Nothin' better than helping a virgin pop their cherry! (warning: Gamefishing content)

jordy_on_bass · #1 11-21-2011, 09:48 AM

Howdy guys,

For those who are sick in the head and are reading this thread for the wrong reasons, this is not about a sexual encounter.

OK, glad I have gotten that one straight.

Anyways, those who follow the Fishing Club thread will know that I am an avid (to the point of obsessive) gamefisherman. I own thousands of dollars worth of gamefishing gear and spend about the same every year on fuel to target Marlin, one of the biggest and most beautiful fish in the ocean.

The past 6 months has pretty much been the off season (although very small numbers of fish have been seen all year) so I have been sitting at home, making sure all my terminal tackle and gear has been prepared for this coming summer when the Marlin follow the currents down the coast to more temperate areas of Australia. Over the past few weeks, the East Australian Current has really pushed hard down our coast and has brought the sea surface temperature up by a considerable amount. With that, a few more fish had been seen off my home port.

I have had a mate of mine with a nice sized boat asking me to come out with him to help him pin his first billfish. So with the reports of the odd fish about, it was enough to get out on Saturday with the hope of tagging his first fish and my first fish of what may be a very short season (gamefishing is viewed as a TEAM effort, not just the individual).

So we hit the water at 6am and were on the wide grounds by 7.30am with lures in the water. At about 10.30am, one of the lures got crashed in a wall of white water and the reel immediately started to scream off 50lb line at a very fast pace. After a torrid 30 minute battle, the angler had his fish being revived boat-side with a scientific research tag in it's shoulder. It was then released to live and fight another day. A very healthy striped marlin, estimated 220-240lb.

I have done gamefishing for a long time, and there is still no more satisfying feeling for me than to see a first-timer go out there and catch a fish that is as big as them (in this case, out weighing the angler by about 60lb!!) and then watch the grin they have on their face all day, forgetting the fact that their arms are about to drop off from the fight.

Here is a pic of the happy angler and his catch, enjoy!

Cheers,
Jord

Big_Daddy · #2 11-21-2011, 10:08 AM

No matter how many photos I see, I still can't get over the size of them and the fact that they've been caught with a fishing rod.

**Horny Toad** · #3 11-21-2011, 11:04 AM

Damn, that is one seriously big-ass fish. Awesome!

jordy_on_bass · #4 11-21-2011, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big_Daddy

No matter how many photos I see, I still can't get over the size of them and the fact that they've been caught with a fishing rod.

The gear that's used to catch them is pretty specialized - it's not the same sort of gear that you use on the pier to catch 12 inch long fish. Each rod and reel is worth at least $1000, and most boats have a collection of 10 or even more. Then there is the lures, the harnesses, oh and the boat too. But, all that money is worth it for the sport of catching such a big, beautiful animal.

Here is a picture from last season of an angler trussed up to a heavy tackle rod, fighting a 400lb Blue Marlin. It's brutal work!!!

burk48237 · #5 11-21-2011, 02:15 PM

We're gonna need a bigger Boat!

Seriously, if that was a Fly rod I would really be impressed.

Great stuff.

jordy_on_bass · #6 11-21-2011, 05:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by burk48237

We're gonna need a bigger Boat!

Seriously, if that was a Fly rod I would really be impressed.

Great stuff.

There are some blokes out there who do catch Marlin on fly. They bring the fish up to the boat by towing around teasers (they cause lot's of commotion in the prop wash) and hookless lures. When they see a Marlin rise behind one of the teasers or hookless lures, they rip it away from the fish and then cast the fly in front of it. Usually blokes aren't targetting massive fish on fly, 200lb absolute max.

Fish are rarely fought under the pressure of the rod, the boat is usually manouevered over the fish for a tag/gaff shot. Not exactly 100% sporting, but it is a practice that many gamefisherman use with conventional tackle as well (myself included) so as to not have long, drawn out battles with fish that last for hours. This is crucial for tag and release fishing, you don't want to release a fish that is absolutely exhausted from a 3 hour, gruelling battle. You would be surprised how many blokes out there can hook, fight, tag and release a fish in the space of maybe 10 minutes. Many Aussie gamefisherman have perfected their techniques to the point that it is an exact science for them whilst still learning.

Here is a pic of a guy with a small fish (my guess is around 80-100lb) caught on the fly. Never done it myself, but wouldn't mind giving it a crack. Knowing my luck though, I would probably end up pitching a fly at a 600lb behemoth lol.

Cheers,
Jord

fhm555 · #7 11-21-2011, 06:17 PM

So there's no Alveys involved in dragging bubble heads down under?

Nice fish...

Stilettoprefer · #8 11-21-2011, 08:15 PM

Deeang! You sure thats not a species of whale?:P those things would pull me off the fracken boat!

jordy_on_bass · #9 11-22-2011, 01:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fhm555

So there's no Alveys involved in dragging bubble heads down under?

Nice fish...

Ahahaha definitely not!!! Tiagra's all the way baby!!
Make's for a pretty expensive hobby though, the missus is never impressed when I fork out hundreds of dollars for a reel. I guess she is lucky I don't own a big boat to chase them with....yet

burk48237 · #10 11-22-2011, 08:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jordy_on_bass

There are some blokes out there who do catch Marlin on fly. They bring the fish up to the boat by towing around teasers (they cause lot's of commotion in the prop wash) and hookless lures. When they see a Marlin rise behind one of the teasers or hookless lures, they rip it away from the fish and then cast the fly in front of it. Usually blokes aren't targetting massive fish on fly, 200lb absolute max.

Fish are rarely fought under the pressure of the rod, the boat is usually manouevered over the fish for a tag/gaff shot. Not exactly 100% sporting, but it is a practice that many gamefisherman use with conventional tackle as well (myself included) so as to not have long, drawn out battles with fish that last for hours. This is crucial for tag and release fishing, you don't want to release a fish that is absolutely exhausted from a 3 hour, gruelling battle. You would be surprised how many blokes out there can hook, fight, tag and release a fish in the space of maybe 10 minutes. Many Aussie gamefisherman have perfected their techniques to the point that it is an exact science for them whilst still learning.

Here is a pic of a guy with a small fish (my guess is around 80-100lb) caught on the fly. Never done it myself, but wouldn't mind giving it a crack. Knowing my luck though, I would probably end up pitching a fly at a 600lb behemoth lol.

Cheers,
Jord

Yep, I'm aware. Flip Pallot had a Sailfish show a few years ago and they were catching a few 60-90 pound class fish, and then they hooked a 400 pound class Black Marlin. It spooled them in about three-seconds.

The Big water fish that amaze me are the Tuna family. I hear stories of strength to size ratio that are just mind boggling. False Albacore (Bonita-Little Tunnies) in the seven to ten pound range regularly destroy fly tackle meant for 100 pound class fish.

jordy_on_bass · #11 11-22-2011, 09:06 AM

burk48237,

It is no secret that tuna are probably one of the hardest fighting species out there. In Australia, the biggest tuna I have heard of have been fish around the 300lb mark. Fish that size would pull a marlin of the same size backwards through the water. I am more of a Marlin fan as they are usually bigger (average tuna size in Australia is 60-100lb) and are far more exciting to catch due to their acrobatics. Tuna are more reagarded as tasty by-catch.

I have seen blokes in the north of Australia pitch flies into boiling schools of tuna around the 20-30lb mark and have their fly reels squealing their guts out. Would be awesome I reckon

iamlowsound · #12 11-22-2011, 09:42 AM

Looks TASTY!

lowsound

EdHunter · #13 11-22-2011, 09:50 AM

I read the title, and thought you couldhelp me...

Great fish, btw. When I lived in Fl. I really got into small-scale fishing, and a Marlin was kinda my dream catch.

jordy_on_bass · #14 11-22-2011, 05:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EdHunter

I read the title, and thought you couldhelp me...

Great fish, btw. When I lived in Fl. I really got into small-scale fishing, and a Marlin was kinda my dream catch.

You should have looked up a charter boat whilst you were there, or do it if you are ever there again. From what little I have gathered, the fish that are generally seen off Florida are only small fish in the 100-150lb category, great candidates for fishing light tackle. I would use 20-30lb test on these fish, but I have crewed on the decks of some world class boats who would chase those fish with 16lb, 12lb and maybe even 8lb test gear. They are seasoned competition fisherman who take their sport seriously and fish 50 days in 6 months over the summer. I have no idea how they manage to accommodate their families and work at the same time!!

Most fisherman would be surprised at the sportsfishing opportunities on their doorsteps, Frank Mundus from up-state New York (I may be wrong there, I am an Aussie attempting to remember his American fishing history lol) found that he could get clients onto sharks of over 1000lb and made a small fortune from it. You just need to do a bit of investigating