Black Marlin on stock Penn 9/0

[SearedTuna]

BOOM....
Old rebuilt stock Penn Senator 9/0, 80lb mono, 45min, no dart, no gaff, barefooted, pulled it in the boat by hand.

PB fish for me so far!

[thorhammer]

Hey brother, you can't just drop that on us!!! 

Details: Where?? Bait? Rod? Trip write up? more pics???

Thats the real deal, on any reel....and on a 115. Solid. Very solid.

John

[SearedTuna]

I am an Army Corps of Engineers employee stationed in Okinawa, Japan.

Marlin was caught Saturday 28 August, 2021 in the bay of the East China sea side of the island. The reel is a 30+ year old Penn 115L 9/0 that was put together with parts of two old reels I had. The rod is an Okiaya Tuna Tango 80-130lb (CHEAP $) solid glass rod. Line used was 80lb Shakespeare Super 7000 mono. Total cost of the rig...$150 + plus the no name hot pink jetted angle 9" lure with a single 9/0 hook. 10 Knots trolling speed on the long port spot. 300+ LB Black Marlin named "Hemingway"

We are able to rent small skiffs through our installation recreation program. They are 24ish feet center consoles with a Yamaha 90.

A couple friends and I often go out on these as the charter scene can get goofy here with folks who have not fished offshore before.

We have a limited area we are allowed to go with the boats but we have no problem catching quality fish in that area. Wahoo, Mahi,....Marlin

We had fished all morning for Wahoo and had 3 decent fish in the boat, so just thought to try another area, which is now named "Barefoot"
Thought we had hooked a big hoo, and when I put a tiny bit of drag to it, BAM...it jumped out of the water about 200yds out and then it was on!

He jumped a few times during the fight but the 9/0 kept him within 400 yds.

My buddy was trying to steer the boat with his rump while attempting to get video with my cell phone, but mostly just audio of me yell-in!

I had stepped on a cheap #### gaff earlier in the day and bent the stew out of it so didn't trust it on this fish. Got him to leader and reached down with both hands and grabbed it by the bill and did not let go.
My buddy Scott dug out a tail rope I had put in my bucket for offshore trips (Glad I had that) and I was pulling as hard as I could to get him from being vertical in the water. The Marlin finally turned to my left and Scott was able to get the rope on and tied to the bow rigging.
I sat down and put my feet against the gunnel and pulled as hard as I could till Scott could get the bill in his hands, then we did one big pull and brought him in the boat.
Keep in mind that I have not let go of this fish yet!

I layed on top of him with the bill in both hands and did not let go of him till he was gone!

12 minutes or less later, we were back at the Marina with the first Marlin ever brought in by the rental boats, and the first Black Marlin caught here in years! On o 9/0 no less!!

Big day of firsts and nobody to compete with anymore but myself!

Gonna be a hard day to beat, but a lifelong moment for sure.

I will get some other pics up up as soon as I can

[SearedTuna]

Hey brother, you can't just drop that on us!!! 

Details: Where?? Bait? Rod? Trip write up? more pics???

Thats the real deal, on any reel....and on a 115. Solid. Very solid.

John

Thank you Sir!

Some deets for ya!

[SearedTuna]

Some more pics
Scott and I are 6'1" 220 for some reference

[ReelFishingProblems]

Great story!

Now those boats will be booked solid for the next year!
When I was at MacDill the pontoon boats were always taken but the 19' twin-vee was always available. I bet if I came dragin' a monster like that back in, it would be a different story.

Nice work

[Benni3]

Fabulous job,,,, i think the 9/0 can handle anything,,,,,,

[Crow]

Great job, on a great fish !!

[Gfish]

Whoa, dude! Epic day! Shaka's back at ya. I love the idea of on laying on him 'till he was gone. Thanks for the pictures and narration. More talk story/pictures on this one and fishin/livin in Okinawa, please.

[nelz]

Wow, absolutely the experience of a lifetime, congrats! And wrestlin' a big ol' fish on the boat, epic! 

I think people sometimes forget the capability of those old school Penns.

I am curious, so what became of the fish after you left the dock?

[Bill B]

This is one for the history books....Epic Adventure!  Bill

[redsetta]

Epic's the word for sure.
Great work and thanks for sharing the moment of a lifetime.
Congrats, Justin

[conchydong]

Congratulations on a great catch. I'm sure you are stoked.

[SearedTuna]

Wow, absolutely the experience of a lifetime, congrats! And wrestlin' a big ol' fish on the boat, epic! 

I think people sometimes forget the capability of those old school Penns.

I am curious, so what became of the fish after you left the dock?

I actually dressed it out and my buddy took half, I took half and fed a whole bunch of people. Plus kept some for myself.
I gave his wife the tail as she is an elementary school teacher and she is drying it out to have her students sketch it, then paint or decorate it, and it will stay here in Okinawa.
I have the bill and will get it polished and mounted with another bill I have from a Blue Marlin on a Samurai sword type mount.

[nelz]

That's a great ending to the story Mr. SearedTuna!  I had actually noticed that tail, it looks very impressive, like it's sculpted, like a stealth aircraft, like a fearsome weapon.