Fresh Ičići Fishing Reports

It's early morning. Or late night? It's exactly 3:30 and the guest shows up on time. They are always on time because they know that we do not wait for those who are late. If we don't leave on time, we will be late for the boats fishing for sardinas and lose the possibility of taking fresh bait. We will also lose the ability to more easily find tuna feeding on shoal of sardinas gathered under the lights of the ships. We get to know each other and show him the boat, a classic, there is a boat lounge where you can leave things, a toilet (if you use paper, please throw it in the trash can), a fridge, everything in it is for you... We leave quickly and the guest with that excitement which is usual in the eyes, I see that so common feeling - disbelief. Yes, Croatia and our region, Kvarner, are very little known to anglers, and when we say that Kvarner is one of the best European destinations for tuna fishing, few take it seriously. And even a lot of our local people don't know that. All we have to do is catch the tuna and convince the guest! Always the same! After half an hour of fast gliding through the dark night, we reach the first boat. As always, the guest is fascinated by the large amount of sardines that the boat pulls from the sea with a net. I like the guest's emotional reaction, it is much nicer to work with people who d on o not hide their pleasure. Although we brought 60 kilos of frozen sardines from home, we take another ten kilos of fresh ones and separate a few live fish into the pool. We search the sea with sonar and conclude that there are no tuna nearby. We quickly go to the next boat, which is also the last, only two boats are close enough to arrive in time, before they pick up the sardine and go to the shore to unload it. Unfortunately, we are late for the other boat, arriving five minutes after it left. We are ready for that situation, we have a saved position where the ship was lit up all night. The problem is that two other tuna fishing boats are waiting for us at our position. We see that they have no fish on the fishing rod, and considering that they have not left, we can conclude that the tuna is present. We must not stand close to them, it is correct to move away from them. It's time for some tricks to nullify their advantage (sorry we won't describe the tricks here ). Very quickly we manage to attract fish from a distance of about a hundred meters. I show the guest the tuna on the sonar while Danijel lowers the bait to their depth. I can still tell by guest look that he's not convinced it's tuna. And then he starts playing Tiagra! The sound cuts through the air, the tuna hunters that the other two ships are turning towards us. The guest's eyes are wide open in disbelief. What is that, he asks?! That's what we came for - tuna. In five minutes we have calmed down the fish and by turning the boat we drag it away from the other fishermen and give the guest a rod. We saw that he has fishing experience and quickly understands what he has to do. His enthusiasm was replaced by high concentration. He tries not to do anything wrong. He waves his right hand more and more often, which is getting weaker but he doesn't give up. And after half an hour of the dance of the boat, angler and fish, we see tuna about ten meters away. The guest's eyes widen, it is by far the biggest fish he has ever seen. When the fish came close to the surface, Danijel took over the rod and the guest got the honor of hooking the fish. And he does it very skillfully. After bleeding the fish, we pull it into the boat. It is huge, says the guest. We explain to him that the fish weighs about 80 kilos and that it is an average specimen. In two months there will be fish three times heavier. We take a photo of him after helping him lift the fish to his feet. He doesn't mind the fact that his clothes are all bloody. I love to see that happiness on the guests' faces. This gives additional meaning to this type of fishing. It's time to go back. It is very hot and the fish should be put in the cooling chest as soon as possible, the ice we brought can only temporarily stop spoilage. Today we return relatively early. The day before, we started at 6 in the morning and got a bite of fish at 9 in the evening. It was a very very long day. But we also made that guest happy, it was a reward for his patience. That's how it is in this fishing, the real purpose is not only to catch fish but to make the guests satisfied.