When the fishermen’s guild of Ibiza tried to weigh the catch, the scale stopped at its maximum of 300 kilos. This is the anecdote that left the public presentation of the fabulous bluefin tuna that Jaume Coll found yesterday morning and that, with a lot of skill and some luck, he managed to bring back on board his llaüt ‘Alatxa’. Finally, it had to be the mark of the lifting machine with which they moved the fish from the boat to the building of the guild that gave the official record, although perhaps somewhat less reliable, the weight of the prodigious trophy, which was about 380 kilograms .
Coll poses with his catch, 2.83 meters long. | IRENE VILÀ CAPAFONS
Coll, an experienced bluefin tuna fisherman, keeps to himself the exact place where he found the tuna, although he notes that he located it beyond es Vedrà . No wonder. At a price of 14 euros per kilo, a simple calculation -if the 380 kilos are taken into account – indicates that it could be priced at more than 5,300 euros. For the moment, the tuna already has a new owner, unless there is a last minute retraction. It is the Asian food restaurant Bonsai in Santa Eulà ria. Coll does not intend to taste the meat of the extraordinary catch, as the establishment does not prepare the tuna to his taste, but serves it raw.
More than three hours to bring bluefin in
Coll thought it was a manta when he found the fish, as he explains that they are very heavy animals. In fact, he did not know he was taking a bluefin tuna until the moment he managed to get it on board, more than three hours after the fish had taken the bait. The exhausting operation began at ten o’clock in the morning and did not finish until about one or half past one in the afternoon .
During the process, he had to take special care to avoid the line breaking in the struggle with the animal which would have ruined the opportunity presented to him. The sole aid of his experience and “a rod and hook, believe it or not,” were enough to overcome the fish’s resistance.
As in the mythical battle that the writer Hemingway narrated between a fisherman and his prey in his work ‘The Old Man and the Sea’, Coll explains that he had to give ground to the tuna, which was taking him in the direction of Denia, to prevent the line, only 1.2 millimeters thick, from breaking. “I was going towards the catch, because if you pull, the line breaks” , explains the experienced fisherman. However, this is not the catch that has given Coll the most work. He recalls that he once had to deal with a 225-kilo bluefin tuna for five hours.
For the full article, please visit Diario de Ibiza website here.