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The Hunt for a Hatteras Blue Marlin!
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05/07/08 |
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Story by David Dodsworth |
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This past week I spent four days chasing blue marlin off
Hatteras, NC. I fished with two of the top Captains in the
fleet, Capt. Dan Rooks on the
Tuna Duck, and Captain Steve Coulter on the
Sea Creature. The plan was a simple one, it would be all
or nothing. Big baits targeting blue marlin in places that
were favorable for marlin. I had no interest in catching
anything but a blue marlin, and that was my mission. Good or
bad!
The first day I fished was on Monday. The Tuna Duck left the
inlet under favorable conditions, yet we knew that there was
a chance of weather blowing in later in the day. We headed
"straight out" because the weather would not permit us to go
to the south like we wanted. We headed out across the "Rock
Pile" and set out along the edge of the continental
shelf, specifically Hatteras Canyon, known locally as the
"Old Hole". We fished the edge and had a triple of gaffer
and bull dolphin attack the spread. This isn't what we were
looking for, but it showed we were in an area holding fish.
Hopefully we would find the fish that was eating the
dolphin!
 As
predicted, the weather picked up as the day went on. In the
early afternoon a line of squalls popped up and surrounded
us. As you can tell by the pictures, it got pretty
interesting for a while. Around 2:30 we headed back in out
of the weather. The next day was supposed to be worse, so we
decided that Wed. and Thursday would be the best days to go.
Wednesday brought clear skies and a slight breeze. The wind
picked up as the day went on, but it was a great day. We
headed east to the "Southeast Rocks" behind Diamond Shoals.
We covered some pretty bottom and fished hard all day. The
only action we had was a single oceanic bonito that hit a
naked ballyhoo.
Thursday was a beautiful weather day. The winds would
finally let us get south were we were trying to fish all
week. We found a line of grass along the edge of the Gulf
Stream and fished the outside edge all day. We caught
probably a dozen gaffer and bull dolphin throughout the day.
We fished in and around these grass patches all day. There
was plenty of life around. Lots of flying fish and a ton of
bait.
About mid day a nice blue marlin came up and attacked the
port flat line, taking line before dropping it, moved to the
starboard flat line, slashed that, then hit, in succession,
the starboard short rigger, long rigger, shotgun and finally
the port long rigger before disappearing deep. Six out of
eight baits, and never ate one. It was a great show, and
made the day. Unfortunately, that was to be my last day, and
still no marlin. As we headed in I decided because there
were fish around, and I was there, and the weather was
supposed to be great, that I would try one more time. I
asked Dan about Friday, but he had just received a call from
the dock saying that a party had booked him for the
following day. Being new customers, I couldn't expect him to
switch them to another boat, so I pretty well decided that
the trip was over. As I was talking to him on the dock he
mentioned that he thought the Sea Creature was open. I had
fished with Capt. Steve Coulter before and was very
impressed at the time. I think that the Sea Creature was the
only other boat I would have went on. Don't get me wrong,
there are a lot of great Captains and great boats in
Hatteras Harbor, but I wasn't up to finding someone new on
short notice for my last day. I checked with the
office and the Sea Creature was indeed open. I call Steve up
and asked him if he wanted to go marlin fishing the next
day. I informed him that I had no interest in meat fish, and
wanted to target marlin exclusively. He had no problem
taking the challenge, and the deal was struck.
Friday proved to be the prettiest day of the week weather
wise. We headed south and picked up a grass line along the
edge of the current. We trolled the edge, seeing signs of
life, but no visible fish. The radio was alive with news
that the "Gambler" was tight to a blue marlin. After a
successful release it was announced that the fish was about
500 lbs. It wasn't a half an hour later that the "Gambler"
hooked up again. After a short fight, this
fish was jumped off.
All this action was going on just inshore of us, along the
inside of the weed line. We were fishing in a three knot
current in 73.5 degree water, while inside the weed line the
current was 1 knot, with 75 degree water. Apparently an eddy
had pushed in outside the "wreck" along the 125 fathom line
and was holding some fish. We crossed the weed line and
began trolling along the curve.
It wasn't long before a nice fish of about 500 lbs. took the
port shotgun and made a run for it. I jumped down from the
bridge and got in the chair while Chris (our mate) took the
rod from Steve on the bridge and handed it to me. Once the
rod but was in the gimble the fight was on. This fish took
half a spool before slowing down. I was tight to the fish
when he decided to cut across the stern, jumping back over
the line. I reeled hard and came tight
again, but the fish made another run at the boat. I yelled
to Steve to go ahead while I reeled for all I was worth.
Again I came tight, briefly. The line suddenly went limp so
I reeled in the parted mainline. The last 10 feet of the
line was chaffed by the fish as he came back across the
line. This is why we broke him off. it was too bad because
that was a nice fish.
Feeling as if I had just had my chance, I climbed back up on
the bridge and again started watching the baits. It wasn't
long before I saw a brilliant flash of blue as a nice blue
marlin rolled on the port flat line, slashing at it three
times before dropping off. That was fish number two. It
wasn't fifteen minutes later that Steve and I were talking
when Chris hollered up that we were hooked up to a blue
marlin. Apparently the fish had come up behind the bait and
popped the pin. Still not hooked, Chris grabbed the rod and
pointed the rod tip at the fish, dropping the bait back as
he did. This time the fish took the bait and Chris came back
hard into him. All this went on in a matter of seconds, with
neither Steve nor I hearing the pin pop. I jumped off the
bridge, grabbed the rod and got in the chair. This fish had
taken a Hawaiian Eye on #14 wire, on a 50W, and was dumping
the spool.
Once I settled in and was ready to reel, Steve backed down
hard on the fish so I could get about half the line back on
the spool. The water was flowing freely over the stern and
me as the 58 footer charged the running fish. I finally
gained over half the spool back and we started the battle of
give and take. we couldn't tell where the fish was, and were
waiting for it to jump. The fish stayed down, and Steve
asked Chris if he was sure it was a marlin
and not a tuna. It sure acted like a big bluefin. The battle
went on for an hour and a half. The fish was caught once,
with the leader being firmly in Chris's hand. That didn't
mean a thing to the fish, as he once again took line. At
this point I had the fish twenty feet below the stern. He
would swim back and forth across the stern, not taking line,
but not letting me gain any either. At this point we began
to suspect that the fish was either foul hooked or wrapped
up somehow. he wouldn't jump, nor could I turn his head. I
tightened the drag up as much as I dared, and put all I had
into the rod. How that rod didn't break I will never know.
Eventually we had the leader in hand again, this time for
good. We gently
brought the fish along side and Chris grabbed his bill. I
grabbed his side cutters and reached down to cut the wire
below the lure. This was a nice fish, being broad in the
shoulders and deep. the estimate weight was 400 lbs. As
suspected, the fish was wrapped up. he was hooked solid, but
had somehow rolled into the wire. Had it been a mono leader,
I am not sure we would have landed him. The fish was
unharmed, and after a brief revival period, was turned loose
to swim away. We trolled for another hour or so but the bite
was over. The final score was two fish on, one lost, one
landed, and a third seen in the spread. A great day on the
water!
If you would like to get in on the great fishing to be had
off Hatteras, check out Captain Steve Coulter and the Sea
Creature at
http://www.seacreature.net, or Captain Dan Rooks on the
Tuna Duck at
 http://www.tunaduck.com.
I guarantee that you won't be disappointed with either of
these captains or boats! |
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© Offshore Pursuits LLC 2008 |
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