However, luck usually turns and just when you think
you’re in the wrong area and using the wrong coloured lures,
a fin comes up behind a lure and, as the elastic band snaps
and the reel screams and action on the deck hits fever pitch,
you know you are in the game!
On the first day when six marlin were released the
Russian team, Vivax, aboard Moana 2started their climb up
the leaderboard with two marlin and then went one – three –
one on the following fishing days to amass a grand record of
seven marlin releases which entrenched their position at the
top of the leaderboard. Eugene Novozheev was the overall
top angler, catching four of his team’s marlin.
Four teams — Reunion, South Africa, Slovenia and England
— all ended the week with three marlin each, but in terms of
rules and the point scoring system the Les Bourbonnais team
accumulated 3 270 points to attain second place. Team South
Africa aboard Mantracame a close third with 3 250 points,
team Reel Men fourth with 3 070 points and Essex Boys fifth
with 3 000 points.
In the overall statistics it was pleasing to see a wide
spread of catches among the 14 participating teams with only
two teams not managing to catch a marlin.
I reiterate what I said earlier, that the true international
spirit of the event with so many anglers of different nationali-
ties taking part and the obvious language differences ensured
that the cocktail evening was vibrant to say the least, proving
beyond doubt that a strong bond exists between those that
hunt mighty marlin.
It was interesting to note the great variation in reported
estimated weights of the blue marlin released during this
competition. From what I saw and heard there were a num-
ber of marlin in the 100kg class and in the 200/250kg class
with one reported big fish of about 350kg. On the boat
UglyFishteam Pulsator’s captain, Les Johnston, hooked into aSKI-BOAT May/June 2017 • 17