Marlin Fishing

[Vagabond]

The three days we spent at Cabo went like this :-

 

Day One. I won the toss for "first strike". We had three strikes that day -

 

First a striped marlin to me of about 110 lb,

 

Then a biggish fish took the hindmost lure, and Norma played it for some time - it didn't go nearly as fast or as far as the marlin, nor did it jump.. As it was worked nearer the boat I bent down to get the video and heard Norma say "Well, its got stripes, but it isn't a marlin" - it was a tiger shark of around 200 lb or so, and saved us the trouble of catch and release by biting through the trace.

 

The third strike got me a striped marlin identical to the first one ( it may even have been a repeat capture!)

 

Day Two Norma's turn for first strike, which turned out to be a striped marlin of near 200 lb - family record and all that - high fives and general banter. But her record stood only an hour before being equalled. The next fish (mine) was its twin brother (or sister), so the family striped marlin record is now shared.

[Vagabond]

 

Day Three - Out earlier still, but no fish for over six hours, then at about 12.30 pm I had a strike, and before all the other rods could be brought in, Norma was hooked up to another marlin. Twenty minutes hard work saw these two landed despite one fish opting to go to Alaska, but the other one preferring New Zealand.

 

Plenty of marlin were around - we could see the tails everywhere. I caught and released my second, so did Norma.

 

Whilst Norma was playing her second fish, another marlin came close to the boat and accepted a scad, and I got an immediate hookup. Once more two marlin hurtled in opposite directions across the Pacific. Once more we fought the two fish without any "backing down" of the boat.

Norma brought her fish alongside (at about 180 lb it was the third best of the whole trip) and it was released. Within seconds another fish was sighted, and engulfed a bait tossed to by the mate. As I was still playing my third fish, Norma had another rod thrust into her hands just as she let go of the previous one. I think the crew were pretty impressed by her performance, as by the time she brought this fish to the boat, she had been laying into good-sized fish for forty minutes non-stop.

[Vagabond]

The mate had been a bit "naughty" about this last fish, as he had not struck it, and by the time Norma got hold of the rod it had swallowed the bait and was deeply hooked. We could tell the crew were a bit agitated about our refusal to have the previous nine fish killed, and this was an opportunity for them to bring home some booty. It is illegal in Mexico for sportfishers to sell their catch, but they are allowed to take fish for family and friends, so a semi-legal barter system operates. Perks of the job really.

Allied to which, the crew like to show off some fish at the end of the day, to attract clients for future trips. A whacking great marlin on the transom has more impact than "Oh, we caught six today, but released them all" Sad, but the way of the world.

So, a bit reluctantly, we agreed to have the fish killed, but decided to make the best of it by asking for a couple of good thick juicy steaks off it to take to a decent restaurant and have them cooked for us.

 

[ 14 July 2002, 05:33 PM: Message edited by: Vagabond ]

[Vagabond]

 

Sailing back into Cabo was all about showing off. It is customary to fly appropriate flags to show what has been caught. Light blue-green and white for striped marlin, dark blue for blue marlin, white and orange for wahoo etc etc. We ran our boat clean out of marlin flags! But we had a resourceful crew…. We came in with two striped marlin flags up, two blue marlin flags pressed into service, plus two improvised flags made by tearing up a blue-and-white tea towel !

[Vagabond]

 

As can be seen from the photo, whilst some of the other boats are showing one or two flags, no-one else came close to six. Rule Brittania! Fly the flag!

[Vagabond]

 

This one was about the fifth biggest of the ten and weighed 160 lbs

 

The legend "Bob Marlin" chalked on the fish is the name of the boat in the previous picture.

 

[ 14 July 2002, 02:29 AM: Message edited by: Vagabond ]

[Vagabond]

 

VAGABUNDO DEL MAR

 

The final act concerns the delicious marlin steaks which were washed down by a number of Marguaritas (Norma) and a bottle or three of El Pacifico beer (yours truly)

[Vagabond]

Well that's it - thank you for patiently waiting until the posts were finished

 

If this inspires anyone to have a crack at big-game fishing it will have been worth the trouble typing it up. Never mind the expense, you have just one life - DO IT.

Having done it , stay humble. Catching a marlin doesn't make you Kip Farrington, Michael Lerner, Zane Grey and Ernest Hemingway rolled into one. Give credit to the crew - their skill and knowhow got you out where the fish were, their keen eyesight located the marlin, their boat handling got the lures across the fish, the wireman's expertise ensured nothing went wrong at the last minute, and their sheer professionalism and enthusiasm made sure their client had a good day. Also, don't be mean about tips. Remember the definition of a true gentleman "Someone who tips his ghillie the same amount after a blank day as he would after landing a 30 lb salmon"

[Jim Roper]

Vagabond:

Never mind the expense, you have just one life - DO IT.

As someone who hasn't had a taxable income since 1975, and with no pension to come, I'm sure I wanted to be told that!!!

 

Jim Roper

 

[ 14 July 2002, 09:22 PM: Message edited by: Jim Roper ]

[chevin]

Some help is given by the skipper "backing down" the boat towards the fish. Some people (almost certainly with no experience whatsoever of big game fishing) say this devalues the sport - ie you hook a fish, the skipper chases it with the boat until it is exhausted - where's the sport in that? Well, that's one point of view.

 

I couldn't agree with you more on this one, and it is generally a remark made by a jealous as well inexperienced angler. I don't know any angler who while fishing from the shore, river/lake bank who would not move to get closer to a hooked fish if he was able to do so. I have hooked and played a few big fish in my time and on one occasion I was fighting a 1200lb tiger shark with no harness what-so-ever, (I had broken it on a fish earlier that day). The shark sounded and would not move, I needed to get above the fish, and if I was to move towards it, I had to crank a 42foot boat through my tackle to get into that position. Therefore the skipper backed the boat to the fish so that I was in a better position to apply pressure. While the shark was fighting, it had been moving the boat through me and it hurt badly. During that time the skipper did nothing to help and nor did I ask him to do so. Most skippers are aware of the fact that their clients want to feel some achievement when they beat a good fish and so they will not do anything other than give advice during a fight, unless it is just a matter of moving in the same way as a mobile angler would.