I don't even know how to begin or when it should end.
Here it goes.
I call a guy which invited me to fish his boat who I now consider a friend who shared an unbelieveable experience with me to see if we are still going Sunday looking for the yellowfins and hopefully get a shot at a white marlin and possibly a blue marlin. He is not there so I leave a message. I get the call and we're going. I am as excited as a child on Christmas morning! So we discuss the details and some concerns with the weather elements making up down south and decide to meet at the boat in Falmouth 3:30ish leave by 4:00am with a LONG ride to the desired fishing grounds.
A trip I'll never forget.
I arrive early and put my array of tools on the boat, introduce myself to the rest of the crew who by the way are not only excellent anglers but outstanding people to boot and cast off the lines. Wind blowin a little harder than expected but we decide to leave anyway hoping that the isobar chart was read correctly by us the previous night.
Two other boats making the run turned around due to waves and wind and some mechanical issues. It is not going to be a pleasant ride down south. We decide to forge onward and hopefully be rewarded for our relentless efforts.
It was blowing 15 out of the NE, not the wind you want and is a sucker's wind. We throttle up and hit the nasty Muskeget channel while running radar and with first light revealing itself out to the east. After we clear the channel we decide to press southward and so we get the big diesels to push us relatively comfortably in some BIG seas at 22 knots; white caps rearing their ugly heads.
As we enter the lanes we put lines in and troll in some big ugly waves and I'm saying "Oh boy it is going to be a long day out here" to myself but know that hard work and time on the water produces rewards the rest only dream about; so I set out the spread with the others and we ride onward in a sou'westerly lcourse. Looking at the spread scanning with my eyes I keep seeing waves breaking , whitecaps everywhere , big seas messing with the spread so we adjust it for the conditions praying the gods will smile down upon us this day.
As we approach the high flyers I pray to above give us something since we were getting tossed a shutout with nary any life to be found ans condition not improving. BUT temps were rising.
As we pass the high flyer and get beyond it the spread trolls by and WHAM, WHACK, CRASH, all over the spread..... Finally something. MAHI and a ton of them to boot. Mahi are pretty and they are nice especially when you are crushing them but we were looking for a different type of species of fish; ones larger. The mahi were thick as hell and wouldn't stay off the spread which was fine but again we wanted pelagics.
After removing our pretty friends I rerig the ballyhoo and send one into the strike zone praying for something good to eat the gear when all of a sudden a vicious explosion erupts on the ballyhoo and we're ON. FISH ON!! We snap into action, Larry,the boat owner on the stick, reel screaming off lots of line, and Christian and I working the cockpit waiting for end game. The conditions were not helping us any and as Larry finally gets the big allison to boat I leader it and smack goes the gaff from Christian. Great job on the rod, and great boat handling in less than optimal conditions. White caps still abound everywhere but we have what we wanted and its early!! 80-90 pound YFT bled, gutted, and iced; laying in the fish box.
Being 70 miles from Gay Head and the weather not cooperating we still press toward the wall wondering if that is a wise decision. But LIFE is everywhere here and temps continue to rise 74!! Porpoises galore jumping, flyfish sailing in the air, whales spouting... we are in a good place.
We have a knockdown on an outrigger but no hook up. Fish can be seen in the spread from the tower but no joy so we reset the spread the see slash marks of Mr. Whitey on a lure we we're running. Re-rig it ballyhoo swimming perfectly some more ballyhoo rerigged and set back out; and keep on trolling.
Let me tell you the conditions of the offshore rips we experienced were mean and nasty. they were down right disgusting and when we trolled through I took spray to the face up on the TOWER!! No fun down there in those rips when it is blowin' 15-20. 3-4' waves are now a tight 4-5' and not where you want to be. Northward we go and all of a sudden down goes the starboard ballyhoo.
Kirk gets on the rod and within a few minutes and beautiful albacore comes to rest on a nice bed of ice. Kirk is a fantastic angler who has great technique and put that fish to rest easily. We reload and redeploy that side of the spread and all of a sudden the CANYON RUNNER bars get balsted by a pack of yellowfins. Get back to work, I reel in another YFT and we ice more fish for the boat. The boys at the dock will be psyched for some nice YFT steaks. Those bars are mint and raise fish as well as any bar on the market.
Now here is where the trip becomes remarkable!!
We get everything back in the spread, adjust it and start the game up again. When a BILL comes up right in the middle of the spread. A BLUE, A BLUE!! WE GOT A BLUE IN THE SPREAD!! All hell breaks loose, chaos ensues and the 30 starts screaming like a raped ape. I grab the rod and set the hook with 3 firm jerks of the rod knowing I got a good hook set but don't know how big the marlin is. The others are clearing the spread as fast a they can while the marlin is clearing line off the spool as fast as he can. Playing a dangerous game with small gear and light line we need to chase the fish and do it soon or there won't be any game. With a cloud of smoke and a burst of white water the diesels bark away and we chase this pissed off marlin like there is no tomorrow. He is running like nothing I have seen before. For those that have never experienced the speed of a marlin I can attest that it is something I'll never forget. Simply amazing. Looking at maybe 70 yards left on the spool knowing I have to have my "A" game just to have a slight chance with this fish I start to reel with great abandon. I concentrate and order the captain throttle up, port engine forward, neutral, starboard engine forward; needing all the help I can get to gain control of this beast of a marlin. I know having fought giant tuna before this is not a little fish.
The fish and I are in a stalemate. I get 10 yards he take 10 back. After gaining 3/4 of the spool back from him, he decides to run again and dump the spool again and we repeat the process of chasing and gaining line back while watching him spray water off the line at its point of entry while we chase him down. This goes on for a while but we are now gaining and backing down on the fish when he finally shows himself. "HOLY F^&*" I say that is HUGE!! The crew knows and sees that it is a trophy fish for sure. It was all of 10 feet maybe 12' and thick like an oak tree. He was all lit up, glowing gorgeous hews of silver and irridescent blues. He was enormous and majestic all at the same time.
He is getting closer now 20 yards 15, 10 back to 20 yards, 30 yards but I keep pressure on him. 30,20,15, 10, 5, 4 ,3 yards, double line out, bimini knot clear, leaderman at the side of the boat when within IGFA requirements of legal release distance he helps us with the release at boatside when he thrusts and shakes parting the line for us at boatsidewith his enormous bill. High fives and hugs everywhere. We judt caught and released a MONSTER marlin.
What a fish what a fight and the best part is he'll live to fight again.
Fought him for a long time, overcame 2 near spoolings on light gear, numerous runs over 100 yards, fatigue and terrible conditions. Amazing boat operating and teamwork for a fish of a lifetime.
The fish was easily as long as the boat was wide. The boat is just shy of 11 feet wide. The pics due to the angle don't have a refernce other than the 9" jet in its face.
But reflecting back when steaming home all I could think of is how lucky we all are to be able to fish and experience an amazing fishery up here. Hope you enjoyed my experience.
Hybrid Mode
