NEX/MWR Fishing Derby

Yesterday was the third annual NEX/MWR fishing derby here in Guam. I've fished the derby each year. The first year I fished it on the Split Decision with my buddy Jon and we pretty much swept the derby. We won 1st place with a Blue Marlin, 1st for wahoo, and 1st for yellowfin tuna. Last year I entered the derby with my own boat, the Rod Bender, and placed 2nd overall with a 105lb Blue Marlin.

This year, I again entered the derby with my own boat, and my buddies Jon and Tim made up our allstar crew. Andrew and Jon's son Josh also came along as junior crew members.

Normally, this time of year, the winds are blowing pretty hard and the seas are pretty rough. Well, this year, the fish gods decided to be merciful and a break in the wind resulted in beautiful conditions on the water. There was a decent swell, but no chop to speak of. We set out from the Sumay Cove Marina at 5 am and ran straight for Galvez Bank.

We arrived at the NE corner of Galvez at about 6:20. We were hoping to find tuna busting at the surface at first light, but there were no birds and not much was going on. Some of the other boats had bypassed Galvez and were already fishing Baby Bank. So we decided to start working South towards Baby. About half way down the East side of Galvez, we had our first knock-down. The line was peelin off the 80W and we thought we had a pretty nice fish. Tim jumped on the reel and in no time we had about an 8 lb Mahi in the boat. It's amazing how strong Mahi are when you compare them pound for pound to other fish.

We continued on towards Baby, and found some birds along the way. We worked them for about 45 minutes without any luck, so we continued on towards Baby Bank. We put out some marlin lures on the way to Baby, but didn't have any takers. March is not marlin season, but we were optimistic that we might catch a wayward fish.

We got to Baby and there was nothing going on. A pod of spinner dolphins found us and played in the bow wake for a while, while we trolled the drop-off along Baby Bank. We passed Jay on the MWR Proline and he confirmed that there was not much going on. We worked Baby for a little while longer and then decided to head to Stu Bank.

We go to Stu Bank and immediately had a nice hook up on our first pass over the bank. Tim jumped on the reel again and cranked a nice wahoo to the side of the boat. A quick leader and gaff shot later and we had the hooter in the fish box. We turned around and the second pass over the bank we hooked up with a nice Mahi Mahi. It seemed like the bite was turning on! But as soon as it started, it was over. We worked Stu pretty good for about an hour, and then we went off to chase some birds for a while. The birds just led us on a wild goose chase for about 30 minutes. After getting frustrated with the birds, we headed back to Stu for a few more passes. No more bites so we started heading back North.

We trolled North towards Baby and didn't really see any action. But just when we got to Baby, the port flat line starts screaming! We look back and there's a small billfish jumping behind the boat. I got pretty excited because I thought it might be a spearfish. I had never caught a spearfish and I knew that any billfish could be a contender for the biggest fish. I started reeling in the fish and Jon started snapping some pictures. As I winched the fish to the boat, it was jumping constantly and ended up getting tangled in the center line. The 12/0 made quick work of the little billfish and in no time we had it at the side of the boat. To our surprise, it was a baby Blue Marlin! It had swam right up to the back of the boat and hit a big nine inch lure running behind a wahoo bomb. We spent a couple of minutes trying to get the hook out of it's bill. We ended having to boat the fish for about a minute in order to get the hook out. I held the fish up for one picture and then we got it right back in the water and spent a minute or two making sure that it was completely revived. As soon as we let it go, it swam away. We estimated that it weighed about 30lbs. Definitely the smallest blue marlin any of us had seen. It was pretty cool actually.

Because of the tangle, we had to spend a couple of minutes peeling line off the 70w and get back down to good undamaged line. We got the lines back in the water and kept trolling North towards home. We trolled all the way back to NE Galvez without a single strike. Along the way, we spotted the Coast Guard Cutter Washington trolling along Galvez. What a sight to see, our tax dollars hard at work! It was pretty slow at the NE corner of Galvez so we pulled the lines and started the run back home.

We ran to Cocos Island and decided to troll the back of the island to see if we could have one more decent shot at a wahoo or marlin. We spent about another hour trolling there and then had to run back to Sumay Cove to make it in by the close of the derby at 4 pm.

Overall it was a great day on the water! The fishing was okay, and most boats caught about what we caught, between 2-5 fish. We didn't place on the board with the three fish that we kept. The grand prize went to a 22 lb wahoo. It was satisfying to know that we actually caught the biggest fish, even though we released it and didn't place. It was the right thing to do and I'm certain the fish gods will repay us in kind in the future. I want to thank Jon and Tim for spending the day on the water as well as all the wives that stayed on land and allowed us to consume yet another Saturday fishing. Andrew and Josh were also troopers who toughed it out through some nauseating big rolling swells. Another beautiful day on the water in Guam!

Comments

[Jon]

You forgot to tell them about going for a swim!

[Randall Rodrigues]

Opps I forgot about that...went fishing tonight from 5:30 to 6:30 pm. Caught one mahi and one barracuda...released both...no ice! Had a blast though. Left the boat in the H20...going again tomorrow after work.

[Dustin Martinson]

Great job! Jon called and gave me the report, glad you guys had a good time.