Candidasa

Candidasa is on the east coast of Bali. The beach has washed away due to the construction along the shore but it is a great place to spend a few days.

My room facing the sea cost around 30,000 rupiah in 1999. I rose early in the morning and watched the fishermen bring in their catch. One of the boats came in full of fish. They had hit the mother load and the whole community came out to help drag the boat further up the beach. Usually 4 guys can move the boat but it took about 10 men with this load.

I bought a few fish from them and grilled them using some dried coconut husks for coals.The price of the fish varied on how many fish they caught that morning.  Supply and demand.
 
One of the fisherman decided to take me out one morning to try our luck. Around 4:00 am our flotilla of small outrigger boats headed out.
 
They could identify who was where from a distance by the multicolored sails, each having their own signature. 

We spread out a gill net and drifted for a while and relocated several times because Made (common Balinese name - pronounced mod A) could not find the fish. No one was having any luck so they all decided to call it a day. We had less than a dozen.

Made decided to troll a lure that looked like a squid behind the boat as we headed back to Candidassa about an hour and a half distant. He did the steering and I held the line. After a while there was a change in the tension on the line so I set the hook. A fish they called a marlin was jumping at the end of the line and put up a good struggle. It was beautiful the way it lept up into the air completely out of the water putting on a good show.

We soon got the fish alongside the boat with Made leaned over trying to haul it on board. He was not getting it on board so I tried to help by pulling a little on the line like a nitwit and the line snapped. Made is desperately trying to hold onto the fish as it is thrashing about it pulls him overboard because he is holding on to it like a Tasmanian devil.
The marlin swims back to the depths with a big smile on his face:)

Made was really bummed that he got away and I kicked myself in the rear end for being so impatient and breaking the line.

It was a magnificent fish and secretly it was ok to see him swim free.

Bali - Candidasa

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