Our Strange and Incredible Ocean

Duane took us on an overnight deep sea fishing trip last weekend and we had an amazing time. Duane is energetic and optimistic at every opportunity and he loves to fish. We trolled until just after sunset and had two good strikes but no hook-ups. Then we headed a couple of miles off shore and set out our parachute which drags in the water to slow the boat down so the current and breeze don't push us too far. Next, we sent two lines down with small fish as bait, and Duane put out one floater line near the surface.

Not long after dark the squid started biting and we filled up a cooler with squid to use as live bait. The rest came home for calamari. I get so caught up with the squid that I forget about the potential of getting a bite on the big reels. Squid are one of the strangest animals I have encountered. Their tentacles grab you while you're trying to place them in the cooler, when you reel them out of the water they spit ink everywhere, and in the water they are amazingly fast, stealthy and they can even light up in a fluorescent green color. Dolphins show up frequently to hunt the squid. It's a thrill to hear them breathing heavily as they cut through the water, chasing squid and hunting as a team. One dolphin swam just under our boat and snapped up a squid right in front of my eyes.

When the dolphins show up the squid scatter and quit biting. A couple of squid tried a different approach and came right up to the boat and held perfectly still to avoid dolphin detection. Always a hunter, I reached over the edge of the boat and snatched up one a squid with my hand before it knew what happened.

Strange, strange creatures swim around the ocean at night and all kinds of crazy, indescribable animals were attracted to our underwater light: long, needle-like fish, various blobs, a small flying fish, tiny crabs that float around. When it comes to ocean animals, fact is stranger than any fiction of science fiction humankind can imagine.

We caught a really nice mahi mahi (about 30 pounds) on a live squid, and later they let me reel in a small ahi. The fish are beautiful- so brightly colored, strong and streamlined. Really amazing creatures! I was even more impressed the next evening when we enjoyed seared ahi for dinner.

Duane shows off our 30-pound mahi mahi.


We found this bizarre creature stuck in our parachute the next day. I'm telling you, there is weird stuff out there.