First Marlin for the Rod Bender

This past Saturday, May 31st, was the second annual MWR-Navy Exchange Fishing Derby. Last year I fished the derby on the Split Decision with my buddy Jon Hettel and we won the Grand Prize with a 109 lb marlin and also took 1st place for yellofin tuna and wahoo. This year, I was the captain of my own boat, the Rod Bender but since the Split Decision wasn't fishing the derby this year, I sort of felt like I was defending our title from last year.
I got my boat back from the mechanic the weekend before and took it on a few shakedown cruises to make sure it was in working order. I was joined by Tim Gair and Ken Oakes who crewed the boat for the derby. Unfortunately Jon broke his radial head and was in Hawaii getting surgery this last week, so he was only along in spirit. He also generously loaned me three of his nicest rods and reels to use for the derby.
I decided to fish North because the seas were predicted to be a little rough and there had been some reports of tuna schools near Rota Banks. We headed out of the Sumay Cove Marina just after 05:30. We ran North all the way until just before Double Reef where we put the lines in. Trolled all the way to Ritidian Point without any hits. John Eads had already come through on the Lucky Strike and cleaned out the one wahoo that was there. We started following the birds out towards Rota Banks. At about 08:00, the port rigger goes screaming off. About 30 seconds later, fish is off; from the amount of line it was stripping off, it was a pretty big fish. We kept sloshing our way through the rough water and at about 08:30 the starboard flat line goes off! We were just catching up to the birds and I thought that we had a small tuna on; the lure on that line was a six inch tuna feather with a 125 lb leader. Next thing I know there's a blue marlin jumping at the side of the boat! Ken's on the reel and I told him to just keep reeling. I had Tim take over the helm and I started to help Ken keep his line from getting tangled with the others. I had Tim close some distance with the boat so that Ken could get some line back from the fish, and in no time the fish was at the back of the boat, but not for long! She takes off in a strong second run and shoots sideways behind to boat clear to the other side and takes out quite a bit of line. I told Ken to just keep reeling, his arm was getting a little tired. I had Tim turn the boat to make some headway with the fish for a second time. About another 5 minutes of reeling later, and we had the fish at the side of the boat. I brought her up to the surface with the leader and made a perfect gaff shot. We quickly dispatched the fish and had her in the boat. First Marlin for the Rod Bender!! We got her in the marlin bag, packed her with ice, and then continued trolling towards Rota Banks. We got about 3 miles south of Rota Banks and thats were the tuna schools were. There were several boats out there and we started working the schools. Not long after we hooked a small yellowfin tuna and had it in the boat in no time. One of our competitors was fighting a marlin, and from the chatter on the radio, it sounded like it was bigger than ours. We pressed on and kept working the tuna schools. We caught a nice sized rainbow runner and then the birds started sitting down. So I thought we would make a few passes over a spot that I know usually holds wahoo. We spent 30 minutes getting to the spot to not find a single fish. After that we headed back to were the tuna schools had been, but the birds were real spread out and not much was going on. Most of the boats had moved on and so we decided that we would head in and make a run down the coast to try to pick up a wahoo. We trolled all way to Double Reef without a single hit. We decided to take a break from lunch and go for a swim at double reef. After about an hour we were back at the trolling, trying to get a wahoo. He trolled all the way back up to Castro's Beach and then back to double reef, not a single strike. At that point it was time to head South. We pulled the lines and then ran to just north of Magundas. We put the lines back in and tried the last stretch of wahoo water before coming back in. We had one missed hit in front of the Glass breakwater, but it looked like a small barracuda to me. We made another couple passes and then pulled the lines. We motored into the Sumay Cove Marina at about 18:25 with our Marlin and Tuna flags flying. Our Marlin weighed in at 105 lbs. It took second place to one that weighed in at 160 lbs. Our tuna did not make the board. No one caught a single mahi mahi or wahoo. So I ended up taking second place for the billfish category. We won a Penn 9/0 Senator reel and a pair of crimping pliers. The grand prize was a Penn 70VS International reel. I sold the marlin to the Guam Fisherman's Coop so that it would be eaten and not wasted.
I need to thank Tim and Ken for crewing the boat...it was a long day! I also need to thank them for their help with installing the new bilge pumps earlier in the week and the boat's new stereo system. The stereo system helped keep us from loosing our sanity in the long afternoon of unproductive trolling. Overall it was a challenging but satisfying day on the water and I had a great time.

Comments

[Dustin Martinson]

Great job on the marlin!