One fish was not going down with a fight. A tuna capsized a man's boat, in Hawaii, leaving him clinging on to side after almost drowning.
Anthony Wichman was on a fishing outing on his 14-foot boat about 14 miles off the island of Kauai when he caught a 230-pound Ahi tuna fish on Saturday. Wichman battled with the fish for more than an hour and it wasn't an easy fight.
"He gaffed it once in the back and once in the eye and that caused the fish to take a final dive and he drove straight down," his daughter Anuhea Wichman told KHON-TV. "The line wrapped around my dad's ankle and pulled him overboard."
The fish was so strong that it completely flipped the boat as it pulled him into the water. Wichman was eventually able to free himself from the line and he climbed onto the overturned boat. Despite gasping for air, the 54-year-old man was able to call his daughter, Anuhea Wichman.
"All I could hear was him hyper-ventilating and puking," Anuhea Wichman said of her father's call. "And through his breathing, he was able to say three words: sinking, Coast Guard and buoy."
After the call, the Coast Guard was able to reach Wichman on the phone and determine where his position was. He was rescued about ten miles southwest of Port Allen after a rescue diver dropped in from a helicopter and helped lift him into it.
After the ordeal, Wishman was only left with a few bruises and rope burn. When two friends arrived to tow Wichman's boat to shore, they found that the tuna was still hooked to the boat. Wichman asked the men to keep the fish as a token of his appreciation.
"This rescue is a perfect example of why mariners must be sure they have good safety equipment and reliable communications before heading out on the water," Coast Guard Lt. Jessica Mickelson, Sector Honolulu's Public Affairs Officer, said in a statement according to the Daily News. "Thankfully Mr. Wichman was still able to use his cellphone after capsizing and entering the water. ... At the end of the day, we couldn't have asked for a better rescue. Mr. Wichman was delivered safely to shore with minimal injuries and he and his friends will have quite the indisputable fish tale to tell."
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
