Finally cracked my first Marlin!! Dropped a big dolly early but then more than made up for it with my first striped Marlin on my own boat! Yew! Two rookies got the job done with a couple of close calls! ( now know why you need a crew of at least three) ...
For those out there without much experience its worth the effort :
After a few trips of pretty much staring at lures and water for hours to the point of no hope yesterday seemed different. Within the first half hour exiting Sydney harbour and deploying our spread we saw a free jumper. Excited that we actually saw a Marlin increased the confidence that they really existed.
It was not until two hours later heading north from 12 mile did the lightest rod buckle over and my mate was into a nice dollie. Just as all the rods were cleared my mate curses and the silence as it was lost at the boat!
We continued north zig zagging depths I'd heard of fish that had been caught at... Then that sweet sound of the tyrnos screaming line....then all the things I've heard read clicked in:
-Punched the boat to ensure it stayed Hooked...
-Mate took the wheel and then I cleared the rods
- keep pressure on the fish
Problem number 1: reel was gettin low so we turned the boat and chased it (600m not much left on the spool)
Problem number 2: fish headed back under the motor so we had to stop lift the motor and thankfully it stayed attached
Problem number 3: big boat heading straight towards us.. Lots of hand waving and cursing and he got the message
The next 30minutes was a battle of gaining and losing line until it slowly swam up next to the boat.
Problem 4: getting it into the boat... Held onto the tail for dear life while my mate with gloves slid him over the side from the bill!
Once safely on the boat the high fives and screams of finally getting on the board!