Two White Marlin (8/9/09)

Wayne, Big John (the manager of the Destin Jim and Nick's),, and I went draggin' and snaggin' on the Bella Maria. The weather started out a little sloppy, with three foot rollers out of the south on our port beam, but got better and better as the day wore on, until it was downright pretty. We put'em in the water at the Nipple and trolled toward the Elbow, lookiing for a finger of blue water we had seen on Hilton's. We found it a few miles south of the Elbow, as pretty a color break as a body could want, blue blue on one side and pea green on the other. Yet we did not catch anything for supper. We did have eight knockdowns, however. All but two came on the long lines or the center line. The two exceptions hit a lure on the left short. The other six hit skirted horse ballyhoo. The first two knockdowns were the handiwork of a surly white marlin that rampaged through the spread, but wouldn't eat. Three, four, seven and eight were mystery bites, with only eight pulling any drag. But even blind hogs find an acorn now and again: five and six were white marlin that hit the left long, both of which we caught and released. . And now it's time for a rum and diet coke and a good cigar.