There was a south wind blowing at
about 12knots but the forecast predicted it to get better through the day. As
we travelled deeper, the current increased. As a result of the N-S current and
the S-N wind, the sea picked up and made trolling really uncomfortable. After
several tangles, lure and position changes, we managed to get the lines out as
we went about looking for a fish. There were a few birds at around 350 – 400m
so we concentrated our efforts in that area.
Due to the rough sea conditions,
two of the crew lost their breakfast and took up a comfortable space on the
cabin floor. This left us 2 men down but the show had to go on...
I was watching the short rigger
lure with a halfbeak behind it. Every time the lure skipped, the long body of
the bait would flick into the air and look just like a bill. It caught me off
guard a few times, but eventually I got used to it. At around 9:30, I happened
to see this bill again, but this time it came in from the left and was followed
by a long dorsal fin! I ran to the rod to feed the fish and I must have shouted
something because all of a sudden, we had a full complement of crew members on
deck. I reached the reel just as the elastic popped so I fed the fish for a
count of 10 before tightening up. The rod buckled and the reel ran as a nice
striped marlin stuck his head out the water in the middle of the spread. I
backed off the drag a bit and let it take some line to get away from the other
lines. Meanwhile, the once seasick crew cleared lines as fast as possible. Once
everything had settles, Dudley was strapped into the Black Magic harness and
fought his first marlin.
After about 20minutes, the leader
came up and I took hold of it. The big swell caused havoc but Wayne did a great
job to keep the fish in the best position. After letting go a few times, I
wrapped the leader and pulled the fish onto the surface. We snapped off a few
pics before turning it loose. It was a great feeling to get that fish. Not only
was it Dudley’s first, it was the first fish on Wayne’s new boat!
The sea started picking up and
after trolling for another hour or so, we headed back to the harbour to
celebrate this first fish. Thanks to Wayne for the trip and I hope there will
be many more fish to come.
