We’ve been having better luck catching fish lately, but nearly all of them have been Skipjack Tuna, which are fun to catch because they put up a good fight for their size.  Their meat is dark red and tastes good when prepared correctly—not something you want for sushi though.

Sailing along at 7 knots near Chamela (Karen was at the helm and I was down below having a siesta), we heard the line flying out of the fishing reel.  By the time I got on deck, it had ran with more than half the line and was still running.  Karen worked on slowing the boat down while I tried reeling but it takes a while for a 16 ton boat to slow and the fish was still running line off the reel so I knew it wasn’t another small skipjack.  About 20 minutes later a very tired 20 lb Yellowfin Tuna (commonly called Ahi) was finally alongside the boat and we used a gaff to bring it aboard.  Jacintha was very excited to see such a big fish (by our standards anyhow).  I cut the gills and bled it in the water by tying a line around the tail and dragging it for 5 minutes (this supposedly improves the taste).  Karen did all the prep work after we anchored and we had grilled yellowfin that evening.  The collars were especially good and we also ate some sashimi-style with wasabi and soy sauce.  The following day Karen chopped up some tuna, deep fried it in tempura batter, and served it with aoli and picante sauce on fresh tortillas for some amazing tasting Fish Tacos.