One.....

Davo shouted: 'Fish!' and everyone - me, Joel, Jimmy and Tim - jumped.

Joel, the 23 year old skipper of the tuna boat, ducked into the wheel house and pulled back the throttle.

The noise of the main engine changed from a roar to a mumble, and the vessel slowed, then came to a halt with a whoosh of foam on the bow.

It was broad daylight, sunny, and there was a medium sized swell in the cobalt blue sea that rolled the boat gently.

We were sixty miles East of the top of Frazer Island and halfway along a twenty kilometre main-line with about seven hundred hooks baited with squid.

I was practicing coiling Jap Rope when the fish call came.

I looked through the wheelhouse windows and watched Joel take a packet of Champion Ruby tobacco from the ledge next to the wheel.

Joel quickly skinned a thin rollie looking at the snood tugging at the main-line.

When Davo pulled in the snood and took the clip off the main-line, he held the weight of the fish.

I saw Joel light his cigarette, all the time watching Davo handle the fish.

Like all the crew on board, Joel wore a pair of shorts, no shirt, no shoes, and a colourful bandana.

He had a tattoo with five small tuna fish in the shape of the Southern Cross on his right bicep.

I watched Davo strugging with the fish and waving the clip in the air behind him.

Davo was the new guy on board and I could see he was in danger of losing the fish.

Then Jimmy stepped in quickly, muttering curses, and connected the play line to the clip.

An old hand on fishing boats, Jimmy had broady rash on his forearms, having just gutted a twelve foot swordfish.

He was covered in amateur tattoos and wore a mullet haircut, an appropriate hair style for a fisherman who had just come out of jail.

The playline was a eighty metres of Jap Rope and the fish was now connected to it.

Next thing, Davo was nearly pulled over the side as the fish made a dash for the depths.

That was a sign that the fish was big, but was it a tuna or a shark?

Then Jimmy shouted: 'SICKLE!'

That was definitely good because the most experienced fisherman on board believed there was a yellow fin tuna on the end of the line.

Joel stepped out from the wheel house with the Ruby hanging out of his mouth and said something like: 'Maybe someone else should play the fish'.

No one wanted to lose the fish because it could be worth $60 for each of the crew and over $100 for the skipper.

But Jimmy said: 'Boat rules, Joely', referring to the standard rule that the person who first takes the line, plays the fish.

The new guy had my $60 to lose, but I wasn't going to argue with Jimmy.

No one argued with Jimmy except for Joel, and even then, Joel had to fight to get his authority recognised.

Joel had responsibilities and Jimmy had nothing to lose.

Joel was young, handsome, naive, gentle and Jimmy was old, scarred, gnarled, drug affected and potenitally violent.

Jimmy looked at me standing there holding the Jap Rope.

'Drop it, knuckle-head,' he snarled and the rope fell from my hands instantly.

I took this to mean that my new job was to observe Davo fight the fish so I moved for'ard to where I could better observe Davo getting hauled around by the fish.

Two.....

to be continued...

 

Copyright Guy Lane 2010