THE LATEST PAUL MASON

It was in Los Angeles that Paul handed us a disc. It was his latest effort - 'Committed' - which we couldn't wait to see. It held us from the first moment. In the meantime, Paul flew off to Vanuatu, in the South Pacific, to do some fishing.

Paul e-mailed us from Vanuatu:

I went out on Tuesday, my birthday and we finally found a school of tuna. I was fishing with my light 10 kg rod and reel and had some great fun. I had invited some friends to join me and we had a blast. My friend, Noel Begley, caught a whopper at 40 kg and my other buddy, Tony Ryan, caught one at 50 kg. I caught five smaller ones and Noel's wife, LesBeth, caught a small tuna and a skipjack. Lots of tuna fish and sashimi for the year.

The boat was called NEVAGIVUP and the skipper was Charles. His wife, Michelle, 6 months pregnant, was also on board. She is a fishing fool. She made me some margaritas for my birthday. Maybe that was the needed change.

Rested yesterday and am going up north today to Havanah Harbor to see what's happening.

(later) Decided to go fishing on a small boat out of Havanah Harbor. My friend, Greg Pechan, and his wife, Liz, have built an awesome hotel out of the jungle there on that beautiful Harbor which is about twenty miles north of Port Vila. It is called THE HAVANNAH and has exquisite views of the harbor, beautiful bungalows, most with private pool plunges and a great restaurant. Greg is a super cook and often caters my parties. He does not allow children on the premises. Not even in the dining room. Not even his own (they have three) and it is gorgeous and idyllic.

So I went out in a small 24 cabin cruiser. The captain, Richard, and his mate, Ian, did not like my light tackle and wanted to fish with heavy tackle but I convinced them I was there for fun and did not mind if we lost some fish. So we settled on my two light rods and two of their medium rods. As I had driven so far north we were in fishing waters in ten minutes...Even better. We had a quadruple hookup of Yellowfin tuna estimated at 40 to 50 kg. And I was all alone. As we could not move the boat because the fish were racing in different directions, my 10 kg line was spooled by a monster and I lost my favorite lure. I then grabbed the 30 kg rod and fought for about 15 to 20 minutes and brought in the first brute. The other two rods were still bending so the fish were there. I grabbed the 50 kg line and started grinding. I usually don't enjoy fishing with the heavy tackle but only two rods were mine and two were theirs so I hauled him to the boat but when the mate went to gaff him, he missed and cut the line.

So I grabbed the fourth rod, which was a nice 30 kg setup and proceeded to pull in the fourth. We gaffed this one properly. So in the first hour it was Yellowfin 2 and us 2.

We found some birds working away about an hour and trolled through them for another double hookup. I got the first on my 30 kg and when I brought in the second, the mate again missed the gaff and the tuna turned and broke the line.

We fished for another hour or so and I got one more. This one on my 30 kg which almost spooled me but as there was only one Tuna hooked we could turn the boat and pick up all the line, which saved me. This was the biggest of the monsters, I would guess over 50 kg, and took about thirty five minutes with my light rod bending to the breaking point. I made sure the Captain, Richard, and the Mate, Ian, did not rush the gaff on this one and we hauled him on board.

I was exhausted. But the birds were still working about a couple knots away so I told the Captain and his mate they could catch a fish on my time. Tuna are valuable here and they sell for a good bit of money and these two guys looked like they love catching fish so they went chasing the birds. But the first thing they did was put away all the light tackle and brought out their 100 kg rods and reels. No sporting blood here. And they brought out a file and sharpened the gaff. I teased them good about that one.

We tried for about fifteen minutes but no more action. Told them the fish wanted light tackle and they laughed. Great day...Lots of sushi and sashimi and we had both and grilled tuna with some friends for dinner Best, Paul

Best, Paul

©Sidney Du Broff 2011