January 8, 2004

Catching a marlin is the ultimate in big game fishing and once the technique is mastered, it is an exhilarating experience , writes Syed Aziz Agha

Marlin, the majestic billfish, lives in the azure blue waters of the Arabian Sea near the drop of the continental shelf along the coast of Sindh and Balochistan. Teasing, playing, handling and finally landing a marlin with panache is an art that can take, maybe, an eternity to master. With these powerful and pugnacious fighters there is very little margin for error. A marlin angler can matriculate in no time at all but to graduate requires time and perfection.

Catching a marlin is the ultimate in big game fishing and landing this imposing sea creature is every hardcore angler’s dream. For any big game angler the marlin is more than a worthwhile adversary. These gigantic sea fishes hardly give the angler a chance for any mistakes and he always has to be prepared for a heavy workout. The fisherman not only has to be physically fit but should also have done homework before setting out on a hunt. He has to have a game plan to get his act together in order to land these beautiful tail-walking jumbo-sized saltwater game fishes.

Ernest Hemingway, the legendary writer was also a big-game fisherman, hunter and bull fighter described fishing this way: “I do not know of anything other than fishing that can give a person more enjoyment through life.” In one sentence, no one could describe the sport better.

Before I start with the method and mechanics of marlin fishing, let me point out here that the first ever marlin, caught by ethical angling practices, was a striped marlin of 125 pounds which landed exactly one hundred years ago, way back in 1903.

Marlins are the gamiest of all big game fish — fish that puts up a good fight when hooked. These massive fishes sometimes jump out and tailwalk several times at any stage of their fight in their bid to throw out the hook and are consequently difficult to land.

On a marlin hunt, the offshore angler will soon learn that some of the gamefish he or she landed near Churna Island were only good for bait on the marlin grounds.

Although the experienced marlin angler knows the ropes, but to hook a marlin, he has to first find it. Only sometimes does one get a blind hookup i.e., out of the blue. There is an old saying that, “one has to think like a fish to catch fish’, this quote goes very well for marlin fishing.

Marlins are found sunning or idling in the open with they’re dorsal or tail fin out of the water. Once the angler locates a marlin, he has to tease these hefty fishes to hook them. Also at times, marlins are curious and will sometimes follow the surface lures for a long time and not strike at the several lure presentations offered. It’s for the angler to then tease the fish and get the marlin interested in striking at the bait.

A good idea is to tie a bird teaser or an exciter alongwith the other lures trolled behind a boat. When a marlin is teased, it gets all lit up and excited. It’s as if some bright colours are ‘switched on’ on the colossal fish and it fast changes and flashes colours before it goes for the lure offered.

A lit up marlin is a magnificent sight for any angler worth his salt. At the point of strike, the angler goes red in the face and his knuckles go white. The first run of a marlin will get the fisherman all excited and get his adrenalin running. But be warned, that the first run is the single most important aspect of bill-fishing and requires extra concentration and care.

Marlins exert most of it’s dynamic power in its initial run, which are usually the longest and strongest and may seem uncontrollable and unstoppable. But after the first big strip-off of line from the reel, the brute of a fish should never again be allowed to dictate the tempo or pattern of the fight. That is where good experienced anglers will exercise their will over the fish. The skilled angler will always dictate to the fish and make it fight on his terms.

Marlins usually make long surface runs but at other times they sound and fight hard under the boat. Both these actions of the marlin, can test the anglers proficiency to the hilt. A marlin hook-up can sometimes keep the angler busy for hours, depending on the size of the fish. From the time the fish accepts the anglers bait presentation up until the time it is ready to surrender and come on board, it’s a game of skill and patience. It takes years of experience to handle these pelagic predators with finessee. The angler holding the rod should never panic or else all the hard work will be useless and his dream catch will swim away.

I landed my first marlin on November 1, 1998. It was a striped marlin weighing 132 pounds. That day, I had a good team of seasoned anglers like Lala Amin, Imran Khan, Mohammed Ali and Azher Khan to assist me in boat handling, catching the leader gaffing and bringing the fish on board. Marlin fishing is all about good teamwork combined with excellent boat handling. Complete understanding with team mates and boat crew is all-important.

On December 18, 2003 while fishing off a Keamari launch I was fortunate to fight and land two marlins in a single day. A black marlin weighing 159 pounds and a blue marlin weighing 106 pounds. Both these billfishes (all big fishes with bills are called billfishes) were caught on a 50 pounds rating Daiwa rod fitted with a Penn 30 SW International Gold Reel, filled with Berkley Trilene 50 pounds breaking strength monofilament fishing line. The artificial skirt lure was a mold craft soft-head chugger fitted with a billfish bird teaser. The fighting time for the 159 pound marlin was 17 minutes (I fought this fish first) while the 106 bounder Blue took 33 minutes.

It takes nearly 10 hours by Keamari Launch to get to the marlin grounds and ours was a 24-hour journey that started at 10 pm on December 17 and ended at 10 pm the following day

This is how I would describe both the fish fights. For the Black marlin I saw a splash, then a sword, the dorsal fin, the eyes of the billfish, the open jaws and then the full majestic head of the marlin. With two or three pulls and taps on my line, I got the monster to strike and then got to see around two dozen acrobiatic jumps and tailwalks from the majestic fish.

In the case of the blue marlin I had to tease the fish for 15 minutes before it took my bait offering and then sounded deep and fought like a true gladiator, draining every ounce of energy out of me. Finally it took just one big leap and surrendered leaving me with a bag of two bills.

How can I forget December 18— I completed a grand slam for catching marlin, catching all three species of marlin that are found in our waters, the Arabian Sea, namely, the black, blue and the stripped marlins.

For anglers who are in hot pursuit to catch these finned sea brutes, all I can say is that it’s a good idea to study marlin behaviour and the techniques of billfishing. If an angler is not mentally prepared to go through the rigors of marlin fishing, he might as well stay at the dock. Happy fishing and tight times.

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