Dismantling a whole fresh 110 pounds Bigeye Tuna

Just got back from Benoa unloading my boat. Export all AA grade to Japan and decided to bring one home too. Usually I will earn range of USD $14-22 dollar per kg. So I only take A grade home or grade B. This time I wanted to eat the best quality from my boat. I instruct the checker to choose the best of the best. The one that will sell 22 USD per kg, so I took my 1000 USD fish home. The fish was oily and had a little fat so it is perfect for me.

110 pound fresh Bigeye tuna next to my son.

To start the cutting process,  sharpen the knives. you will need a very sharp knives!!! It will save you a lot of time and it  helps you cut through the fish clean. You need a  big ziplock bags, 4 big bowl preferably aluminium or plastic.

Cut the side starting from the tail working all the way to the front. Make sure u feel the bottom of knive sliding through the bone. Then cut through the middle part of the tuna all the way to the tail. That will be you first loin

Divide the loin into 3 parts, for steaks and saku for sashimi

on the left is steak cuts and on the right saku cut (middle part of the loin)

Cut the other side same method with first loin

collect left over meat from the bone using spoon. the meat later will be minced and best serve as fishball or tuna burgers.

take the skin off

cut o-toro

scrap extra meat of the skin

o -toro

do not stack the steak together

 After you finish cutting the tuna into loins, you will have many small pieces cut into cube and keep in one bowl. Tuna cube os best serve for paleala, tuna salad or sandwhich. The Tuna meat from bone and skin, minced finely and keep it in another bowl. This you can make amazing Tuna burger for the kids. The next chop all the bone to 15 cm width and keep it for fish soup, stock and broth. The tuna head take out the eye and cheek is best  cook with terayki sauce.  the remaining of the head cut into 15 cm width also for the fish soup, fish stock, or  fish broth. The loin you cut into different part like below in the diagram.

For sashimi i usually use  middle part of the meat and chu- toro. The rest is for steak. The skin you can deep fried to make tuna crackers. These fish are amazing creature, respect them and use everything meat they have to offer. nothing goes to waste!! You will be surprise how good some of the parts that  you used to throw away. Sadly these fish are being over fish here in Indonesia, i have been struggling trying to promote sustainable fishing in Bali, but it seem to be an ongoing fight. Further info regarding Bigeye, Yellowfin, and Southern Bluefin tuna fishing CLICK HERE!.

Eid Al-Adah

Some people on our humble little island got together to slaughter some goats and start one of the biggest Muslim holidays of the year. We decided to book a boat and see what there is to catch around Bali and some of the outer islands.

Our trip started at 8 am in Tanjung Benoa and we headed to Nusa Penida first. The first stop made was a couple of bays down from christal bay. The visibility was generally ok but that didn’t help the fact that there were no big fish around. After about 1.5 hours of swimming the bay up and down all we have seen was a group of big Emperor fish and few bigger groupers that where hiding deep in the caves of the bay. Other than that there were just the standard schools of unicorn fish and a lot of small reef fish. Nobody knows where but of course Eenk was able to catch something decent which was a medium sized barracuda. Approx 4-5 kg.

Next stop was also a little bay up the wall of Nusa Penida in the channel between Penida and Cunningan. The spot was a bit similar to the previous bay and we didn’t see any big  or even smaller good eating fish. After a not to long stay we left and went to have a quick bite in the more quiet waters around Lembongan. It was quickly decided that we would try our luck in Nusa Dua as we wanted to catch the good time for the bigger fish between Tanjung Benoa and Nusa Dua.

Once back on the coast of Bali the visibility was a bit murky at the top but once diving under the layer of warm water the visibility on the bottom was fairly decent. It was an amazing spot and we all saw a different kind of nice and good eating fish. There where schools of medium sized dog tooth tunas, loads of different trevallys, mackerels and of course lots of medium sizes reef sharks.

It was once more a pleasure to see Eenk becoming one with the ocean and watch him diving 30m down and resting for minutes on the bottom waiting for the right catch. As you can see from the picture this tactic was a success and he shot what he calls a decent sized barracuda. Approx 22-24 kg. Apparently nothing compared to the 38 kg fish he shot in his home town in Java a few years ago but seeing him holding that fish (which btw is taller than him) with 4 cm long teeth lets you only imagine the fight this beast gave him before he could reel him in. This was obviously the catch of the day!

Other than that I shot a few trevallys, Pablo once again went for the beauty price as we can see from the fish on the left side and Rob added his sandal so he would also be represented on the catch of the day picture.

My last shot of the day was a fairly decent sized trevally that I had to share with some more or less uninvited friends. After seeing many small sharks all day I was aware that this could happen any time but I was shocked by the extend of the attack on my catch. Apparently I shot the fish just e few meters next to what seemed like a very well frequented shark cave. After reeling the fish in and almost holding the spear with my hands I realized that there where about 10-15 sharks following the shot trevaly and where asking for their cut of the catch. I figured it would be best to leave these boys what they came for as there were by far too many to battle. Even though we all regularly see some reef sharks while shooting it was a very frightening experience to be surrounded by a mass of fully grown grey reef sharks. It made me feel a little bit better when Eenk told me that he hasn’t seen so many sharks in a cave before. 

Other than that we had a great day out on the ocean and once we were all back on board we where waved good bye by a school of dolphins.

As we were all dead from too much sun and no one had the energy to start the bbq that night we did it the next day. As an appetizer we cut the bigger trevally into sashimi and made a Balinese style grill with the rest of the fish.

All in all a perfect weekend amongst friends and family out on the ocean and back at the BBQ. 

Keep our oceans clean and hunt with respect for mother nature!

South bali 18 October 2012

Today trip was short notice and we need to find the right spot because we are hosting a  local tv show called " Petualang" its hosted by our friend Al. I was unfortunately sick with flu but i didn't give up, i called  Mr Ketut his famous painful massage. He massage the nerve that connect to my sinus,  fever, and flu. After 10 min of painful massage i was better. My nose was clear, and my fever was gone. I was left with annoying cough but good enough to dive.

We decided to choose south bali because we  few location as an options. Also is mackerel season, and  the best spot to find spanish  mackerel is south bali. The first spot was murky, 5 meter visibilty. The only fish i saw was 5 kg scribbled snapper who sprint as soon he saw creeping to his hole. There was a lot of rabbitfish but i was hoping bigger fish come after, so i never dare take any shot. Ennk also use the same strategy, he know the pontential of big predator fish can come unexpected. Antok took different approach and shoot everything he sees or he thought he saw. So he shoot a rabbitfish and unicorn mistaken for GT due to poor visibilty.

Second spot the current was so strong, again all the predator fish no where to be seen. The famous emperor snapper spot was deserted and no one was home. Not a single scribbled snapper or trevally. Visibilty was the same 5 meter or worst certain areas.

Last spot the famous mackerel spot visibilty was amazing 20 meter plus. I had a great feeling, but my energy stock was getting low. This time i paired up with antok. Because if he shoot a fish there possibilties  other targeted fish will come close . I was right anotk shot a baracuda, first dive i shot a queenfish but it got off from the spear. Second dive i shot  trevally. Antok said when he shot the baracuda he saw a mackerel few meter away. He quickly retrieve the baracuda and we both keep an eye on the mackerel. Not long after that the visibilty change dratsically and all the fish dissapear.

Extreme south-western tip of java 17-21 september

The title of this blog say it all. The jungle in the national park is hardly penetrable, is dark and mysterious. Inside the pristine forest , are left hidden from the human the shy endangered Javanese rhino, the allusive leopard, the famous javan Banteng and many other wildlife. It took us 5 hour to reach the boat from Jakarta, another 4-5 hour boat ride until we found a spot to sleep. First day only caught barracuda for lunch  while trolling . The wind was quiet strong during the afternoon and the bay was quiet murky with 1-2 meter visibility. Not many interesting fish on the first day. Trevally was under size and no grouper or snapper. Unfortunately, we only have small Rabbitfish for dinner and chicken from the supermarket..

Second day we move to another spot. The visibility is better 4-6 meter but still nothing worth of pulling the trigger. After lunch we move to new location. The current was stronger and looks more promising.  First dive i saw nothing until i was in the area with the strongest current shot a 4kg blue trevally. Then 1.5 kg snapper and saw 2 mangrove jack but i was hesitate to pull the trigger due to rock formation behind it. Try to find it again but it was kept it distant, then  bluefin trevally came with school of 6 and waited for the biggest one to shot.

unfortunately due to the south wind and big swell we have to pass this spot

Second day transit spearfishing spot

Enteirtment on the way to resting spot for the second night

Second day resting spot greeted by the wild indonesian boar

The last day of the trip i woke early in the morning and i hear people screaming over excitment of catching 500 gram to 1 kg squid. Saw i geared up and head staright to the water. i was to late but there was a school of milkfish. I shot atleast 3 milkfish and the manage to fight and rip the body off the spear. it was a nice decent 1-2 kg size.. The last fish i saw was the african pompano which i miss point blank. I guess i was over excited about having sashimi. after all the dissapoitment i was lucky enough to manage to secure one decent size mullet.

after lunch we went back to the same spot from yesterday and hoping to catch some mangrove jack and more trevally. Not sure what second spot my nose was bothering me so much that i only lasted 1 hour. I manage to catch octopus and a snapper. It wasnt as good as the day before.

Arvid stayed longer and start shooting every species of snapper in the area. He shot Scribbled snapper, Mangrove jack, Red snapper and grouper.

Ivan holding my catch on the last day

Arvid catch on the last day, almost every species of snapper in the area

The crew