Mumbai: Gill-t edged moment for Bandra native

Nashwin DrsquoMello went out to sea near the Bandra Fort on Saturday evening carrying his fishing paraphernalia expecting a good catch He returned with one of the best catches of his life mdash a 21kg BarramundiDrsquoMello said ldquoI started fishing in the lockdown in 2020 My wife encouraged merdquo We have our Instagram handle now called lsquoThoushallhavefishrsquo and DrsquoMello and friends who also go fishing with him sell the catch on their Instagram pageldquoWe have a lot of followers now we started off helping the local fishing community here through the power of social media Lockdown meant restrictions and a dip in buyers We started displaying the catch on our Instagram page and WhatsApp groups and the community got buyers selling on what was a new platform for many While some fisherfolk are aware about these avenues they were not very wellversed about how to sell through or leverage the power of these So we helped some of them outrdquo he explainedThe catchOn Saturday evening DrsquoMello was a little away from his Shirley Rajan Road home near Bandra Fort fishing when he felt a tug on the line ldquoWe were actually catching mullets then I saw some big splashes every fish feeds differently I knew this was a big fish We the fish and I grappled for about 20 minutes and then I started reeling it in In the water a 20 kg fish feels like 60 kgrdquo laughed DrsquoMello ldquoI consider this my trophy fish About 15 years ago I had nearly caught a fish that size It slipped away and I promised myself I would catch another one There is that feeling of elation and a surge of adrenaline when you get that big fella on the linerdquoLike lifeIn certain ways said DrsquoMello philosophically fishing teaches one about life ldquoEndless patience complete focus on fishing unlike what many people believe fishing is not an opportunity to let your mind wander You really need to concentrate on netting that catch Finally it also teaches you resilience You know that joke lsquoI went fishing today and all I caught was a coldrsquo You may net zero one day but you go back to fish againrdquo said DrsquoMelloThe urban urbane fisherman who believes everyone should learn one sustainable skill for survival is going to start classes for those who want to learn to fish ldquoI get so many people some in top tiers of corporate white collar jobs telling me they want to learn fishingrdquo said DrsquoMello ldquoWe are going to start classes for fishing freshers soon so that they learn the sportrdquo DrsquoMello gave up an airport job to traverse India on his motorbike His other dabblings were tattooing and real estate in GoaHiralal Wadkar veteran fisherman claimed ldquoa lsquoKhazrarsquo like this will fetch approximately Rs 15000 It is mostly found near stony rocky outcrops in the sea It is in demand at swish restaurantsrdquo