Breaking Point

[mrmoshe]

I've been reading some info on various websites and came across this gem.

It's about an epic battle in the 80's with a giant black marlin off the Great Barrier Reef.

Here's the article and the bit that intrigued me below:

Is this a fishy tale??? Either way...an interesting read.

Pete.

______________________________________

http://www.thelog.com/news/newsview.asp?c=194109

Breaking Point

In 1984, La Jolla resident Mike Rivkin was fishing black marlin off Australia's Great Barrier Reef with legendary Capt. Peter Bristow. Late on the ninth day of a 10-day trip, they had a double hook-up. Riukin grabbed the portside rod. Both fish jumped, and the starboard fish popped off.

For the next three hours, Riukin made no progress on the fish. Bristow became concerned that it would become too dark to navigate the maze of coral heads to get inside the reef for the night.

Bristow told Riukin to either button down the drag on the 12/0 Fin Nor reel or let the fish loose. Riukin buttoned down, but it made little difference.

Suddenly the fish sounded. Riukin watched 130-lb. test line disappear off the reel. The captain reiterated his concern and instructed Riukin to button down the drag again. By now, Riukin was straining with every muscle of his arms, legs and back.

More than 750 yards of line was out when Riukin noticed the splice. Line of a different color began passing through the rod's eyelets. Soon, less than 30 yards was left on the 800-yard spool. Riukin tightened the drag until he was literally standing in the chair, straining with every muscle he had. With only 20 yards left, the marlin stopped and went into its death throes.

It became a test to see whether the winching power of the reel could overcome the dead weight of the fish. With the captain nervously watching the setting sun, Riukin cranked the handle one half turn at a time.

Right at sunset the massive fish popped up to the surface, stone-cold dead. It took everyone aboard to wrestle the leviathan into the 44-footer's cockpit.

With the fish hanging out the transom door, Bristow navigated the coral reef maze and anchored. The next morning, they hightailed it into Cairns and winched it up onto the scale. The fish weighed 1,226 lbs.!

Curious, Bristow measured the Fin Nor's drag pressure. It had been buttoned down to 95 lbs. The captain checked his records and discovered the line at the bottom of the spool beneath that splice was no less than 15 years old. Bristow then tested the old line on a scale. It consistently broke at 95 pounds!

In the sport of recreational angling, heroic battles such as these occur on just about any given weekend. Anglers win some fights and fish win others. But one fear anglers should never experience is the worry that their stories will be relegated to the slush pile of "The One That Got Away."

[Flattieman]

Interesting that you mentioned this story, Pete. I too came across it for "Friday Fishy News" but declined to post it up due to the fact that I didn't like the way the site stereotyped fishermen (and I also questioned the story). Very interesting...

Flattieman.

[mrmoshe]

Interesting that you mentioned this story, Pete. I too came across it for "Friday Fishy News" but declined to post it up due to the fact that I didn't like the way the site stereotyped fishermen (and I also questioned the story). Very interesting...

Flattieman.

Yes Flattie.an odd piece of journalism there for sure.

If it's true though...that's one MASSIVE marlin.

Pete.

[Flattieman]

that's one MASSIVE marlin.

True, mate. But it won't be the first "grander" ever - a lot of bluewater people talk about granders.

Flattieman.

Edited September 9, 2006 by Flattieman

[Jewhunter]

I have a story from Malindi in Kenya of a massive Marlin that was fought on 24kg & was lost after it came to the boat green after 21hrs.

It's a genuine report from the skipper of the boat but it is too long to go into the full story.

Looks like a tale for a social!

Cheers,

Grant.