It Finally Happened... Now What? (9/7)

[Latimeria]

We have seen so many the last few weeks, one of them HAS to bite, Right???

Made plenty of bait outside the inlet.  Perfect marlin baits... Spanish, Greenies, Round Herring....

We caught about 80 baits and started to head out when we see a marlin jumping in front of us.  We are literally 2 miles out of the inlet...  WTF???  We were going to troll, but it was right in the path of traffic getting to LJ, so we opted to just run offshore to the location we have been seeing life.

It was greasy flat with no wind.



Perfect conditions and dare I say hot as hell out there.



Paddies were loaded with bait and Molas.  I'm talking clouds of Spanish, Greenies, and stuff I couldn't recognize.



We had all of our Marlin gear ready to go.



We saw a marlin and I grabbed a greenie to throw at it.  All of a sudden a huge set of fins came rushing in from the west and apparently was a HUG Hammerhead!  We started to slow troll to get away from the shark and hopefully hook the Marlin.  Then the bait stops and line starts screaming!  I do my 5 count to engage the reel when it gets tight and a huge hammerhead surfaces!  NUTS!  *POP*   Gone....



That was an expensive ringed Jobu hook, so I was a little more bummed losing it to a shark.

Things were looking bleak.  No bait except on paddies and no birds to be seen.  We see a huge paddy with a boat on it and decided to troll the area since maybe they are there feeding on bait.  I then hear the outrigger clip pop, then Screaming!  On, then off, then On!  Then I see two other rods start screaming and there are 3 bills marauding the three outside baits! I swear we saw 5 others swimming with them, but now we had an issue with multiple fish on and 5 rods out.  We lost the one on the spreader bar, so started to put the work in.  First one to the boat was getting gaffed and all subsequent ones would be released.

They were jumping like popcorn!  We get the first one to the boat and now had to figure how to gaff it since this thing had a weapon on front of it's face. 

It was challenging, but we gaffed it, bled it, and I spiked the brain to keep it from kicking our ass!  As I was tending to that, the other one was being fought in.  We decided to leader this one and as we pulled it to the boat, it rolled and the hard part was done since the hooked popped out!  Holy smokes!  WTH just happened the last 30 minutes!?!?





When we looked in the water, there was another marlin just swimming next to the boat, so I pinned on a bait and cast out while we were tending to the marlin in the boat.

My buddy was gill and gutting the marlin when the bait rod started screaming. Literally this was all within a tiny little spot that got the random blind strikes!

Fought the marlin half way in and the Batson rod and Fathom reel was kicking it's ass.  Then it jumped and threw the 8/0 circle hook.  Apparently it wasn't in the corner of the mouth, but I called it a "Sportsman's Release" since this wasn't a tournament and the last hour was pure chaos.

I hear splashing and then notice a fish swimming in all the water inside the boat.  Remora!  Ummm... Shark Sucker?  Nope, I think it's a Marlin Sucker!  Such a cool fish.  I guess I caught it on my fishing gear since it was attached, right?  hahahah



Spearfish Remora (Remora osteochir)



Such a weird Head!





I sent him back to find another marlin to attach himself to.

The water hit 77.4 degrees and I wish I took a picture, but the only picture I got was it at 76+



Anyway, what a great trip and it made everything worth while from all of those blanked trips with nothing.

Fish was immediately placed in the RSW bag with 250# of ice and we kept it in there overnight to make sure the entire thing was chilled to the core.  I went over this morning to carve it up.  The meat is FANTASTIC! 

Parting shot...



Finally, thanks for reading and ready for my swordfish next!

[Fish Jerk]

Congratz Tom. Way cool read.

[jrodda]

Congrats Tom!!! You earned that one. Solid one too. Must have been incredibly exciting having so many going off at once. Jackpot for SoCal big game to hook triples. That small probability of a blind strike is what's kept me motivated on those long lifeless scout trips.

Can't wait to see the things you cook up with it. Curious how it tastes. People seem to love it or hate it but I imagine I would like it. Only one way to find out.

That's some hot water too. 76! Today from DP to the 14 it might have hit 69.9, to my surprise. Terrafin surface temps were reading 75 everywhere yesterday and 78 down by you. Today says 72 up here and 77 by you. I think my FF reads a little cold.

[vdisney]

I'm speechless brother, that is beyond awesome.  Congrats!!!!

[sasquatch]

Congrats my friend. Wish my back could stand a boat ride.

[Latimeria]

My marlin lure is all chipped  and scratched now, but I love the battle scars!