Trailblazer

We're140 miles off Los Sueños, Costa Rica, aboard the 42-foot Maverick Dragin Fly with renowned billfish Capt. James Smith at the helm and mates Roberto and Berto working the cockpit. Dozens of tiny yellowfin tuna explode out of the water, with three blue marlin in pursuit. Two of them spy our teasers, abandon the chase and charge the pattern. The mates expertly tease them into casting range. Smith pulls the throttles into neutral and yells, “Cast!”

I lift the flamboyant pink-and-white tube fly into a backcast and drop it in the wake slightly behind them. Both marlin attack. The larger one, more than 300 pounds, gets there first and engulfs the fly from above, no hook set required. The fish races straight away from the transom, taking 300 yards of backing faster than you can say 300 yards of backing. A towering jump is followed by a 90-degree turn and three more greyhounding leaps, the fly line ripping audibly through the water behind it. On the third jump, the marlin kicks its massive tail and the line catches a wave, adding just enough pressure to part the 20-pound leader.

The whole scenario took 15 seconds. The display of power, acceleration and raw athleticism left me standing, mouth agape, heart pumping, amazed. I had just lost the seventh blue marlin to eat my fly in two days. I was batting zero in the biggest fishing game of my life, but I wasn’t done. I was determined to bring one to the boat. Most important, Jake Jordan, the best teacher on the planet, was looking over my shoulder, coaching me.

The Challenge

Catching any billfish on a fly is a feat. Catching a blue marlin on 20-pound IGFA-legal fly tackle is a consumate challenge. It’s a dream so few have accomplished that it is statistically insignificant when weighed against the universe of anglers. But during my time aboard I was under the tutelage of Jordan, who has made catching billfish with a fly rod a reality for hundreds of