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Black Marlin Fishing

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THE HUNT FOR THE BLACK MARLIN
October 11, 2002

The sun has finally set and with it comes the first smile I have worn in far too long. It is strangely ironic that the disappearance of daylight brings me my last ray of hope in what turned out to be a very long day. Like a warm blanket being draped over me I hoped the darkness might just stop the cold sickness that plagues my body. The setting sun signified two wonderful things: I no longer had to worry about the sun baking the life completely out of me and moreover it told me, we were almost home!!

 

When one invisions a fishing trip they probably recall the excitement of the day waking them up early, sun shinning, a full day of good friends sharing stories and if they are luckyfish biting.

 

I on the other hand will forever recall the day I lay shivering, hugging a waterlogged lifejacket for warmth, on the deck of a 40-foot Marlin fishing boat. Only the scream of the twin CAT diesel engines to keep me company as we thrash our way through the waves and the wind. The serenity wouldnt have been so bad had it not been interrupted by the constant splashing of waves as they swept over my lifeless body.

 

The fish smell, ohhh the smell, no one would have enjoyed that, no one. I had a good spot that I used all day, it avoided any of the smells, but on the way home the soapy water and the mop nudging me suggested that I should move to the other side of the boat. It was just my luck that the best refuge I could find was huddled underneath the fish-cleaning table!!

 

Before we take off for shore can I please have a life jacket?

 

A what?

 

How bout a life preserver??

Huh?

 

A f!$&*! Life saver, life jacket, floaty thing, even a bag with f!$&*! air in itI will be hanging over board on the way home and 6 foot waves at 20 knots sounds more like a launching pad than a boat ride, dont you think?

 

But itll get wet?

 

Ill buy it PLEASE!!!

 

I trust all will agree that in life, it all depends on which perspective we consider events that determines whether they were enjoyable experiences or perhaps NOT!!! I have to admit, as a frozen corpse laying on the deck of that boat, I was at the perfect position to dismiss this day as one of the worst days in my life (and for short periods during the day I am sure I had concluded it was).

 

At aproximately 12:30 in the afternoon, I became violenty ill. At approximately 7:00pm we made it back to shore. After 6 ½ hrs of stomach exercises and tummy crunches, I lost approximate 10 lbs and was very near death.

 

 

But as we cruised our way to shore and I found myself chuckling, almost laughing, at the perdicament I found myself in. There was nothing I could have done to stop it. So  it happened relentlessly and I tried with all my might to survive. And when it comes right down to it..

 

Well, these pictures are the best way to explain just how increadibly awesome the day was and why I would pay double that amount to go back out tomorrow and hunt the Giant Black Marlins!!!

 

 

 

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Every thing was going as planned, up early - nice breakfast in the sunshine - and the rest of the gang escorted Bill and I to the fishing boat for our departure at 8:00am. Anxiously we scrurried across town. I don't quite know if it was fear of not catching fish or if it was the weather that made me tense. The sun was shining but it was accompanied by a fairly constant wind.

We arrive at the mooring to find a somewhat troubling site. The capatian and first mate were hunched over the engine access covered in oil!!!

"It'll be a couple of minutes, we just came in from a 3 day tour and need to finish some work befor we go back out."

I am certainly not mechanically inclined so I could not tell if what we saw was troubling or not but I can definitely tell you that observing the captain elbow deep in the engine compartment just before a "Three hour Tour" was just about enough to send me running!!!

"No worries Sean, the engine can go down as long as the radio still works." was the extent of Bill's troubles. Me, I couldn't tell if he was threatening me or comforting me!!

I had taken some sea sickness pills and was feeling a bit groggy so we paid for the excursion and I actually had a nap waiting for the boat to get ready. While we were paying, the clerk told us to make sure the captain extended the trip to make up for the fishing we missed during the morning.!! At the time this sounded like good information, but as it turns out this was perhaps the worst info I could have ever recieved.

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We waved good bye to our friends and headed out to the great beyond. It took just over 2 hours to get to the fishing spot. At 20 knots this had us about 50 kms off shore on the outside of the reef. While we were close to the islands, I was feeling quite strong. I could use the horizon to keep my inner ear in check and the excitement of hunting the Giant black Marlin was still pumping through my viens.

We spotted some of the sea birds, flying and diving into the water just to the side of the reef. This had all of us excited, we could tell that the fish were feeding in the area. First we let out the line to try and catch some bait fish. Yellow fin tuna, any size would help us alot. Then the out-riggers were engaged to try and catch the Giant Black.

There were 6 of us on board, the Captain, first mate, two Kiwi's (Pat and John), Bill and I. We were all assigned a number to remember and the rotation on the rods began. I was feeling pretty much like a bag if "shite" by now and volunteered to be the first to sit out, I was instead rewarded with the first watch on the 3rd rod.

We were fishing with 3 rods total. One for bait that had a 4 hook harness, and the line was extended way out behind the back of the boat. The other two rods were for the Blacks. Every so often we would see the bait (frozen mackeral or tuna) pop up in the surf behind the boat. We trolled along at 5 knots, just enough to keep the waves from smacking us around - and just enough to keep my insides churning. We were on a 1/2 hour rotation, if you remembered your number you knew what rod was yours based on the time. At the end of each half hour someone else would sit off and you would rotate rods. Marlin, Bait rod, Marlin then sit out.

I figured if I rested now and slept through my turn, I would keep sleeping through my 1/2 hour off. It was in hopes that when I woke up and all would be better? Ummm.... not a chance. I did sleep but when I woke up it didn't take long before I remembered how sick I really was. I lay motionless of to the side and someone would nudge me and say which rod I was on. Like I was even in this thing with them!!

12:30pm and all is not well, we had no action on the rods yet so I thought it would be best if I took charge so I started to chum the water, alot!!! You may think this was not the intention but it wasn't long after that when the first mate started yelling at us to figure out who had what number and who was on which rod. The four of them stood at the back of the boat, the first mate holding the rod with a Tuna on it.

'I am number three right? No wait its number one, yah one? Or is it Three.. I don't know ...I just know I am on the middle rod!'

They were still discussing who was on this rod when I awoke from my slumber and staggered to the back of the boat, pushing every one out of the way and grasping the rod. I don't know if it was the look of death on my face or the smell of my breath but absolutely no one objected to me bringing in the tuna!

I started winching in that tuna like a mad man, the tuna darting all over the place. I knew I had only a small deposit of adrenalin and without that I could hardly stand nevermind reel in more than one km of line with a 15 lb tuna on it. Once the tuna got close to the boat the captain started to assign roles to the others.

As soon as the first mate brought the fish on board he was going for the harness??? One of the guys had grab the fish and hold it on its back??? One of the others had to grab the hose??? Me - I was told to go lie down!!

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We needed this tuna as LIVE bait, so the plan was to give the fish 'Artificial Breathing' by pumping salt water through its mouth and gills while the first mate tied on a harness. The hook never actually penatrated the Tuna but rather was tied in such a fashion that it was way out in front of it. And the Tuna was attached to the fishing line as if it had its own saddle. As fast as possible the fish was thrown back into the Sea and we were all very excited (well maybe they were!!!)

The captain knew there were Giant blacks in the area based on the feeding and presence of the tuna and the birds. We now only fished with the Bait rod and the live bait. We also reduced the shifts to 15min each and now physically attended to the rod. They attached an elastic band to the line with the live bait. If it broke that meant that the bait had been taken so you immediatley jumped into the chair and fastened your harnesses for a long ride!

Bill was the first to have the elastic break, we were all pretty stoked. The marlin takes the fish but does not nescessarily get hooked. The first mate (on the command of the captain) lets it run free with the bait if there is still aggression - the hook is set. No luck for Bill though, but we all enjoyed the brief action. I even got as far as lifting my head off the deck!

The two Kiwis went next since it was made clear that the bait rod wasn't the middle rod but rather the first rod (roddy rod rod rod... you can see why in my state I got it wrong!!) and I actually reeled in her tuna not mine!!! (What a bastard - I know - but I was weak!!) Unfortunately there was no action during Johns turn on the rod and it was now Pats turn. Feeling guilty about taking her turn earlier I did what I could to help her and started to chum the waters heavily! I lied back down full expecting her to bring in the big one, no luck!

"Sean it's your turn" I felt Bill kicking me. I looked up happy that he was blocking the sun "If it had only cost less than $600 I wouldn't get up but... F!@$%&! Hell!!!!"

I physically held the elastic band but, by how much I was fishing was anyones best guess. The boat was tossing me around like a rag doll, I just tried to lie my head down on the edge of the boat and sleep. "This is crazy, I have got to go and lie down again.... Bill... it your tur......" SNAP!!!

"AGGGHHHH!!!"

I jumped in that chair as fast as anything I've done in my life. Not for the fish but because I needed to rest! Through my sunken eyes everyone could tell the situation wasn't good!! Bill standing in suport beside me.. "This is it, what we've been waiting for!"

"You gatta help me Bill... Please..I am a dead man sitting in this chair!!" I had a hard time believing his laugh was a good thing!!!

My 15 minutes passed and the Marlin decided to let go of the bait. Next up was Bill, 3 minutes 5, 7...12 and SNAP!!!! Fish ON!! Rang out in perfect harmony!!! It wasn't til we started hooking Bill's harness to the Giant Black Marlin that we noticed that he wasn't being hooked to the boat. One good pull and Bill was shark bait!

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Trying to reel in this fish is all legs and back. You squat down, as you do you try and reel in. If you are successful (lucky) you may get two cranks in! Then you try and push your legs and ass back....Squat and reel... over and over again!! Now this wouldn't be too bad but there is a monster fish the size of a sofa being dragged behind a boat going 5 knots. Even better is that there is over a km of line that comes in and then the fish runs it out again... over and over again!!!

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Bill brought the fish in close to the boat after about 30 minutes of fighting. We all thought we were going to land it then and there when all of a sudden it was gone....straight down with out stopping. Only the squeeling of the reel could be heard over Uncle Bill's incessive Grunting!

The rest of us just reveled in the amazent of watching this huge fish hurl itself out of the water as it danced across the tops of the waves. It was by far the biggest fish I have ever saw in my life and as it was it was one of the smaller Marlins in this area!! The captain and first mate discussed and concluded that Bill had hooked a fish over  400 lb Marlin that stretched no less than 8ft in length.

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With the heavy weight tackle we were using, the crew was surprised that this sized Marlin was fighting to such extremes. The boat was almost motionless, the fish just would not move, it was hovering at the bottom and we could not budge it. We reversed engines...nothing... we dragged on...nothing... then all of a sudden the fish was knackered??? Like a trooper Bill realed in the moster, all it could do was stare up at us in defeat as we toed it behind the boat. It wasn't til this last time up to the boat that we figured out why this fish was running so hard. It had a huge shark bite on its tail. It was bleeding intrusively from an 18" hole in its tail!!!

We look back at this experience and know we are one in a handfull of people that are lucky enough to haul in such a prize. The 3 day charter, the crew was on just before us, caught nothing. That is $2200/day ($6600) and no Marlin. It makes the 600 quid we spent easier to swallow (not easy - just easier)! But we know we must try again, the month previous this crew caught a Marlin 1100 lbs - 3 1/2 hour fight!!!!

Thanks Bill, and congratulations, I will alway remember this day (good and bad). Personally I find pride in knowing that this day would have killed a lesser man! The dissapointing part is that today it didn't take much of a person to be a better man!!!

The Prize
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