My first billfish; 6 Citation Marlin fishing report Sept 14 2012

[classicrockfish]

I got a call a few days ago from David who was itching to get out and get on a marlin. He asked if I was in. Heck yeah!. Early Friday morning we waited at the dock, when everyone arrived, the Matador then took off towards cigar. With Capt Jake at the helm, I knew we were in for some serious fish. We talked about it and the folks decided that I was up first. The line went off before we even had the entire spread out! Shawn, the head mate, yelled my name, I stepped forward and the fun began. The white marlin's beautiful body thrust up in the air and we all witnessed the famous 'marlin dance'. It was Game On! To see the beauty of this fish was incredible. I continued to crank like crazy. Jake did some backing up at times and the waves too became a part of the action of the fight. Before I knew it, the fish was at the boat. Holy Shikes! Shawn released the fish and then gave me the leader line as a souvenir to keep. That was only the beginning, with the spreader bar bringing them to the boat, the marlin started to appear. The lines started to run wild and we got another, and another, and another... This went on for six runs which produced five whites! We only lost one the whole day. One of the highlights was when Jody suggested we bring one aboard! I had never seen one up close, so I was stoked about it!! That experience was incredible!
By now the crew which consisted of head mate Shawn, myself, David, Lori, Susi, Jody and Ryan had all been satisfied with the whites . We had six people fishing and everyone had landed a white but Ryan who 'opted out'. He said that he had caught more than his share of marlin on previous trips and he was just going to kick back and relax. He was totally relaxed and having a great time he said. So the marlin rotation started again. It was now afternoon and the pandemonium of fish after fish had subsided. I can recall David talking the night before about how bad he wanted to catch a blue marlin.. It was a yearning that was not going to subside until he got one. I told him that if it was meant to be (with "the Guy upstairs "), that it would happen. He just needed to trust that. I stood there with my belt already around me as I sensed something was about to happen. Suddenly a line went buzzing and David was standing near the line. I thought I heard Jake yell my name to take it. I never stepped forward to grab the line , instead David turned and looked around for who was going to take the fish. I looked at him and said, take it! David said, " are you sure"? I said, yes! He looked shocked but was happy at the same time.. He started cranking on the line and this fish was putting up a sweet battle. His smile and his occasional laugh indicated to all of us that this was a very good fight. That is not what sealed the deal though for an incredible trip. It was when the fish finally appeared at the boatside and this fishes true colors were revealed. It was a Blue! The final tally of the day 5 whites and 1 blue.. What an incredible day on the water!!! Thank you to Capt Jake and mate Shawn and the entire crew.. You guys are awesome!!! The crew was fun with many laughs and even a couple of us did a little swimming at the dock when we returned. It's a tradition for someone who gets their first billfish to go into the drink .(see photo below)

[pbbk143]

One hell of a day, great job!

[lmontagnaj]

Glad you finally caught your first white.

Now try cranking on a BIG BLUE!!

Nothing more fun than playing catch and release..

[Ware Fisher]

Gonna be expensive if you get "hooked" on the bluewater catching! Fun report!

[FOURTH ISLAND]

What a Day! FINALLY got a blue one! Thanx so much Beth for letting it happen. My shoes are still drying from all of that backing down. Getting creeked couldn't have happened with a better friend. I'm ready to do it again, lets say next Thursday???? Got your interest?????

[tonydivefish]

pretty work on the billfish guys. love them flags flying.

[wellswings]

Definitely worthy of a picture! Mike W.

[FOURTH ISLAND]

Had Beth sweating when i told her I posted the wet t shirt picture. Forgot to tell her it was of me. OOOOPS my bad

[Kevin Smith]

Congrats to everyone on their Bill Fish! Kudos to Jake & Shawn for a great day of fishing!

Kevin
Weekend Mistress

[codenurse]

Wow, fantastic day for you all. Thanks for sharing the events. I had an invite to do the same out of Manteo but couldn't get out of work. Congrats to all.