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

Night Fishing Method 1: Hapeh Hapeh
Nemesio, Esobio, and Matias all described this type.

Hook:	#5c, Fotomahech
Line:	Nemesio—small cotton.  Esobio and Matias—medium cotton.
Leader:	Nemesio—none. Matias—wire or cotton. Esobio—only fiber.
Bait:	Umen (hermit crab) or Richoh tuna, needle fish, or flying fish.

Bait hook as shown:
Matias and Esobio say that you should let the point show.

Go any place on the island.

Nemesio says April and May are the best months, Matias says March and June are also good, and Esobio says January through June are good months and if the weather is bad in the spring, September will be a good time to go.

Go outside the reef, on a moonlit night. You should be able to see the reef under the canoe.

Nemesio fishes at a depth of 3-20 fathoms. Matias starts at 6 fathoms, and Esobio at 8 fathoms.

Catch: Mor, Hari, Man waru hoch. Esobio says you can catch any reef fish.

You need about a hundred round stones about one inch across.

1. Bait hook as shown.

2. Lay hook on stone.

3. Take line two or three times around stone and bait.

4. Then loop back over finger and once around the opposite way.

5. Turn loop under one strand of the line across the stone.

(This method is called Hamatara.)

Slowly drop line over side until the stone touches the reef.
Esobio says to pull the line up three feet. 
Shake the line and the stone will fall off and the line will slowly rise.

Matias says to move to another place after 15 minutes if you haven’t gotten a bite.

Esobio says to try three times, then move if no bite.


Back to Fishing Lore: Contents

FOTI Home
Updated: January 19, 2017