Deckhanding for Captain Yamada

[Chris]

Went as a deckhand yesterday with Captain Yamada out of Gushikawa. the group did not rent trolling gear but said they might want to troll. so I brought along my 12/0 setup and Avet HXW to do some trolling.

morning started off slow with a few midget mahi's on the troll. 2 of them took the hook through the eyes so they went in the hold. about 6-8lbs each. then we picked up a little wahoo about 18-20lbs. kept it because everyone likes a little wahoo! and the fact that it hit the 12/0 and we initially thought it got off so we kept it out there and started trolling again only to see it skip across the surface... haha. brought it in and it was almost dead.

changed spots and hit up some tuna. got a few on the troll. one on a pink jet head and a lot on my aluminum jetted cedar plug. we chumed and chunked bait and caught a few more schoolie yellowfin and skipjack. trolled to another spot and picked up a schoolie size big eye then picked at a spotty tuna bite for a couple hours. until we relocated. captain marked a school and we circled it with the troll gear and had a small marlin come in the spread. he was with us for about 15 seconds then disappeared. it probably stuck around just wasn't interested in the lures. we got on the school and the group landed several bigger skipjack and some more YFT. all schoolie size. even saw a trigger fish and a Bluefin trevally come on board. BFT was released as it was only about 10" long.

Decided to call it a day and head back. Captain decided to haul ass in at about 14.5 knots. so I put out the 12/0 with a heavy bullet head that has two jets. sent it way back out of the white wash where it would stay down and then kicked back.

on our way in one of the guys asked if anything hit it yet. I told him he'd know if it happened and we were lucky if we did hook up going so fast because the wahoo have been few and far between.

just as were almost inside the bay the 12/0 sounds. I look over and the rod is doubled over then look out to the lure, the biggest wahoo ive ever seen sky rockets away from the boat. then it jumps sideways and "MARLIN!" I get over to the rod and check it to make sure the drags aren't too lose then turn to the group and say "who wants it?"... they all look at me and say "You get it!" . so there I was staring at the 12/0 as all my mono top shot disappears thinking of what to do. harness up? plate only? fight it from the rod holder? do we even have a chair? nope! haha. and where's the gate?

initial run after slowing down. really nothing to do right now...

http://vid73.photobucket.com/albums/i214/katguy/Okinawa%20fishing/trim.690B3B3D-8BA0-4983-A6CF-F6F9306CC8BD_zpsbdg1bsdd.mp4

ok got it!

grab the harness, ask for my plate to be passed over, get the harness on, clip into the reel then lift if out of the holder and set the gimbal. Game on!

I was just about down to my braid by this point, meaning I had 550yards of mono out there that could get hung up on debri or tangled with god knows what on the surface or just under. I moved to the center of the boat and told the captain to turn. he turned to the right a bit and I started reeling. Then the huge arc in my line from the boat to where the fish is now popped out of the water and gave me about 100yrds of loose line. I quickly picked it up and came tight. once I had about 300yrds back I moved to the back of the boat and started cranking. the captain set the boat to idle around 2mph.

http://vid73.photobucket.com/albums/i214/katguy/Okinawa%20fishing/DSCN0445_zpsdjd9vqxi.mp4









got it within 50 yards and moved to the front of the boat.

[TheCraftsman]

Well holy sh&$balls bro! Awesome! Didnt expect that from the deceptive title! Lol...
Was the weight taken? What a beast! Stoked for you man, you must be on serious fish high... Have you caught marlin before or a first for you?

[WheresMyBeer]

Nice one Chris - congrats!

[Eric H]

Just bad ass man, nice going chris 

[Chris]

thanks guys.

ya it was a blast fighting that fish. it was my first landed. I've lost two before. one to a broken mainline and one to a pulled hook. broke mainline was about the same size and the pulled hook was easily double. no weight, no measurement. haha. left my tape at home and it bottomed out my 50lb scale. I was guessing just under 200lbs by how heavy it was and the captain estimated it around 175.... so maybe over 175 but not quite 200? 

pulled the hook on another Marlin on Saturday. about the same size. it hit the same lure about 10knots and went straight out and around a marker buoy. told the captain to slow down and I put the heat on him but the hook pulled before we could get turned and clear the buoy.

[Latimeria]

Nice Marlin Chris!  The marauder you are painting up looks pretty killer also.  I saw the pics on FB.
Are you using an oil or water based paints for that?  I've experimented and want to get your input when you are done putting new color on the lure.

Once again, congrats on the billfish!

[Chris]

Nice Marlin Chris!  The marauder you are painting up looks pretty killer also.  I saw the pics on FB.
Are you using an oil or water based paints for that?  I've experimented and want to get your input when you are done putting new color on the lure.

Once again, congrats on the billfish!

thanks!

I really had no pre planning on that marauder. I just hit it with a base coat of flat green krylon "camo" spray paint. its indoor outdoor so im assuming oil based. I looked all over the can and must have missed where it says it. then I drew the white bottom with a white paint pen and evened it out with a brush. did the white dots with the pen as well. gave it two coats of clear, non gloss krylon coat and now I've added some vynil fins and gills that look janky as hell. haha gave it three coats of clear coat and letting it dry for atleast an hour and then going to glue on some red eyes. first attempt and just having fun with it. if it all washes off then i'll just try again and do some research.

the bill is coming along nicely though. I put it in a glass pan with a little water in the bottom in the oven for 10 mins at 425 and it got all the juices out of it and cooked most of the meat. scraped away at it and then decided to put it in again for about 6 mins and got a lot of the meat to harden up and come out. peeled off as much skin as I could and sanded the top a little to get more off. im leaving the bottom and sides for later because I want to keep the texture instead of sanding it all smooth. covered it in salt and packed the inside and its been drying for a few days. too bad we don't have any ants around here and if I leave it outside in the jungle the cats or mongoose will run off with it.

[Chris]