After a dorado yesterday we were keen to be fishing again, and were somewhat delayed this morning by the minor matter of getting our spinnaker up.
The boat was settled down and the rods out, twenty minutes later I noticed our duogen, jumping around and saw that it had picked up a large rope, two seconds later both rods went off with a double strike. We lifted the duogen and saw that the rope was streaming from behind the boat, it had just been knocking the duogen. We also saw that it was no ordinary rope but a six inch anchor warp. So we had two fish on and had a potentially serious problem with the rope.
We got the 40 feet of trailing rope in the boat with the other end still attached somewhere underneath and I was ready to let the fish go when Andrew said no, he had control of the boat, get them in. I looked up and saw he had the boat hove to under spinnaker with the spinnaker backed and held between the pole and forestay. One fish then detached itself, in fact the line parted, the other we got to the boat and lifted it onto the transom step. It was about a 35 pound dorado, too heavy to get over the rail on the first attempt, and as the tension was off the line the hook had come free and as we prepared for a second go it wriggled off the gaff and away to freedom.
Meanwile another 80 feet of the heavy rope had appeared being towed behind the other side of the transom, plan A was obvious cut the short end in the boat throw it over and hope the drag of the longer length would pull it all free. I soon gave up using the knife shown in the picture but after five minutes with a hacksaw was through the rope. The cut end was slid into the water and for once plan A worked and we were free. No fish, one lure lost, but a potential major problem averted. Obviously no pictures of the fish but here is the one that did not get away. When the rope was gone it was obvious that the reason everything happened at once was that the dorado had been feeding on the myriad crabs living on the rope, many of which were left scuttling about our deck.
As calm descended I turned to Andrew and said ' that was very impressive I have never before seen a boat hove to under spinnaker'
His answer.. 'neither have I'