We headed north to the 50m ledge and put out a spread of 6 lures. On the right flat line was a pulsator “Boaster”, the left short, behind the teaser, I had a Moldcraft Bobby Brown, right short was a Black Bart, left long was a Moldcraft Wide Range, right long was a halfbeak and the japan was a small super chugger. The sea was perfect and the lures operated beautifully on the front of the waves. Something had to happen. From 7am, the radio was busy with boats hooking up and released fish and lost fish being reported. On “Big W” it ws quieter than ever. The sound of the motors droning in the background and the slight rocking of the boat put the once alert crew into a trance and other than the skipper, there was very little activity on the deck.
At around 2pm, Riaan and I decided to relieve Wayne of his duty so that he could take a break. At that stage, we were just south of the harbour and heading shallower. There were 3 boats in the vicinity and all were hoping for that one special fish. Riaan and I were looking back and discussing the teaser when suddenly a big blue marlin exploded out of the water next to the Bobby Brown and engulfed it. Riaan and I both flew down the steps and cleared lines as the fish took. We knew the size of the fish and realised it was important to move fast before the fish woke up and took off. As the last line came out the water, the fish took to the sky and greyhounded for about 100m. The line was melting off the reel as we clipped Riaan into the black magic harness. Wayne was now backing down hard and line started coming back onto the reel. The fish was still jumping and all the other boats saw the magnificent display.
This was the first time Rian had ever fought standup but he got into the groove quickly and once the fish was within 100m, we upped the drag to 12kg and put the wood to it! After 45 minutes, the leader came out the water and I grabbed the swivel. Wayne kept the boat in line with the fish while I pulled it closer.
Other Riaan snapped off a few photos for the competition and we then revived the fish for several minutes before turning a healthy fish loose. GREAT!! What a feeling! This was Rian Charmers biggest marlin (About 200kg) and his first on standup. And best of all, it is still swimming free.
That was the first and last fish we saw in the tournament. Congrats to the team of “Tycoon” for releasing 5 marlin in the 4 days.
