By: Monica Reid

Fishing is not always catching, but Tuesday was a day of fishing and catching for Anguilla’s competitive fishermen and boats. The brothers Trivon and Roger Harrigan left early, declaring who would get blows at the end of the day and inspired Patrick Webster to cast off shortly thereafter. Patrick’s day began by seeing a beautiful whale glide by as a very large water spout formed in the heavy clouds overhead. Off Sombrero with four rods and reels, three rigs screamed at once, “Zing zing, zing zing, zing zing!”

Pat and his catch of the day

With some careful boat maneuvers and some rod acrobatics, Patrick landed all three fish one after the other. Three 15-to-20 pound Wahoo’s started his catch. Patrick then decided to rig four similar deep-tow baits, which proved disastrous, as three became entangled. The mess took about an hour to sort out and resume fishing.

Once trolling again, wham! “Zing zing, zing zing zing!” One of the heavily rigged reels arched toward the water with what appeared to be an enormous Wahoo or possibly a Kingfish. “That big fella gotta be a 60-pound Wahoo!” Patrick said, as he pulled it in. About that time, the seas began to chop-up, which would make going home more difficult, slower and more fuel consuming. Patrick decided at 2:45 pm that exactly 3:00 pm would be time to head for Island Harbour to sell his catch. With more luck on his side, at exactly at 3:00 pm, he brought another Wahoo on board for a catch of five fish totaling 120 pounds.

Trivon (left) and Roger with their catch of the day

Soon thereafter, Roger and Trivon meekly glided their boat to the pier at Island Harbour and bashfully opened a cooler with a Wahoo, Kingfish and a small Dolphin. Patrick was standing on the pier and sensed their counterfeit modest demeanor and challenged them to open the bilge storage hatch. That revealed 22 Dolphin fish, and Roger started bragging about three hand injuries earned during the big catch.

A lively debate about the weight (maybe 400 pounds) of the catch began among other fishermen and dock spectators. Fishing pier talk is like a machine gun of opinions about fish size and weight, cooking techniques and very good eating. To the dining pleasure of many, this catch went to the chefs of Hibernia, English Rose and CuisinArt, where their patrons will enjoy the bounty of our fruitful sea and dedicated fishermen, regardless of the blows and the bragging rights for the day.

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