Game Fishing



Bob's First Marlin


Bob picked me up just after 5am today and we made our way to the ramp at Barratta Creek. We didn't have a solid plan, except to scope out some ground around Cape Bowling Green and depending on the success of that we thought we might also venture a little further and see what all the fuss is about with marlin.

We hunted around the sand spit for a while and then a little tot he SE of the spit and found a few fish showing. Bob managed a nice grunter and I got a good nannygai around 8kg. There were hordes of trevally too, so about 1230 Bob suggested we head wider.

Neither of us had any real experience chasing marlin. We'd tried years ago around Rooney Point in Hervey Bay with one fish raised but other than that we didn't know much. We had read lots of reports and articles in other media but that was it. We made our way over to the western boundary of the green zone, fed out the bird and daisy chain then the lures. Three Pakula Uzis were our choice. It wasn't long before we located a bait school down deep plus a good arch. Soon after we had a strike! We looked at each other in amazement. Neither of us expected interest this early; if at all. The strike didn't result in a hook up so we continued to work our way around the bait school and found a couple more smaller patches of bait.

#2 strike followed soon after, but our inexperience lead to the hook being pulled due to the drag being too tight. #3 came along and again the inexperience cost us in that the drag was set to strike to quickly ad again the hook pulled. Frustration was looming, but on the other hand we were stoked with the amount of interest we were getting.

#4 strike and Bob let the fish run a good 5 seconds before lifting the lever to strike; perfect. The hook found its mark and a healthy little black exploded from the water before bolting for the horizon. Bob kept the drag fairly soft while I kept the boat idling forward and organised the GoPro. The fish ran hard, jumping numerous times until after 15 minutes it was boat-side. What now? All I had were my sungloves so I grabbed the leader then the bill. Those bills are pretty sharp, so I found a rag and went for the bill again, getting a solid grip and hoisting aboard Bob's first marlin.

There were high fives, cries of joys and a well deserved cold beer. A few quick photos and the beautiful marlin was swum before release. What an awesome day we've had today one that neither of us will ever forget and made even more special for Bob as he caught this fish from his own boat, a 5.2m Fisher platey. Hopefully the weather will come good again soon and I'll get a shot at my first marlin too. Perhaps the drone of my diesel inboard will raise the fish as well as Bob's 140hp Suzuki 4 stroke.

Regards,
Dave.







Click here to go Bob's YouTube video of the capture > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rmOV7kAJj4&list=UUhhR9q9URrL3rwXIVkk8XLg&index=2&feature=plcp

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