Rarotonga trip

[boon]

A large group of my friends and family recently went to Rarotonga to celebrate my wife's birthday.
Naturally, I took the opportunity to book in a charter trip 

We booked a half-day (nominally 5 hours) for 15 anglers with Marlin Queen on the 5th of October.
As their boats aren't the largest this meant we would be spread across 3 vessels.

This ended up turning into a sort of mini-competition - all the ladies ended up on "Marlin Queen", a roughly 8m launch (with flush toilet, which they all considered pretty important!) plus 3 others making a total of 7. The rest of us split into 2 groups of 4 on "Strike Time" and "Bobi Marie", 2 ~6.5m aluminium pontoon boats.

I ended up on Strike Time with my father and 2 good friends, Ben and Michael. Strike Time is a 3-month old New Zealand built Senator RH650 powered by a Yamaha F150. She had nearly 800 hours on the clock already - these boats get used! She was skippered by a friendly bloke named Junior and today we had an extremely keen kiwi fisho named Aidan along helping out.

After a quick lesson in game-fishing in general we raced out of the port as a very large vessel had just called for a tug and if you've ever seen the port at Avarua you'll know you don't want to get caught in traffic.

As soon as we were out past "the drop" the spread was deployed - Short corner and one outrigger running skirted lures on 24kg/50W setups, while long corner, another outrigger and the shotgun were rigged flying-fish on 37kg/80W setups. All the reels were Shimano Tiagras on a variety of rods.

We headed for a FAD in about 400m of water and had barely arrived at it when I got a notification on my phone - the ladies had already boated a sizable Mahimahi!

Nothing much was to be seen at the FAD so we carried on to an area Junior called "Marlin Alley", constantly on the lookout for birds and flying fish.

As we neared the 2000m depth mark we spotted a few birds milling about so we headed for them. Just as the spread passed where the birds were, Aidan spotted a decent sized Mahimahi on the surface. It turned and inhaled the flying fish on shotgun and we were hooked up! As the organiser of the trip I was offered first go so I clipped on the gimbal belt and went to work. It only took 10 minutes or so to boat the Mahimahi as it was perhaps a 15kg fish and while entertaining it was never going to put up much of a battle against 37kg gear.
Unfortunately I had a somewhat awkward grip on the handle of the Tiagra 80w and developed a large blister on my right palm, but we had a fish in the boat so a celebratory and very refreshing (given the tropical temperature) beer was required. Aidan was pretty chuffed with the success of his rigged flying fish, leading Junior to bestow him with the title of Master Baiter, which we duly called him for the rest of the trip 

We carried on to another FAD then spotted a large group of birds in the distance so went to investigate but they dissipated by the time we arrived. We turned and headed north again. Perhaps half an hour later we noticed a solo Frigate Bird was following the boat at height over our spread. Junior and Aidan eyed it carefully, trying to decide if it was following a fish or just our lures/baits. However, about the moment they concluded it was merely following the lures the shotgun gave a brief ZZZZZZZZT of the ratchet, and in the swell behind us we spotted a flash of blue.

Junior lept from the helm and freespooled the shotgun, giving the fish a chance to come back around and take the bait properly. Hooked up again! It immediately went airborne and put on quite a display, leading us to wonder for a moment if it was a smaller Marlin, but we quickly decided it was a sizable Mahimahi. Ben put on the gimbal and started to play the fish when we spotted another 2 Mahimahi amongst the gear, one of which raced in to grab the bait on the port outrigger and suddenly we were on a double.

Michael's fish was quickly brought to the boat and gaffed then stowed neatly in the large icebox while Ben continued fighting the other.
He got the leader to the boat and Junior lifted the fish onto the duckboard. As he went for the gaff shot to secure it the fish flapped awkwardly and the hook dropped out.

Astonishingly the Mahimahi didn't immediately race into the depths - it stayed right on the surface, so Aidan grabbed the helm while Junior leaned half-way out of the boat with a gaff, attempting to secure the fish. Apparently the locals routinely harpoon Mahimahi on the surface, but it was much harder with a gaff.

I will take a minor segue here to mention how blown away I was by how the boat handled - 6 adults on board in a 3-4m swell with a decent wind-chop on top and we were racing around in circles at perhaps 20 knots trying to corral this fish with the prop-wash so it could be gaffed. It was quite spectacular.

The fish managed to out-manoeuvre us and disappeared, so the spread was re-deployed and we continued trolling.
Soon 2 large collections of birds were spotted a couple of kilometres away so we set a course for them. As we got near, we spotted the Marlin Queen had the same idea and was approaching them too. Junior suspected the fish underneath were just Skipjacks so after 5 minutes or so of trolling around the birds he declared "This is a waste of time" and we moved off. Marlin Queen also gave up on that area and headed away in parallel to us, only a few hundred metres to port.

We meandered around a little, checking out the odd solo bird nearby, meaning Marlin Queen ended up perhaps a kilometre ahead. She turned to starboard to go across in front of us when we spotted a flurry of activity on deck. Initially Junior was sceptical - he reckoned they were just putting it on - when the message crackled over the VHF: "Marlin in the gear!"

Junior pushed the throttle forward a little and we trolled across perhaps 100m astern of Marlin Queen, almost perpendicular to her course. Barely a moment passed when Aidan started shouting that the fish had turned. It came screaming in full-noise and demolished the big skirt on the short corner. The 50w started howling, Junior punched the throttle and we furiously started trying to clear the other lines as the fish was now doing some serious aerial acrobatics in the middle of the spread. It was quickly called as a Black Marlin.

We ended up with one of the other lures wrapped around the line that was connected to a now seriously annoyed Marlin and it took some impressive dexterity and a decent lob of the lure to get all the lines clear.

I will mention at this point that given we 3 younger guys on the boat had fought a fish, my 60 year old father was currently wearing the gimbal and watching with trepidation as line was still disappearing at an alarming rate from the reel.
I will skip some of the language he used but the long and short of it was "that thing is the size of a car, I won't have a chance" and he handed off the gimbal belt to me. This time the fighting harness was also going to be required so I quickly clipped into that.

The next thing I knew, I was harnessed on to the largest fish I've ever seen. The reel was about half empty and line was still pouring off it.

This continued at an alarming rate, the fish showing no sign of stopping. We got down to a quarter spool. Less than a quarter spool. Junior was doing his very best to chase the fish but at this point it was heading basically straight down. Aidan was standing right beside me, nervously calling updates on the line remaining to Junior. Things were getting dire, I could see gold through the line. Junior took a moment to come check the drag, but it was well up already, the line crackling as it peeled off the reel. He plucked the line and it sung like a Ukelele. He frowned.

I was standing there waiting to get spooled. I had shuffled right into the corner of the boat so that when the line ran out and I had to take the full load I could brace against the gunwales and hopefully break the line off. I could now see the line-fixing point in the spool, I estimate there was maybe 50m of line left on the reel.

Then, wonder of wonders, it stopped.

With some crafty boat-work and ridiculous amounts of quarter-turn pump-and-wind we got it's head up and I slowly started to gain line back. It would run occasionally but only for 30-40m or so. I will mention that at this point we were perhaps 15 minutes into the fight and I felt completely broken. It was scorching, sweat was pouring off me and despite the glove I had thrown on the blister on my palm was not happy.

Over the next 30 minutes or so I got perhaps 90% of the line back on the spool, the fish hanging out approximately 100m straight down. It was like grinding up a Hapuka, I foolishly thought. I'm not sure what happened next, maybe the fish came above the thermocline, or spotted the boat, or just decided it didn't like me. But it stuck it's head down and proceeded to dump almost the entire spool, again, over the next couple of minutes. The reel howled like it was in freespool, and my legs did too.

This time we came even closer to being spooled, there was less than 2 layers of line on the spool.
This time however we had a little bit of angle so we could drive towards the fish, except a fair bit of the time this meant reversing hard into the waves. Water was pouring over the transom - at one point a wave broke completely over my head, but all I could think was how refreshing it was. Again I will say that Senator builds a pretty impressive boat.

Somehow we managed to turn the fish again and I started getting line back. I was perhaps an hour into the fight at this stage and basically shattered - they were pouring water down my back to keep me cool out in the sun. I relished the times when the fish ran north because it meant I was in the shelter of the hardtop.

The fight continued to see-saw - I would gain 20 metres, it would take 30, then I might get 35 back. Junior was constantly on the helm, adjusting the line angle or following the fish. The rest of the crew were divided between shouting encouragement and trying to get some water into me.

After 2 hours I had the fish about 100m below the boat again. It seemed pretty reluctant to come up any further, so we took a roll of the dice and pushed the drag forward. While this made my life a fair bit harder it seemed to be the final straw for the fish and I could consistently gain line with short pumps.

It was getting dark when I first saw the leader and colour below the boat. It looked like a panda bear coming up from the depths - a huge slab of white and black. It went a bit mad took off again, but only managed to take 50m of line or so. It was clearly tired out, and somehow I had gained a second wind of sorts. For the first time in the fight, I felt confident.

I worked the fish back up again, and this time I got the swivel to the tip of the rod. Junior leaned over the side and got a good wrap. He lifted, and the fish pulled under the boat and shook its head in a last-ditch bid for freedom.

There was a jerk on the tip of the rod.

Junior swore, softly. Then quite a lot louder.

And the fish swam away into the depths.

I hand-lined the leader into the boat. The lure was still there, having slid up the leader during the fight, but the 400lb mono had chafed through on the fishes bill.

I was simultaneously elated and completely gutted. It had been an epic struggle, especially for a first time battle against a billfish.

Junior and Aidan estimated it at 250kg (550lb in the old money). I think just getting it boatside on 24kg tackle was pretty amazing.

What could you do but laugh about it? We opened a couple more beers and headed back to port, now more than an hour past when we were due back. Extra good value from the charter 

The ladies on Marlin Queen had boated 2 Mahimahi and a Yellowfin Tuna, which were filleted and waiting for us when we got back (along with several unsympathetic remarks along the lines of "hey so where's this marlin?" from the other groups).

We left the 2 Mahimahi from Strike Time for the boat - we only had a couple more days in Rarotonga and we had perhaps 20kg of fillets already. As it was, after having Yellowfin 3 ways (sashimi, ika mata and barbecued) along with more Mahimahi steaks than I care to think about, we still had a bit of fish for the accommodation staff when we left.

Part of me is a bit gutted that we didn't boat the fish as it would have been a fish-of-a-lifetime for me. But another part of me is glad that such a magnificent animal went back to fight another day, and hopefully provide as much if not more entertainment for another crew.

Also, I now definitely understand how people get hooked on big game fishing.

I don't know if we have any pictures of the marlin. Things were a bit hectic when it was boatside but I have some other photos I'll add to this post in the next couple of days as the people with the cameras get back to New Zealand.

Last of all, I want to add a massive recommendation for Marlin Queen charters, they are awesome. I would book again on Strike Time in a heartbeat, in fact I'm already mentally planning a trip for next year.

Hope you enjoyed the read

[RiverAngler]

AWESOME! Marlin is a bucket list fish for me. Thank you for sharing your story!

[Tightlines667]

Great story. 

BTW, a leader 'in hand' is a legal catch.

[Bill B]

Great play by play.....gotta say Cool Beans brother.....Bill

[RiverAngler]

Yep, according to the IGFA it is. But to an Angler, in the boat is landed.