We've done it, First Blue Marlin

[Reinaard van der Vossen]

Without words cause I think the photo says more than words

Normally C&R but now taken on board due to the fish being in less optimal condition and on special request (cause nobody else was catching anything). The fish was donated and will be used  for the local fishermans ceremony of San Antonia in Arguineguin

[Bryan Young]

Yum.  Dried and smoked marlin is soooooo delicious.

[Reinaard van der Vossen]

Yum.  Dried and smoked marlin is soooooo delicious.

Unfortunately we had to leave as it was a short fishing trip and it was >3200 km from home so I never had a taste of it. It was cought by my friend who never fished before so he's a bloody lucky starter

[Alto Mare]

WOW! From the picture, that marlin appears to be over 600lb. Give us some details, is that an international reel? What a lucky guy. Congratulations!

[wallacewt]

ill go for 480

[alantani]

congratulations!

[Reinaard van der Vossen]

The marlin was weighed and brought 225 kg on the scale which is just short of 500 LB (495) We hooked it some 20-30 miles southwest to Puerto rico (the village, not the Island) in Gran canaria. We were lucky to get it in as it was bill wrapped and bill hooked and it made some terrific jumps out of the water. The fight took a little over 20 minutes which is quite short for such a fish but it made some spectacular runs. The short time of the fight was also due to the captain who was excelent in driving the boat and the excelent crew. The boat we had has standard 3 experienced crew on board when they are trolling for the big stuff. The hook was bent at it was a large high quality hook. They only use full mono on all the reels that are used for trolling

The fish don't come easy in the Canaries but when they do they can be big (2-3 times large than this one) and that is why they are using big stuff. They only use 130 lb Shimano Tiagra's (they have 6 of those) and for the smaller rods for the by-catch they use 50W (tiagra's and accurate ATD's) as a minimum. So that's the reason why my Omoto Poseidon Q16-II and Penn Travel rod stayed in the cabin. If I want to fish my own stuff in that region I need to buy something else.

They also use 600 LB leaders which I thought was a little overdone until they told me that they lost a marlin a day earlier because it wacked the leader with it's tail and broke the 600 lb leader.

We had one marlin in 23 hours (two days of 9 hours and one day of 5 hours) of trolling time and we are still luckey cause there are not that many caught. Not much by-catch either with two small bonito's  so there is a lot of time that you can only wait. Of-course it was worth it but you need quite a lot of stamina and we were tempted to go bottom fishing on several occasions. Just glad that we didn't

As soon as you leave the protection of the Island you are in the open Atlantic sea and with 6 beaufort the water get's rough. You need a strong twin powered boat to fish over here under these conditions.

[Irish Jigger]

ill go for 480

Good estimate.

[Alto Mare]

Wallace, did you get the info before posting your answer?
I already know that you're Detective Wallace.
Good guess!

[Dominick]

Reinard:  Congratulations to you and your friend.  Yes there is nothing like a good captain to keep the boat oriented.  That's 195lbs over my best.  Dominick