Fishing Lore of Tobi. Peter W. Black 1968, 2017

Day Fishing Method 23: Hachaiho (March 19)
Nemesio, Esobio, Matias

Breadfruit leaf kite (Chau) reinforced by center from leaves on palm frond.

Bamboo pole (sei) for gathering web.

Six feet bamboo with two hardwood prongs which must be 2-1/2 inches apart and an extra piece of bamboo which can be tied on to give added length to gather web.

Go to jungle. Find Ritobuhaha in any tree. Poke stick into web and turn it around and around till you have all the web between the prongs. It usually takes 20 webs to make the required piece which should be a piece 3 inches long and 3 times as thick as a pencil.

Nemesio—you poke a hole in the middle of it to tie on your line.
Esobio and Matias—put a hole in each end and use a thin coconut fiber as shown.

Go any place on island. Up to one mile out from the reef. Go on any tide. Any month. Any time of day.

The ratio of Line A-B to Line B-C is 5:3. Do not use more than 170:100.

You catch Mahi.

You cannot touch web with your hands unless you make sure there is no oil on them.

The best conditions are a sunny day with wind of approximately 15 knots.

Make a loop on the main support. Attach your line to the canoe as shown.

Nemesio

Esobio & Matias

Then your bait line should be tied onto the end of the support at the top of the canoe. Now hold kite against wind—if it moves side to side or back to front, adjust your loop until it does not move.

To release kite hold against wind and release. Do not throw, wait till your kite is up, then paddle as shown.

Hold kite line in teeth.

When fish takes bait, pull in kite. Grab bait line and release kite. Then pull in fish. Fish bites bait and can’t let go. You can reuse bait.

No other fish will ever take this bait.

In Sonsorol there is no Ritobuhaha so they can’t fish this way.

Back to Fishing Lore: Contents

FOTI Home
Updated: January 19, 2017