Senator strikes again

[Paul_A]

My first win of our monthly fishing club tournament. I was alone because my partner had a birthday party to go to when this marlin hit one of my short lines. My 9th marlin of the year and not the biggest but by far the toughest because the rig was a Penn Senator 6/0 with 80lb spectra and this fish would just not give up.

Not a ton of drag pressure to be had so I basically locked it down as tight as I dared and let the fish drag the boat around for an hour. 5 nice jumps, 4 times to the boat only to have it pull another 30-40 yards of hard won line back out.

Got it killed and had to tie it to the side of the boat and drive around for nearly an hour till I intercepted another boat to get help dragging it in. Hurt my back recently and with the high free board of my boat I just couldn't do it myself.

Sorry for the lousy camera phone shot but that's me in the white shirt.

[Tightlines667]

Wow!
Congratulations! & Nice job!
That's the first Blue I've heard of landed on a 6/0.
Was the reel stock?
It would be coolif you cracked er open and gave us a peak at and noticable wear/damage that this fight might have inflicted.  What was the total time from hook up to gaff?

[Ron Jones]

That is superb. I am convinced that a 114HLW tube frame with all the stainless upgrades will land anything in the sea that is catchable, this helps support my theory.

Nice fish
Ron

[ChileRelleno]

  Wow!
Nice fish, and on a 6/0 no less...  Impressive.
What are the stats on the fish, length/weight?

I second tightlines questions, stock reel, any noticeable wear-n-tear to the internals?

Not so surprising really, never under estimate the 6/0, even stock.
It's only reel limitation is it's line capacity.
I nailed the big Scalloped Hammer in my avatar with a stock 6/0.

[Paul_A]

It's got a slight tune up, narrow Tiburon frame, stainless gears and yoke. Cal's drag grease. Mated to a G Loomis 80-100 roller rod. I have a pair of them that I used on big AJ's and grouper in the GOM.

The fish was just 215.5 with the second place fish being 215 so that half mattered. Here's another marlin on the same reel.

http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=11196.0

[broadway]

As I said in your last posting of the 245lb'er, well done!
Hope the back gets better so you can stop tinkering with these babies.
Keep it up,
Dom

[Shark Hunter]

Well Done Paul! Congratulations!

[Alto Mare]

Congratulations Paul, nice fish. I need to get on that boat with you. I built myself 6 of those narrow 6/0 with Tiburon kits, to enjoy them when I retire, that might never happen .
Can you tell me some more on the stainless gears and drag configuration in that reel? Only if you happen to remember.
Very nice Paul, thanks for keeping us entertained.
Sal

[Paul_A]

Thanks all and Sal, you are welcome anytime on my boat.    These were ebay finds I bought around 12 years ago. I'm not sure if they are Accurate or Newell gears, (dunno if Newell made 6/0 gears actually).

Stock Ht-100's with one under the gear. Would love to put stainless sleeves on them as they are a bit loose but won't until I break one.

I also have 4 4/0's with topless red narrow frames and stainless gears but I quit using them here when a yellowfin spooled one of them. Now I just run the 2 6/0's and 2 TLD 50's which are totally adequate for the tuna and marlin I encounter.

Oh and Tightlines666 it was 65 minutes from hook to gaff, 10 minutes after I pulled a couple gills to bleed it, 3 seconds to realize I would end up in the hospital if I tried again to drag it in...

[wallacewt]

haha,
great stuff

[jonnou]

I often am thinking about how I am going to get that large fish into my boat
then i think
Have to catch it first
well done
Jon

Have thought of the quick reverse big haul and have the bilge pump going 

[Sea Dweller]

I'm still super new to sea fishing but I just wanted to give my congrats to you!  That is a stout looking fish and I LOVE hearing about all these great catches on Senators!

[conchydong]

Fantastic catch! Congratulations on the victory! Good thing you only pulled the gills and didn't gut it any further or you would have been second place. Either way, that is a first place catch because you did it on a 6/0.

[Paul_A]

You are so right on the weight thing conchy, too close for comfort. Made the weigh-in interesting though.

And Jon I went out and bought a come-along the next day. Next one I'll be able to winch in without needing help.

[broadway]

I thought the weigh-in was before gutting , but what the heck do I know... I never caught a marlin none-the-less in a tournament.
Dom