It had to happen! I had a fishing line out and a hand line (it is a large spool with 80 yards of 120 lb line on it that you wrap by hand) all Wednesday morning. At about 1:30p the hand line goes tight "fish on". I start winding it in, it's really heavy and I see the fish jump, it's really big. The picture in our fish I.D. book of Mahi Mahi looks like it's being coloured by Disneyland animators, it is so colourful. The colour of an excited Mahi Mahi is so vibrant it is fluorescent, bright greens, blues and yellows flashing back and forth. It doesn't look real, more like a cartoon figure. Our pictures don't do the fish justice, he was no longer excited. . .dead!

I'm winding him in and Margaret is cleaning the fish landing area in the rear of the boat and pulling out the gaff blanket and booze (not for me the fish). I get him to the side of the boat and tie the line to the cleat (the line is that thick). I skewered him with the gaff and hosted him onto the boat, threw and old rug over his head and lay on top of him as I gave him a good dowsing of booze in the gills. "Fish on board" Ten minutes later I pull back the rug to see how he is doing and he starts flopping around like crazy. I get him in a leg and head lock like all star wrestling and work the carpet back over his head "Fish still on board". I decide, I better have a beer and wait. Last Kalik beer on board, next beer Presidente.

Next time I check he is less rambunctious and it is time for the great filleting knife that Heather gave me as we left Georgian Bay. I won't go into great detail, but it's a big job filleting a 50inch fish. I threw all our canned tuna overboard. We weren't going to fish anymore, but Marg saw a fish running in our bow wake. It had bumps on its back and it looked like Tuna, so we threw the lines back out, no luck. We gave up fishing for the rest of the trip.