Those were the sweetest words I’d heard all morning.
The boys were all ecstatic too, yelling “Wow! She’s a
beauty!”
LIT-UP PURPLE
Tim had the huge flying gaff at full stretch, poised
over her shoulder as he waited for Marlin’s call. “Don’t
pull it in,” the captain cried, “Let’s measure her.” With
that he leapt down the flybridge ladder, picked up a
tape measure and leant over the gunnel while Ryan
pulled her close.
At that stage I still hadn’t seen her up close, but
when Tim helped me out of the chair and I finally
got to look over the gunnel I was stunned and
overwhelmed with love for this beautiful fish. She was
lit-up in glowing neon blues and purple along her bill,
stretching across her face and right down her back. I
wanted to jump in and kiss her.
Measuring any fish in the water is awkward, but with
such a massive and long fish it was even more difficult
to get an accurate figure. Marlin thought she was at
least 400kg but was not certain she would beat the
record, so within seconds we all agreed to tag and
release her instead. I was thrilled as I felt she was far
too magnificent to take on just a chance.
SET HER FREE
My fish was by now totally exhausted and occasionally
rolled over on its back, so Marlin eased the boat
forward for several minutes to revive her before Ryan
removed the hook and set her free. At first she swam
down, but soon resurfaced and floated upside-down,
kicking strongly across the surface.
We were amazed by Capt Parker’s next display of
expertise. He backed up to within a few metres of
the marlin’s tail and then gunned the engines forward
with a burst of horsepower that pushed a huge surge
of thrust out the back. Without us needing to touch
the fish, this pushed it forwards and down, which was
enough to get her started again and down to a depth
that recompressed her stomach gasses.
We watched in awe as she righted herself and slowly
swam off into the depths, recovering more with each
stroke of that massive tail.
I felt overwhelmed with emotion as I watched her
swim away. Thanks to this experience I have gained
even more respect for the power and majesty of these
beautiful creatures.Top:Its colours
were glorious – lit-up
from bill to tail.
Above:Wireman
Ryan Thurner (at
left) with Capt
Marlin Parker and
Trish Simpson,
showing the Marlin
Magic ‘Infant Blue’
lure that tempted
her enormous blue
marlin.bluewatermag.com.au 53A DAY TO REMEMBER: Trish’s marathon blue