Planned a 4 day saltwater fishing trip and flew to Karachi from Islamabad on 15th October 2010 with my 2 friends ashfaq and Adnan.First two days proved to be loss of time with some mishaps.On 18th decided to troll at Charna Island. This island has an area of about 4 square kilometers and is totally barren. Often Pakistan Navy uses it as a firing range. It is believed that there are coral reefs around it which attract a number of big game fishes. Charna island lies some 7 km from picteresque Mubarak Goth (Mubarak village). Mubarak Goth is some 60 km from Karachi.
We reached Charna around 7 am with my friend ashfaq.Boatman Riaz was waiting for us, so with in 10 min we were in the sea. We had only trolling setups; 2 rods with cabela’s saltstriker reels (30 lb lines) and the other two with Daiwa sealine SL20 (40 lb lines). We used two storm 15 (blue tiger and silver grey), one magnum X-Rap 30 and one Mann’s textured 25+ lure. After 30 mins rods were set out, lures lowered and we started trolling. We trolled for 1.5 hours with no success. Then we noticed a lot of birds’ activity and small mackerels and tuna jumping around.
Chasing the fish, we covered a lot of distance NW of charna island but it didn’t give us any result. Then I decided to change the lures on two rods; used textured red head (20+) instead of X-Rap and textured blue (20+) instead of 25+ lure. Both of these lures were smaller in size (4 inch in length). Strategy worked and got our first strike on red head at 10.30am. It was a 4 kg mackerel. After 10 min we caught a big eye tuna on the same small lure, It was 3.5 to 4 kg which fought a little unlike mackerel. Next strike was again on the 4 inch lure (blue) and we caught another mackerel of almost the same size. Then came a lull of about 40 min before small redhead was attacked by a Dorado. As soon as it got hooked, it started jumping up and down the water. It was thrilling to watch the little beast fight for its survival. I pulled this 5 to 6 kg bull near the boat. Before the boatman could gaff it, it jumped for the fourth time and freed itself by taking the treble hooks with it. It was interesting that the fish were biting on small sized lures. After that we didn’t get a single bite for about 2 hours.
We then decided to go toward charna island. As we reached near charna, we got a huge strike on storm 15 (silver grey). As soon as I took the rod in my hand, I was confirmed that it was a big one. Tried to wind the reel but the stubborn beast kept on emptying the Daiwa reel with full force. After a fight of 10 min, I was able to bring it near the boat. As I got a glimpse of the fish I thought it was a cobia. It circled the boat and went for its second run. The boatman very skillfully saved the line from getting stuck into the lifted propeller of the boat. The fish was testing my nerves and stamina. Fish was brought close to the boat again but it went for its third run after circling the boat. After almost 30 min….fish was brought closer to the boat for the forth time. It was good time to gaff it; boatman skillfully gaffed it but it kept on striking its big tail with the boat. All of us (I, Ashfaq and boatman’s assistant) leaned over the fish and pulled it in to the boat. What a moment of joy it was for us….All of us Thanked Almighty Allah for this catch. It was our biggest catch ever. Both pairs of treble hooks on storm 15 were badly distorted by sharp-teethed narrow barred mackerel. After this dream catch we packed up and started heading toward Mubarak village. Fish couldn’t be weighted on PGFA’s weigh station at Mubarak village because of some problem. When weighted at Kemari it was more than 70 lbs. Unfortunately my camera got some problem; took few snaps from boatman’s camera. My special thanks and regards to Mr M.H Usmani for his guidance and support. Reached Islamabad on 19th October 2010 with a feeling of great joy.
