Meat And A Marlin (8/26/09)

We left the slip in the Bella Maria at 5:30 in the crepescular light of a new day. The crew consisted of Wayne and myself, plus four of the Jim and Nicks management personnel from Mongomery - Big David, Little David, Todd, and Murray. Only Murray had any appreciable experience offshore, but the others were interested and game.

There was no wind blowing when we set out, and the Gulf was as flat and still as a mill pond. At 0730, we pulled up and started trolling at the Nipple in the direction of the Elbow. Despite reports to the contrary from the Mitchells, we found the water color to be encouraging, ranging from green blue through blue green to blended blue, which we endeavored to fish in as much as possible.

We again ran a seven hook spread with two teasers. Closest to the boat, there were blue marlin lures fished from the rod tip on the corners. We ran Black Bart Mini 1656 Angles on the short riggers, and small and medium ballyhoo, sometimes skirted and sometimes naked, on the long riggers. And, of course, there was a skirted horse ballyhoo behind a blue bird on the center rigger.

It was a slow start. The first bite did not come until 1030, when a nice wahoo, long but not thick and weighing an estimated 30 pounds, inhaled the horse ballyhoo. Little David fought him from the chair and did a good job. Despite some excitement as Murray leadered his first fish and learned several lessons very quickly, I gaffed Mr. 'Hoo right in the ear.

Soon after we boated the wahoo, the wind came up and quickly produced two to three foot seas. At 1145 the bent butt 50 in the left corner with the blue marlin lure went off with a bang. Todd went to the chair. While I was getting him set up and the others were clearing, Wayne shouts, "Bilfish! Billfish! Right long." And sure enough, the right long goes off with another bang and a sizzling run by the fish.

We have a white marlin double, one of which is cavorting on the surface well behind the boat, while the other fights down. Little David helps Murray don a fighting belt, and I hand him the right long rod, which is a 30. For a few moments, white marlin glory seems to be within our grasp, but the first marlin decides to turn a come back to the boat. Todd, not knowing what was happening, fails to reel, and the fish comes unstuck. Murray, however, stays with his fish, and we manage to catch and release it after no small amount of thrashing about as I leadered and billed him for the obligatory photos.

At 1300, I announced that I had to take a leak, and I left the cockpit with an admonition to all and sundry not the hook a fish in my absence. But does anyone ever listen to me? No. I had just lifted the seat, braced myself against the roll, and reached for the staff of life, when I hear yelling from the cockpit, "Fish on! Fish on!" Todd redeems himself by bringing to the boat a nice dolphin that had hit the left long. I made several errors trying to both leader and gaff this fish, but none of them were fatal, and he, too, received a third ear.

We packed it in at 1430, because folks had places to be. A short day, but a good day.