Rob’s Blue Marlin…
Rob’s Blue Marlin…After the last couple of day’s out and checking the SST charts it was apparent that little had changed. In fact the zero line was still pretty well encompassing Browns and the warmer current still running hard out wide with very little current inside.
Maybe it is just me but it seems strange that with such warm water persisting the Dollies are not in the numbers I would have expected. However, reports are saying there are Dollies to be had around the various FAD’s but you have to get there early with live bait preferable.
Anyway, I was after Marlin so headed out to work the zero line planning to go out to the thousand fathoms line, where a lot of fish have been caught recently, later.
I put the lures in at the 12 Mile which is always worth a shot and trolled out. The water was 23 C pretty well all the way to the shelf where it slowly started to rise. We started seeing birds in groups obviously looking and occasionally coming together. After spending some time following and working the area it became apparent the Mutton birds were chasing Flying Fish.
Continuing on in the middle of nowhere we had a massive strike on the rigger and Grasshopper took off at a thousand miles an hour. There was no jumping just one long run that threatened to spool us. Could be a Yellowfin was the thought and if it was it was huge. The fish stayed near the surface most of the time going deep occasionally, I thought it had to be a Marlin no Yellowfin I have ever caught has gone this hard.
After nearly an hour Rob brought the fish which indeed turned out to be a Blue Marlin around 140 kilo’s to the boat. Sometime during the fight the line had become wrapped around its pectoral fins, the angle of pull impeding it from jumping. Even worse when my deckie finally took the trace he had little control over the fish. He did win in the end and eventually freed the lure and let the fish go.
We continued out finding more Mutton birds working but they all seemed to be on Flying fish. On the thousand fathom line we got a massive strike leaving a big hole behind Evil on the short corner. The Blue missed the lure but came flying out of the water. If I’d have had a looping camera I would have had a great shot of a 150 plus kilo Blue Marlin high in the air and broadside to the transom but alas.
Shortly afterwards I could just make out a fish following the Illusion. I couldn’t quite make out what it was but after it had had a couple of shots at the lure I figured it was a small Striped Marlin but in retrospect I think it was a Spearfish.
So, with three fish up within the last couple of hours I thought this is going to be a great day. As it happens we saw nothing else for the rest of the day – I guess that’s fishing.
Tight lines,
Ivan