What a trip!
My hunting buddies Heath and Brendan Cooper from Montana showed up at JFK on Wed. at 5:30PM and we headed to the boat. We arrive 8:30PM put 22-bushells of ice and salted it down, got 4-giant Swordfish squids and four flats of butterfish for the night bite.
We left Thursday morning at 2AM only to get 20-NM south of the Point to run into a giant stormcell full of lightning and turned around and went back to wait it out :cry: . 6AM topped of the tank again and headed off, we arrived at the Tails (Block canyon) 68-NM to the south.
Found Minkie whales, porpoise and skippies working in 600-1200ft of water on 78-79 degree water. Put out 7-Spreader bars and 4-BigEye kona head Black Bart lures. We worked an underwater mountain that juts up to some 700ft in 1,200foot of water called by Tred Barta my Mentor, Big Eye Mountain and the ajoining bumps for nearly four hours with multiple skippies and just one small Yellowfin, we released.
Worked the area till 2PM then started woring the 100-fathom line to the west towards the Moddle Ground and Dip. At 5PM we were around the Middle grounds and pulled and ran to the Dip. We found large schools of skippes breaking the surface and caught ten or so, along with another 5-6 yellow fins, only one barley being a keeper. at 9PM pulled the lines and run south to 1400feet of water where we setup for the night.
Took a skippie and fileted it into shark bait put out a mackeral chum as well as put ot a big swordfish squid down around 300ft. Drifted all till 1AM around 4-NM to the south then the tide changed and we drifted 5-NM to the Northeast in heavy winds and rought 5-7 foot seas. By 5AM it started to finally calm down and we had no takers for our efforts.
Sunrise and the lines were back in as we worked the Dip then up north onto the Flats in 320ft of water to the northeast by the middle grounds. More skippies and another 5-6 yellowfins all but one released.
Then it happened, I was tired and so I laid down to take a nap, then as I dozed off, Heath yells MARTY!, a really big fish just took the lure, as I jump up the deck the Altechnous 50 Single speed with 150-yard top shot of Brilliant Blue 80# Momoi mono and 700-yards of 80# Jerry Brown Hollow Core kevlar line. was screaming! And I mean Screaming. Heath said "I can't handle that thing you take it!" Say no more, I got my belt on as it was ***Game On!!!! for me just a couple of weeks before my birthday. :lol: :lol:
I get the rod into my harness and clip in. THe fish is just greyhounding out the line them she came up and made a few straight up tail walks then dove into the water where she then porpoised four more times going faster than the boat and she now 300-yards out and 100-yards in front of the boat while my line was in a giant loop still going straight out the transom. She is around 300+ pounds.
Cody ran the boat like a professional captain with hundreds of marlin under his belt. I was so happy that he drove the boat and did just an outstanding job manuvering, both forward and reversing to get line back on my reel.
Cody had also setup his old camera on a tripod up on the tower with a wide angle lens and his new High Definnition cam corder was in the hans od Brenden. Brenden did an outstanding job recording the entire fight and very little editing will need to be done. Brendan at the last five minutes of the fight got up on the big cooler and got some great video while Cody's tower camera's wide angle lens caught other great shots of the big girl.
I really put the heat to her in the first 1/2 hour of the battle, and within one hour, we had the old bluelady all lite up and the leader on the rod three times. As she passed back and forth across the transom, she was longer than the width fo the transom, she stayed 6' down with my lure leader just coming in and out of the water as she wandered back and forth. Finally, I handed the rod to Greg Kaplar and I grabbed the lure 400# 6' leader and with her giant tail out of the water she swooshed her giant 3' wide tail, buried her head and I held her back with all my might. POP! the leader let go with....She was a caught and released 1st Blue Marlin for me and my XIAO MU JI!
Everything I have done to prepare for this moment worked, the chinese finger loop slices on the hollowcore, the loop knot from the mono to the hollowcore loop, the crimps on the lure, and leader, the wind-on leader, the main line, the everything held and made me proud of myself. I worked my entire life for this moment, and it all came together and she still swims free.
These first three shots I took by snap shotting the TV screen watching the video, they are grainy, I'll try to get better ones...
The upside down flag of a caught and released Blue Marlin, great day it was as the sun fell into the sea...
Cody handling the boat, my Montana boys getting a trip of a life time even without the big yellowfins and Bigeyes that we were hunting making it into our spread. We fished til 9PM Friday night then deciede to run for the barn and get the boys some fluke, seabass and stripers on Saturday . great ride home at 26-knots super smooth seas, like riding on glass.
Arrived in Montauk at Midnight and caught some zees, woke and went fluking and seabass fishing till 4PM when a giant storm front rolled throught ending the afternoon bite with heavy rain and lightning. We had dinner and went back out for dusk at the lighthouse with eels and the shimmano butterfly jigs.
Cody got a small bass on the jig, and that was it till 11PM when I finally got one single hit of a bass, handed the rod off to Heath to reel in when he dropped the bass at the boat. That was it a successful trip with a fish of MY LIFE TIME! G
XIAO MU JI running good once again, with good freinds, Heath, Brendan, Greg Kaplar, my GE rep, and the most awesome first mate, video master, my son and mini Captain, Cody! Next week we go to the East in seach of the Big Eyes and big Yellowfins!
So, Standby, Cody will post the video up on-line ASAP, when he gets back from vacation on Thursday. When you see it, if anyone really likes the video and wants to see it in HD, the video grade and clearity is amazing just send me a PM with your info.
Tightlines, Till Next Tide! Marty
Got My Birthday Blue Marlin On The Xiao Mu Ji!
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