Dec 22, 2004--Dinghy Fishing Fun, Part 1
by Scott and Wendy Bannerot

	Ryan and Wendy admire a feisty kawakawa, a coastal tuna common in the lagoons and nearshore areas of tropical Pacific islands and atolls. This was in the lagoon of Majuro, Marshall Islands.

Dinghies and tenders on all manner of sailboats, power trawlers, and other traveling vessels probably rank at the top of the list of under-utilized fishing tools. Whether powered by an outboard or by sail, whether inflatable or hard, these little boats tend to be fast, durable, seaworthy, and shallow-draft. They're meant to go places the big boat could never go, and with a fraction of the preparation and work. Our impression is that many voyaging seafarers focus primarily on trolling while under way in the big boat, and reluctantly pack away the fishing gear when they get to port, resigning themselves to a hiatus in the flow of self-procured fresh seafood.

Don't do it! Even if you don't want to carry a lot of extra specialty tackle on board, you can use your offshore trolling gear from the dinghy. Of course, if you were willing to spring for a single collapsible backpacker's spinning rod, and arm it with a small quality reel, then you'd really be effective. Furthermore, if you've already taken the plunge for a couple of quality spinning rods, perhaps a 12-pound and 20-pound outfit, then you're all set. Take these along for the serious dinghy fishing expeditions, and use the backpacker outfit to and from town or the village or beach you visit for the day so you can collapse it and take it with you when you leave the dinghy unattended. Plop over a spoon, swimming plug, soft plastic, or jig as you transit back and forth, and you might well land yourself enough fresh fish to make more fishing effort superfluous.

We've dedicated an entire, detailed chapter to the subject of "'everything' there is to know about dinghy fishing" in The Cruiser's Handbook of Fishing, including installation of transom rod holders, rocket launchers with outriggers, and indeed, an entire custom dinghy design with fishing in mind. We've also detailed a variety of deadly lures and other important equipment, with sources for their purchase. So let's give you a dose of what you can expect here once you're mind is made up to give it a try.

It's worth emphasizing the importance of safety gear-particularly if you'll be traversing significant distances or deep waters well away from the anchorage. PFD's, drinking water, air pump, oars, tool box, packaged snack foods, fish container, ice or frozen jugs, fins and mask, anchor with long rode, portable VHF with a full charge, portable GPS, cell phone if appropriate…and so on. Think that's extreme? Well, our friends aboard Peace and Aloha were certainly glad they had fully prepared for a dinghy fishing expedition a few years back at Suwarrow Atoll, a remote outpost in the Cook Islands. They were fishing the area of the lagoon pass consistently and successfully. Suddenly a burly gray reef shark took offense to their meanderings and promptly chomped a pontoon. Luckily the guys had their air pump, pumped like mad, got up on a plane, and made it back safely. Had they not been prepared would the shark have stopped with the dinghy? And what about its pals?

Visitors Liz and Jon look on while I net Liz's blue smalltooth jobfish, a delicious small species of snapper common in tropical Pacific waters. Near Maninita Island, Vava'u, Tonga.

So now you're all prepared. Let's start with a light spinning tackle experience. Wendy and I had guests Liz and Jon aboard and we'd taken a trip to the southeastern portion of the Vava'u Group, Tonga in settled weather. Anchored near tiny Maninita Island, we made daily forays in the afternoons to get our supper, often with 10-pound test spinners, trolling small swimming plugs among the shallow reefs and channels. We caught sharpfin barracuda, and, frequently, a delicious midwater snapper called a blue smalltooth jobfish. These jobfish featured delicate, firm white meat. We scaled and gutted them, and Wendy baked them whole. We never tired of them.

While anchored in Majuro, Marshall Islands, after we'd been blessed with the arrival of Ryan, the three of us would take relaxing sunset trolling expeditions with light to medium spinning rods and sometimes slightly larger swimming plugs. Here the action wasn't quite as fast as at more remote areas, but we still consistently caught a variety of respectable fish, from green jobfish, and small groupers, to barracudas and trevallys, to occasional kawakawa, a small coastal tuna similar to East Coast U.S. "false albacore" or "bonito". Each capture was another lesson in marine biology for Ryan.

	Scott holding up a leopard grouper, or coral trout, caught right at sunset in the harbor at Neiafu, Vava'u, Tonga while trolling a swimming plug on 10-pound spinning rod from the dinghy.

And over the course of several years and six returns to Tonga we developed a similar habit, targeting a small grouper that some books call a coral trout, and others a leopard grouper. At any rate, the fish is Plectropomus leopardus, a species that tends to grow up inshore near harbors and shallow reefs before moving out to the deeper drop-offs as adults. In many parts of the Indo-Pacific this species can be ciguatoxic, but for some reason the Vava'u Group has a very low incidence of fish poisoning, and the young individuals we were catching had almost no probability of being toxic. These fish bite well early in the morning and near sunset. The meat is firm and white. We did avoid making soups from the heads, as ciguatoxin is most concentrated here and in the gut area.

Dinghy fishing is easy-we don't even hold the light spinning rods, just flip the lure back in the wake, put the rod in the holder, and cruise around sipping cold beers and chatting amiably. The fish strike, they're either on or they're off, and we seldom take the boat out of gear regardless. It's "drag and snag" fishing, and it works all over the world, in fresh water and salt. This is a good way to launch your dinghy fishing career. In Part II of this article, we'll take you on the next step.