2012 Nov 29 - Dominican Republic Mahi Mahi

Frank and I went on vacation to the Dominican Republic with my niece Caitlin and her husband Steve. We decided to go on a 1/2 day deep sea fishing trip. None of us had ever done this before so we didn't know what to expect as we watched the crew troll the bait across the top of  the water.  It was slow and an hour and a half had passed before the first mate Eli jumped up and grabbed one of the poles. He quickly turned to us and said "One of the ladies, please get into the chair!".  I didn't expect ladies to go first, so when my niece turned to me and said "You Go!", I  jumped at the chance and got into the chair for the hardest fight of my life.  The fight must have lasted 15 minutes and my arms were ready to fall off, but I couldn't give up.  At one point the fish jumped and that was when I saw how large it was.  Frank cheered me on and I finally got the fish close enough for Eli to gaff it. This is the biggest fish I have ever caught and I can't imagine I will ever do this again - it was so hard and I was just lucky the crew let "ladies go first" and my niece gave me the first shot.
Unfortunately, the crew didn't find any other fish that day except for 1 Red Snapper on the way in. The crew gave that strike to another person on the boat - so it was very disappointing for the rest of my family :-(

Esther with 50 lb Mahi Mahi