with Ryan in the salon when the short-corner rod let
out a howl.
Ryan leapt up and raced out the cabin door mid-
sentence as I scrambled to turn off the camera and
follow as quickly as I could. It was only 8:30am and
already the day was running red-hot.
GEEZ, THAT’S HEAVY
Picking up a 60kg outfit while it’s pouring line into the
wake is not an easy task. However, after backing the
drag a little I managed to haul it out of the rodholder
and get it into the chair. Tim clipped me to the harness
and then raced off for his camera as Ryan and Carol
cleared the rest of the spread.
Although it had taken a Marlin Magic ‘Henry’ – the
largest lure we had in the spread – it was only a small
blue marlin of 80 to 100kg, so it wasn’t long before I
had it alongside where Ryan took the leader and Tim
tagged it.
With the lures back out, Tim and I climbed to the
flybridge to thank the captain. He was stoked as
the fish had put him in equal first position in the
competition, and the day was still young with plenty of
time for another.
We all relaxed and chatted for a while, enjoying each
other’s company and the surroundings. However, it
wasn’t long before another reel howled!
ANOTHER ONE – ALREADY!
Down in the cockpit, Ryan was screaming. “We’re on!
Where are you Trish?”
I scampered down the ladder as fast as I could,
dashing to the rod set in the armrest of the chair. It was
losing line at a blistering speed, even longer and faster
than the earlier marlin. This rod was even harder to
get out of the rodholder and the strain was incredible.
I knew instantly that I’d hooked something special, and
my heart raced to the pace of the reel’s wail.
With the line almost flat to the horizon, it eventually
stopped. Now it was my turn. I cranked line rapidly,
knowing that any slack might let the fish throw the
hook. Tim urged me on, coaxing me to make use of
every second the fish paused. “There’ll be time for
resting soon,” he said, “so get as much as you can,
while you can.” I packed line back onto the reel as
fast as I could crank that handle. I could feel my right
arm burning as the lactic acid built up, but I still kept
on cranking.
The boys discussed what it might be, speculating
that as it had taken the subtle-actioned lure run off
the centre-’rigger out the back of the spread, it could
be a large yellowfin tuna. We were using an ‘Infant
Blue’, one of Marlin Magic’s medium-sized bullet-head
lures, which had been skirted with Flashabou tinsel
and rigged with a single 8/0 Jobu hook on 200kg
mono leader.STOMACH IN KNOTS
Although I was trying to keep calm and listen to the
boys, my stomach was in knots at the thought of
reeling in all that line.
Each time the fish pulled, the force on the rod was
beyond anything I had ever experienced in the past.
The strain had me teetering on the footrest, leaning
back with my free hand to cling to the chair’s armrest,
terrified that I was about to be dragged overboard.
Weighing only 58kg myself, the power of this tackle
took everything I could muster to control.“My
stomach
was in
knots at
the thought
of reeling
in all that
line.”
The huge marlin
was longer than the
cockpit, which made
measuring it even
more difficult.bluewatermag.com.au 51A DAY TO REMEMBER: Trish’s marathon blue