Aerialangler Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 (edited) First post - late report SPOILER- (Maybe first and long post because we caught a Marlin) It's been hard lining up a day with my wife's cousin between work, kids etc but finally everything was in our favour for Friday the 25 of March - Only two aboard all up We have been heavily into gamefishing this year despite the fact that my old centre console 4.8 meter dehaviland isn't really built for it. We just pick the days and have all the safety precautions in place. We headed out fairly early, got to Drummoyne boat ramp about 5:30am It's wasn't too busy Back the boat down, and for the first time motor doesn't fire After a few fuel line and tank changes and before the next boat lines up it finally goes......relief . It's a trusty Yamaha We get out and head for the planned location 12 mile reef. We pull up about 3 kms short because the water changes and the temp rises to 25. We see bait fish jumping too We decide to put the lures in. We can run 5 rods which is not bad for a small boat- no outriggers- just some well placed rod holders It's 7am now and we run the lures for ten minutes and then that sound..... Do I have to say what it is? Start with Z The short corner tld 30 is buckled and line is flying off, and it's sounds a bit too fast for our liking. But I have to get the other rods in while my mate fights Then we have to chase it cause the line department doesn't look good No jumps and the fish is down, but about 5 mins in it jumps, looks like a 80-100kg blue We panic sort of and adrenalin is all over the place. As we are fighting my mate says is that the lure? Yes coming back up the line is the two skirts..... But the fish is about 200 meters out. Somehow the fish had smashed the skirts over the top of the lure head and are coming back up the line- black magic- tuna terror Here some pics of the lure and skirts..... Tension is high as many will be aware happens Anyway 15 mins in I mention the we have to get this fish in and my mate puts a little more pressure on the fish which is down deep. And then that moment we all hate. Line goes lose winding increases to a high speed wind... What no! The fish is off..... Disappointment all round. That's fishing though. We persevere reset the lures bar the one that was destroyed And work the same area Only 20 mins later the short corner goes again It's my turn to take the rod... This one makes itself known straight away on hook up. Jumping. Another Marlin, this one a little smaller and more aerial than the last Maybe a black about 80kg This fight is short, while my mate brings the rods in I hold on and wind But to no avail, I see the lure fly out of the mouth and go about 15 meters in the air.... It's thrown the hook. We are disappointed once again but we can't believe this spot is producing so quickly. And bait is still jumping. Pic of dropped lure.... So we do it all again, we keep working the area. Back and forth. But after about 45mins -1hr but no more luck. Then we make a call to go to 12 mile and try (we can always come back) it's only 2km away anyway. So we keep trolling out. We get to the rise and pass once, then back around. And now it happens.... The big reel goes. Long corner, biggest zacatac lure we've got. Pic of lure..... And I'm sure many have been in this zone before. You and your mate, mouth open, looking, as a big blue is half in half out thrashing the lure around heading across the lure spread. Time slows. We just can't speak. We just look. We are in awe Then it's show time. He grabs the rod. I keep the boat going. It screams. I wind in one rod and my mate screams we need to chase this fish! Lines running out!! Shimano Tiagra 50w spooled with 24 kg moi moi We guess the fish ran about 500m at the start. We follow it. With the others lines still out. Stupid maybe, but we didn't get any tangles. We get closer and it heads deep. So I take advantage of the time and reel the other rods in. We are calmer now. We have lost two fish. We know this could be another. But we just hold on. We hold on for a long time. We start talking about what to do when it comes up. What to do when and if it gets close to the boat. But we know that it's not a guarantee that we will see this fish. Time gets on. We are getting line back occasionally but then it will run again. No more jumps. It's deep The fight endures. Into the hours now. We are inexperienced in fighting fish. We wonder why it's taking so long. We try different angles etc to get line back. My mate is exhausted He offers the rod to me to help out I get on the rod for nearly an hour of tug of war. This seems hopeless. I start to wonder wether this fish is tail wrapped.... And maybe nearly dead. Three hours in we decide that yes this fish is gone. So we pretty much have to winch a dead weight up. Half an hour later it's up and we are sad and happy to see it. It's impossible to lift into the boat. We don't want to waste this life and fish so we attach a rope to the tail and tow it home from about 20kms out. Pic of fish up and towing home.... It is cloudy so we think that the fish may stay in reasonable condition. We arrive back in the harbour and decide we want to try and put it into the boat from the beach. We pull into Gibsons beach near Watson bay and attempt it. Too heavy. We can't even lift one end of it. We attach it back to the rope and decide to go to a more secluded spot and take fillets of it to put in our iced esky. We get some pictures and get a lot of massive good fillets off it. We didn't waste much Then we decide to tow the rest of it outside and say goodbye. Pics of fish http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160328/27a249b9b57d1451da8f6eaec355c8c0.jpg http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160328/d12616ef5042fd95fae390a552324308.jpg http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160328/7a10466afe9d1708dc2282f2c4e31dd7.jpg Remnants of stomach..... http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160328/55aa59bf988384d2e69c5f21b3c74d35.jpg I'm sorry if this is disturbing to a few reading but we didn't have many choices to make We've asked a few and they've mentioned tail wrapping a fish happens and even sometimes fish suffer a heart attack when stressed. The fish came up well hooked in the jaw and not tail wrapped . We hope this doesn't happen again as our plan was to release it. Thanks for your patience if you got this far with the story. Regards, Kent Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Edited March 28, 2016 by Aerialangler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reese Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 awesome read - im not experienced in game fishing but sounds like you did everything you could and didnt waste it - good job Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MV Sunray Posted March 29, 2016 Share Posted March 29, 2016 Congrats fellas that's s great capture and story to tell [emoji106] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raysenior Posted March 29, 2016 Share Posted March 29, 2016 Well done a great read and a great story, snr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NaClH2OK9 Posted March 29, 2016 Share Posted March 29, 2016 (edited) Great write up and what an awesome day on the water. Sadly a bitter sweet win. Congrats on your first... A little unusual running the Bart candy on short corner.? Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk Edited March 29, 2016 by NaClH2OK9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timk Posted March 29, 2016 Share Posted March 29, 2016 awesome catch mate! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aerialangler Posted March 29, 2016 Author Share Posted March 29, 2016 Great write up and what an awesome day on the water. Sadly a bitter sweet win. Congrats on your first... A little unusual running the Bart candy on short corner.? Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk Yeh it was actually short rigger but on the rod holder wide Still not 100% where which lures are best Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NaClH2OK9 Posted March 29, 2016 Share Posted March 29, 2016 Yeh it was actually short rigger but on the rod holder wide Still not 100% where which lures are best From my very limited experience. I'd have thought this was a shotgun lure. But... It picked up a fish!!!! Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stillrockn Posted March 29, 2016 Share Posted March 29, 2016 Great read Fellas .. What an Experience Well Done A catch of a life time . Cheers Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stunami Posted March 29, 2016 Share Posted March 29, 2016 What an awesome fish to catch and on such wrong boat for it to, a shame it died but I think you did what you could have and you didn't waste it at the end, my arms were burning in sympathy just reading your story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scratchie Posted March 29, 2016 Share Posted March 29, 2016 Great write up and what a fantastic capture. Unfortunately, with blue marlin they will fight to the death, hence the nature of their fight! But as swordy said, you gave the fish respect. So well done to you both! Cheers scratchie!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted March 29, 2016 Share Posted March 29, 2016 What a great read and a great fish to end off with. Congrats all around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hotbite Posted March 29, 2016 Share Posted March 29, 2016 Well done lads!!! Great effort all round. At a guess maybe around the 130kg mark. As for your best lure.....its the one which catches the fish ha ha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Camo1808 Posted March 29, 2016 Share Posted March 29, 2016 Ripper read fellas!!!! Felt like i experienced the whole 3 hours with you. Very much enjoyed that post. Congrats on the first marlin and what a ripper it is. Very much a shame that it didnt make it for a safe release but as previously mentioned you did everything you could sp not your fault and hey..you got a good feed out of it. Glad you went to a secluded beach to fillet it and had the respect to drive far out again to release the remains. Fisheries do you hard for filleting any fish on the water. Once again thanks for the post and congrats Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big Neil Posted March 29, 2016 Share Posted March 29, 2016 Well done guys. What a fabulous report. Felt like I was in the boat feeling your anxiety /elation, with you. Great that you paid this great fish some respect, too. You're certainly a lot gamer than I...going out into the wild blue in such a small boat and especially after it was hard to start. Good onya guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scent Blazer Lures Posted March 30, 2016 Share Posted March 30, 2016 (edited) That's so awesome, well done, I don't mind the long post, I like details I like the shots of the stomach contents, whole stripies They have mouths like buckets Edited March 30, 2016 by Scent Blazer Lures Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fragmeister Posted March 30, 2016 Share Posted March 30, 2016 That's so awesome, well done, I don't mind the long post, I like details I like the shots of the stomach contents, whole stripies They have mouths like buckets Ditto, Good effort boys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aerialangler Posted March 31, 2016 Author Share Posted March 31, 2016 (edited) Thanks for all your input into my first report and story. Ive been a reader for a good while but havent had a real good story to put up. Hopefully I can have some more success again and I can post something else in future. Side point: alot of people say that marlin isnt good eating. But from all reports back, many are enjoying it. Including myself- and Im not a great fish eater Its all about not over cooking it and treating it like a good steak. Gentle cooking has proved to be the best result. Im aware of the high mercury in fish like this. But from what I can gather once a week is ok. Im becoming more aware of people saying that they sometimes die on capture, therefore that is why Ive added this comment. Dont waste them. Look after the fish and it can be great table fish Edited March 31, 2016 by Aerialangler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike89 Posted March 31, 2016 Share Posted March 31, 2016 Excellent read! You guys had a lot of luck to get three hookups. I'm no marlin fisherman but I always find the fish you lose prepare you to tackle the one that you end up catching with calm and clear mind. Beautiful fish, any estimate on the weight there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aerialangler Posted March 31, 2016 Author Share Posted March 31, 2016 Excellent read! You guys had a lot of luck to get three hookups. I'm no marlin fisherman but I always find the fish you lose prepare you to tackle the one that you end up catching with calm and clear mind. Beautiful fish, any estimate on the weight there? Hi mate Yeh we obviously didn't weigh the fish but going by this photo we've estimated the short length to be about 2.6m. That's from lower jaw to inner tail Some fishing sites say that a fish of that length can weigh around 140-150kg (It was a very solid, fat fish too) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phar Cue Posted April 1, 2016 Share Posted April 1, 2016 (edited) Nice catch. A 2.6 short length for a Blue should actually be about 160-170kg on the GFAA scale. Looking at the above photo it's not far off and she is fat. It looks about twice the size of the fella lying next to it. So if he is @80kg, you would argue it is twice his bulk. So well done on a stonker from a tinny!! This Blue below also died on landing and went 121kg and looks a lot smaller than yours. So start the bickering.... Edited April 1, 2016 by Phar Cue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aerialangler Posted April 2, 2016 Author Share Posted April 2, 2016 Nice catch. A 2.6 short length for a Blue should actually be about 160-170kg on the GFAA scale. Looking at the above photo it's not far off and she is fat. It looks about twice the size of the fella lying next to it. So if he is @80kg, you would argue it is twice his bulk. So well done on a stonker from a tinny!! This Blue below also died on landing and went 121kg and looks a lot smaller than yours. So start the bickering.... Thanks for the pics That's a good fish too Maybe around the same size or a tad smaller Gives us an idea of what ours could have been Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PEARLY Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 Firstly , I would like to congratulate you on your first marlin, always a very memorable experience, and its good to see that it didn't go to waste. The first blue that I tangled with was on 24kg stand up gear and I was fighting the fish for 5hrs & 15 mins on new years eve 2013. I couldn't get the fish to the boat as for the last 1.5 hrs it was 30 metres below the boat and wouldn't come up. I tried everything I could and I ended up increasing the drag and the line broke. I was asleep that night by 8pm, completely exhausted. The second fish was about 2 weeks later and I put my mate on strike while I cleared the rods/ drove and traced the fish ( there was only 2 of us on the boat, and my mate had no idea what he was in for).It took about 2hrs to get the fish to the boat, and it ended up being tail wrapped and came up dead. This left a very sour taste in my mouth and I almost gave up gamefishing. Since then I have caught a few marlin and been involved with the capture of many more both on my boat and as a crew member on a local boat in Coffs Harbour. I don't profess to be an expert by any means, and I still have a lot to learn but I have learnt a few things.Firstly you do get the odd marlin dying and it is an unfortunate consequence of the sport. Secondly to try to get a stubborn blue up to the boat, where he stays deep and wont come up then try to change the line angle by driving off the fish and then if he comes up then drive back to him.I also find that having the boat positioned down current of the fish also helps sometimes as it causes the fish to swim , expending more energy which can shorten the fight time, as opposed to having the boat up current of the fish, as when this happens the fish can just sit in the current and still get water through its gills. I have also found from crewing on a local game boat that using 37kg gear helps on the blues as the drag is preset to 12kgs of pressure in the strike setting as opposed to 8 kgs of pressure on 24 kg gear. This tends to greatly shorten the fight time, which puts less stress on the fish. If using 24kg gear then try to put a mark on the reel where 10kgs of drag pressure is and even 12 kgs of drag pressure is so that you can push the drag up past strike knowing that you wont increase it by too much. You can also try to use the low gear on your reel to try to get the fish the last few metres to the boat.I hope this helps. It is a steep learning curve, good luck. If I can be of any further assistance then pm me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aerialangler Posted April 11, 2016 Author Share Posted April 11, 2016 (edited) Firstly , I would like to congratulate you on your first marlin, always a very memorable experience, and its good to see that it didn't go to waste. The first blue that I tangled with was on 24kg stand up gear and I was fighting the fish for 5hrs & 15 mins on new years eve 2013. I couldn't get the fish to the boat as for the last 1.5 hrs it was 30 metres below the boat and wouldn't come up. I tried everything I could and I ended up increasing the drag and the line broke. I was asleep that night by 8pm, completely exhausted. The second fish was about 2 weeks later and I put my mate on strike while I cleared the rods/ drove and traced the fish ( there was only 2 of us on the boat, and my mate had no idea what he was in for).It took about 2hrs to get the fish to the boat, and it ended up being tail wrapped and came up dead. This left a very sour taste in my mouth and I almost gave up gamefishing. Since then I have caught a few marlin and been involved with the capture of many more both on my boat and as a crew member on a local boat in Coffs Harbour. I don't profess to be an expert by any means, and I still have a lot to learn but I have learnt a few things.Firstly you do get the odd marlin dying and it is an unfortunate consequence of the sport. Secondly to try to get a stubborn blue up to the boat, where he stays deep and wont come up then try to change the line angle by driving off the fish and then if he comes up then drive back to him.I also find that having the boat positioned down current of the fish also helps sometimes as it causes the fish to swim , expending more energy which can shorten the fight time, as opposed to having the boat up current of the fish, as when this happens the fish can just sit in the current and still get water through its gills. I have also found from crewing on a local game boat that using 37kg gear helps on the blues as the drag is preset to 12kgs of pressure in the strike setting as opposed to 8 kgs of pressure on 24 kg gear. This tends to greatly shorten the fight time, which puts less stress on the fish. If using 24kg gear then try to put a mark on the reel where 10kgs of drag pressure is and even 12 kgs of drag pressure is so that you can push the drag up past strike knowing that you wont increase it by too much. You can also try to use the low gear on your reel to try to get the fish the last few metres to the boat.I hope this helps. It is a steep learning curve, good luck. If I can be of any further assistance then pm me Thanks for taking the time to offer some XP and some tips REDDIE. Some of the ideas I will try next time if I have a lucky day again..... I dont know if I will ever have the 37kg gear though in the near future. We heard on the radio yesterday that someone had a big big blue on way out past browns. Theirs was a 4hrs plus fight on 24kg. And they had an 82 year old man on the rod. They had it to the boat multiple times apparently. I didnt quite get the end/full story but I think they got it to the boat, someone got a cut hand and the fish got away full of energy!!! I heard them say 300kg plus and the guy in the flybridge got wet from the fight Be good to hear the full story one day. Not sure on boat name Edited April 11, 2016 by Aerialangler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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