Nominate the depth

On Sunday 29^th December 2019, At, Pierre and I launched “Avanti” at Cape Vidal. This was going to be my last fishing trip for the year and we had decided to target marlin with live bait. We were through the surf at 5am and quickly stopped on the point to catch some livies … just in case. From there we headed to Oscar to try for tuna species for out marlin bait.

We put out 4 rapalas/halcos and a small skirt and trolled around the marks. After 20 mins, the japan went away with what turned out to be an 8kg yellowfin. It went into the tube (just) and we continued looking. Half an hour later and we managed to find 3 beautiful bonito of around 2kg each. The Yellowfin was removed from the tube and bled to make space for the smaller baits. At headed out to 80m where I rigged up one of the bonnies and a big maasbanker. As we headed out, the water colour went greener so we opted to fish shallow in the clean water. At about 9:45, a big hammerhead came up and grabbed the bait. Luckily it bit off the hook and we were left with only 2 baits going into the prime. As At turned to go shallower, the live maasbanker went away with a 10kg dorrie which was a nice bonus for supper.

The prime time started at 10:35 and anticipations were high. Conditions looked good and we were sure something would happen. At had nominated the depth of 124m where we were going to hookup but as we headed deeper and over the 124m mark, it was still quiet. We turned at 175m and started out inward tack. As the sounder read 124m, the bait revved hard. I grabbed the line out the rigger and felt that sudden heavy weight that pulled the line out my hand. I fed the fish for a few meters then slowly tightened up, hoping that the circle hook would do the rest. The rod loaded up as we came tight and the line slowly angled to the surface. Behind a big swell, we could just make out the bill of a marlin breaking the surface. Pierre jumped into the chair and connected up the harness. The marlin didn’t take much line and it stayed just under the surface. I was sure that it was going to give me a hiding next to the boat as it was not using up any energy. We eased off the drag hoping that it would go on a run but only when it was on the double line did it sound and take some line. With its head turned, the fish picked up speed and made a few jumps before settling. 

This was the first good look we had of it. What was strange was that the circle hook was not in the corner, but in the bottom jaw. There was also quite a bit of blood coming out the gills. Pierre kept some pressure on and the marlin quietly came in next to the boat. I took the leader but there was no real resistance. The fish was lying on its side with little kick left. We decided to load it and give it to the local community instead of feeding a bunch of unwanted sharks. To make our job easier, I put on a bill rope and both Pierre and I pulled it into the boat. 

It was now 11:30 and we had an hour of prime left. Our last bonnie had died so it was back to Oscar pinnacle to look for bait. Luckily it only took 5 mins of trolling to get a 3kg yellowfin. Perfect bait! I rigged it up and put it out. It swam beautifully but despite our best efforts we could not tempt anything else to bite. At 13:30 we cut the bait loose and headed back to camp. The fish weighed 123.2kg.