ahmahaadhee, on the other hand, was adventurous and courageous, holding the fishing line in both hands and attempting to pull the fish towards him. He fought the strong fish and was able to reach the surface in 20 seconds.
With one arm entangled and severely bruised from the strong monofilament, he pulled as hard as he could and swam to the edge of the dhoani, where his friends were stunned and unsure what would happen to him. Fortunately, he was able to swim towards the dhaoni, where his friends held the fishing line and helped Ahamaidhee in.
The other fishermen pulled the fishing line and caught the beast. The yellowfin tuna weighed approximately 45 kg.
These are common occurrences while fishing for these sea brutes. I recall once releasing a fishing line baited with mackerel scad.
I was wearing cotton gloves. When a yellowfin tuna was hooked, I attempted to pull it. However, as it began its typical swift run, the monofilament line flew through my fingers, revealing a small knot on the line.
The knot became stuck on the glove. I removed the glove and threw it away. Thankfully, I survived. Luckily, I was able to land the yellowfin tuna without this happening.
