SAILSMANSHIP! Bruce Nash and Allan Zullo©2003

© 2004 Jack Canfield & Mark Victor Hansen/King Features Syndicate

(From “Chicken Soup for the Ocean Lover’s Soul”)

John Cacciutti dove into the water to snare his prize catch — after it had swiped his rod and reel!

During a vacation in Acapulco, Mexico, in 1989, Cacciutti, of Wallingford, Pa., his wife, Terry, and four friends chartered a boat and went looking for sailfish. Within a couple of hours, Terry and a friend had each caught two sails. Everyone was having a good time as Cacciutti settled into a chair on the bridge of the boat, sipping a cool drink.

Suddenly, like the crack of a whip, the rod in the bridge rod-holder snapped from the outrigger and started dumping line at an alarming rate. Cacciutti quickly pointed the rod at the fish, locked up the drag and set the hook hard. “Up out of the water came a beautiful 9-foot Pacific sailfish,” he recalled. “The bridge was a great vantage point to watch this aerial action, but it was no place to fight a fish. I needed to get back down on deck.”

Cacciutti took the rod and reel and started down the ladder when he slipped and fell onto the deck below.

“Unfortunately, the rod and reel didn’t make this journey with me,” he recalled. “As I was falling, I tried to pull a 6-foot rod sideways through a 3-foot ladder hole, but the rod had its own idea, and shot from the bridge like an arrow. We all watched in amazement as the rod sailed high over our heads and splashed into the water.”

Then they saw the sailfish make a few jumps before sounding into 1,000 feet of water. While Cacciutti sulked and tried to shake off his embarrassment, one of his friends on the bow spotted the sailfish still dragging the rod and reel. The boat pursued the fish and came close to it several times, but each time the sailfish sounded again.

“All the hopes and dreams I had of recapturing that fish quickly faded,” Cacciutti said. “I went to the bow and stared into the deep blue water as thoughts of defeat raced through my mind. Suddenly, I spotted the fish again next to the boat. I knew there was no more time for thoughts or words to the crew.

“I dove off the starboard bow with my hands outstretched and hit the water behind the big fish. I swam about 20 feet down and grabbed onto the taut fishing line. With my lungs about to burst, I made it to the surface for a breath of air.

“Meanwhile, the big fish was running away from me, and the line was burning my hand. But then the line slowly became slack, and I began to worry about the fish and its 16-inch bill. Could it be charging me this very second? My heart was pumping from fear as I swam toward the boat. But fortunately, the sail didn’t charge, and I climbed back onto the deck.”

Once on board, Cacciutti continued to pull in the line hand over hand until, up from the depths, sprang the rod and reel. The soaking-wet angler grabbed hold of the rod with two hands, quickly took in the slack, and pulled and cranked in 1,000 feet of line. Finally, he reeled in the tired fish until it was alongside the boat. With heavy gloves on his hands, the first mate then leaned over the side and grabbed hold of the bill of the sailfish.

“I got a baseball bat and was ready to subdue the fish when the captain and his mate shouted for me to release it,” said Cacciutti. “After thinking about it, I decided that the greatest trophy would be in the pictures that my wife was taking and the story about this catch. There was no need to kill this great fish.”

After measuring the sail, they pulled it along in the water, forcing water through its gills, which helped to revive it. “The fish began to move his big tail, so we gave him a push and set him free,” said Cacciutti. “The sailfish returned to the sea to fight again.”