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Bart had a passion for huge marlin and in
March 1984 landed a 747.97kg (1649lb)
Pacific blue marlin off Kona, Hawaii for
his angler Gary Merriman. On another
trip off Kona he hooked and lost a blue
that he believed would have been the
world’s first double-grander, weighing
more than 2000lb.
After moving to Miami, Florida in 1993,
Bart set up a retail shop and produced
the renowned Black Bart range of skirted
trolling lures, now exported throughout
the world.
Bart taught, inspired and influenced
many anglers and crewmembers
throughout his career, three of which
share their memories below.FROM BART BRITTON
(former deckie aboardBlack Bart):
In 1975, Bart and I were watching a
fishing show from Mexico showing crews
trolling hookless teasers before dropping-
back ballyhoo to the sailfish they raised.
Bart’s eyes lit up when he saw their
success and announced that we were
going to do this with giant blue marlin.
We’d never heard of anyone doing this
before in Kona.
The next day’s charter gave us an
opportunity. We had two teaser lures out,
one off each outrigger, plus two rods in
the chair with dropback in the water and a
couple of five-pound skipjack tuna rigged
as dead baits. We were trolling big lures
looking for monsters when, an hour into
the day, the short-’rigger lure gets bit.
We teased the fish to within 30 feet of the
boat, tossed in the rigged tuna and were
soon hooked-up to a 750-pound blue!
Two hours later the same bait was
bit again, and a repeat tease-and-toss
produced a 580lb blue. Bart was so
excited, saying “I knew we could do this!”
He was always pushing the envelope and
trying new ways for catching marlin. Some
of the best days of my life were spent on
the deck ofBlack Bart, and this was one
of my best days on the water with my
mentor and friend, Capt Bart Miller.NEWSLINESMemories
of Capt
Bart Miller
The gamefishing world lost one of
its figureheads on March 6th when
famed US charter captain and lure
designer Bart Miller passed away
after battling Parkinson’s Disease for
more than a decade.FROM CAPT STEVE SAHINES
(former staff at Black Bart lures):
It all started when my truck broke down
on the way to a charter off Kona. Bart
Miler picked me up. I was impressed
that he knew my name, the boat I was
running and how we had been doing
lately. That’s what I came to learn about
Bart; his attention to detail, whether it be
fishing, lure making, cooking or whatever
else interested him. He was a real artist
and that led him to his successes.When I mentioned my interest in making
lures he invited me to come to his shop.
Within the week I stepped into the coffee
shack that was where he made his magic.
Bart showed me how to work the lathe
to cut, shape and sand the lures before
heading to the buffer for polishing. He
gave me a box of old blanks and told me
to practice. Once I became good enough
I helped Bart fill orders for the Kona
tackle stores, the newly opened Bass
Pro Shop’s Offshore Angler, plus otherCapt Bart Miller rose to fame
in the 1970s and ‘80s with his
outstanding successes on big blue
marlin aboard his charterboat
Black Bartoff Kona, Hawaii.
Photo: Jim Rizzuto