On Sunday 29th 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.
