Fishing while sailing

We may have the only sailboat with a fighting chair. Shortly after we bought "Satori" our Cal Cruising 46 from Jack Jensen's estate, we took a trip down to the Baja. On the way back, just south of Turtle Bay we got a hook up. Then a marlin jumped. We fought and landed a 165 pound Striped Marlin, standing with a belly pad and some outstanding handling of our 20 ton boat by Bobbie. The sea was flat with no wind, so we were under power, our standard 6.2 knots at 1550 RPM's at 1.1 gallons per hour. We finally whipped the fish, got it alongside, gaffed and tail roped then lifted it aboard using a line from the main halyard back to the aft windlass. What a beautiful fish and well over 100 pounds of excellent food. After that experience and knowing that we would be living aboard and cruising, I installed an adjustable pedestal on the aft deck. When we are underway, lines are in the water and the chair with rod gimbal are ready to go. In the nine years of active cruising since leaving Long Beach, CA in 1988, we have caught a lot of good eating fish. The two years in the Sea of Cortez were the best, with one more striped marlin, many dorado, (AKA dolphinfish), wahoo, sierra, yellowfin tuna and more. We have a large freezer, so nothing ever went to waste. One several occasions when we would pull into a wonderful Baja anchorage, we would announce on the VHF net that we had fresh fish fillets for anyone who wanted some. Once when pulling into Escondido, making the radio announcement about fish to share we got a call from a sailor saying he did not have a motor on his dinghy, so would be rowing across the anchorage and would we save him a fillet, which we did. This was in the summer of 1989. Fast forward to 1995, we are tied up at the Trinidad Yacht Club, Port of Spain, Trinidad and a guy rows his dinghy over with a six pack of beer. He says, you probably don't remember me, but I was the guy your saved a piece of tuna for in Escondido in 1989. Talk about a small world.... Back to fishing from a Cal Boat - Whenever we clear a harbor, we have lines in the water, always having the proper license for that country. I have found feathers to be better bait than lures, like spoons, Rappalas, etc. Depending on the type of fish we are hunting, I may troll deep or on the surface. We really enjoy dorado for their fight as well as food. We fish two rods, one off each quarter, typically trolling rods, Penn Senators and 30 pound test line. If the wind is up and we are sailing, I will use reels with 50 pound test line. I'll try to find a photo of our "Sportfisher, cruiser and fast racing sloop" Cal 46 fishing. Tom and Bobbie Vandiver, Bayou Chico, FL