Deep Sea Fishing - from Destin to Cozumel and Beyond

By Clifford G. McCaa

Deep Sea Fishing - from Destin to Cozumel and Beyond, is the story of fishing techniques, adventures, and experiences from Florida to to Mexico. The author shares how-to tips for catching sailfish and marlin, groupers and snappers. From his 45 years as captain of charter fishing boats and private fishing yachts, he shares valuable information on

• Language: English
• Publisher: byDesign Media
• Release date: Jul 27, 2020
• ISBN: 9781896213347

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DEEP SEA FISHING – from Destin to Cozumel and Beyond

Copyright © 2020 Cap’ N Clifford G. McCaa

POD ISBN 9781896213996

ISBN 9781896213347 (e-book)

PUBLISHED IN CANADA

byDesign Media

www.bydesignmedia.ca

COVER & INTERIOR DESIGN — Diane Roblin-Lee

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this book are those of the author and do not constitute part of the curriculum of any program. The writing and publication of this work has been undertaken with great care. However, the author and publisher are not responsible for any errors contained herein or for consequences that may ensue from use of materials or information contained in this work. The information contained herein is intended to assist individuals in appreciation of the art of fishing and is distributed with the understanding that it does not constitute legal or medical advice. References to quoted sources are only as current as the date of the publication. Where any sourced material may have been inadequately referenced, the author and publisher extend an apology.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior permission of the copyright owner.

Ed. note: For grammar purist readers, I know there will be questions regarding tense issues. Please understand that, in an effort to maintain the voice of Captain McCaa, I chose to leave the stories as he told them, jumping from past to present – like a marlin jumping the waves.

Dedication

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea... Genesis 1:26

I dedicate this book to all aspiring fishermen and women who desire to have dominion over the fish of the sea.

So, good fishing! Remember to give God the glory!

Capt. Cliff

Table of Contents

In the Beginning

How to Hook a Billfish

Blue Marlin

Fighting Blue Marlin

Fighting My First Big Blue Marlin

The Middle Game

The End Game, Releasing Your Fish

The End Game with Blue Marlin

My 345-Pound Blue Marlin

Releasing The Fish

The Fishing Seasons in Destin

Rigging Skipjacks for King Mackerel

My Largest Wahoo on a Skipjack

Rigging Ballyhoo

Rigging Spanish Mackerel

Rigging Mullet

1972

Rip Tide Stories

Sticking My Knife in My Arm

Big Red Snappers

Crosswinds

Cobia Season, 1973

Billfish Season, 1973

Second Offshore Trip on the 22 Mako

Third Offshore Trip on the 22 Mako

Back to the Robroy

1974

The Tina Lynn

Where to Fish off Destin?

1975 through 1977

Tarpon in Fernandina Beach

Another Sailfish out of Jacksonville

Fishing Offshore of Saint Augustine

Swordfish out of Destin

Swordfish a Few Years Later

Second Swordfish Trip

My First Swordfish on a Rod and Reel

1978 Sandestin Tournament

Labor Day Tournament at Orange Beach

1985 Orange Beach Marina Labor Day Tournament

The International Billfish League Tournament

1982 through 1985 in the Mexican Oil Field

Repairing Manifold at Buoy 1 Dos Bocas

Cayos Arcus

Diving Cayos Arcus

The Godfather in Cayos Arcus

Hurricane Juan in Cayos Arcus

Triangulo Oeste

Obispo Norte

Cayos Arenas

Celestun

1980 Destin Rodeo Fishing with Irby Windes

Destin Record Mako Shark of 867 Pounds

Sword Fishing Spring 1986

Longline Bottom Fishing with Danny Wright 1986

Fishing Snow Crabs in Alaska

My First Offshore Adventure with Don Trino

What I Have Caught Where on the Mainland off Cozumel

Back to the Fishing Spots

Now Back to Cozumel Itself

The Cozumel International Tournament

El Rodeo de Lanchas Mexicanas

Big Storm at Weigh in at Cozumel

Rodeo De Lanchas Mexcanas in about 2000

Tournament in Playa Del Carmen

Artie’s Vacation in Cozumel in 2002

Summary for Cozumel

Fishing off Cancun and Isla Mujeres

The Big Shark in the Rip

The Isla Contoy Trips with the Boss

The Boss’s Blue Marlin

15 Sailfish in a Day, off Contoy

My Six-Pound Test Rig

Three Kings & Three Tunas and South Hump

The Fishing Area North of Isla Mujeres

Another Spot – Amberjacks

The Sleeping Shark Caves of Jacque Cousteau

The North Point of Isla Mujeres

Progreso, Yucatan

Madagascar Reef

Cayo Culebra

My Largest King Mackerels Caught at Cayo Culeba

Huevo Del Toro or the Bull’s Ball

Alacranes Reef or Scorpion Reef

First Blue Marlin at Alacranes

Amberjack Rock

Posa Cochinita

Big Rock

Isla Muertos

Isla Perez

Fly-Fishing

Isla Muertos

Fishing Off Isla Perez

Spots

Posa Cochinita Revisited

Cliff’s Place

Entrance to Desterrada

How to Get to the Pocket

Entrance to Isla Muertos

Entrance to Muertos

Fishing Places near Muertos

Entrance to the West Side of Isla Perez

The Way In, To the West Side of Isla Perez

Entrance to Isla Banca

Trolling the Ridge Northwest of Desterrada

Hurricane Katrina

The North Point of Alacranes

Anchoring and Fishing

How I Pull Anchors

Rod Pumping Techniques

Revisiting Sailfish in Destin

Harold Destin’s Input

Birds

November, 197, on Robroy in Destin

Big Amberjack Rock in Destin

My First Amberjack Trip

One More Story to Finish Up

In the Beginning

For as long as I can remember, I have had a desire to fish and a love for fishing. After I graduated high school in Memphis Tennessee and moved to Destin, Florida in June 1971, I started working on charter boats and learned to fish professionally.

When I arrived in Destin, it was an unincorporated fishing village of about 800 people and 60 charter boats. The tallest building was two stories. The beaches were sugar white and the pass was beautiful. You could look over the side of the bridge on an incoming tide and see the ripples in the sand on the bottom because the water was so clear.

So, I went down to the Kelly docks about six o’clock every morning to look for work. The captains were nice and asked if I had ever worked on a charter boat before. I would answer, No, not yet. They would say they were sorry, but they couldn’t use me.

One Saturday morning, I was down there looking around and J.P. Davis, the owner and captain of the Pisces, had a group of fishermen on his boat – but his deckhand hadn’t shown up, so he took me on.

The Pisces had been previously owned by Chubby Destin and was then called the Shooting Star. It was 39-feet long with a single engine, a 453 Detroit diesel. It was set up for trolling for king mackerel with four swivel fishing chairs. The fly bridge extended to the stern, so that the guests could be seated in the shade.

J.P. showed me how to put out the baits but I didn’t know that I needed to stagger the lines and fish the outside lines further back to prevent the lines from getting tangled when the boat would turn. I think we caught about 10 king mackerel that day. Unfortunately, I didn’t place the length of the four lines correctly and got all four lines tangled together. It took J.P. and me about 30 minutes of cutting and retying to straighten out that mess. Other than that, it was a successful trip, my first.

J.P. suggested I should go to work with Brant Kelley, who decked on the Rip Tide for Captain Irby Windes. Captain Windes worked for Mr. Braden, who owned five charter boats just past the Marler docks. So, I went and asked Brant and Irby if I could work as second deckhand. They let me fish with them.

The Rip Tide was a twin screw with two 453 Detroit diesels. It was 50 feet long and licensed for 20 passengers. Irby’s specialty was deep-water, bottom fishing. That man forgot more bottom fishing places than most captains will ever learn in their lives. I was not paid but Brant would split his tip with me.

Back then, a deckhand was paid seven dollars a half-day trip and 14 dollars for a full-day trip. To charter a boat back then was 60 dollars a half-day trip for six passengers, 120 dollars for a full-day trip and 180 dollars for an offshore trip to fish for sailfish and marlin. The price of diesel fuel was 16.9 cents a gallon.

We bottom-fished with cut squid for bait and herring as well. So, I would cut bait on the way out and get out the rods. I learned to make bottom-fishing rigs. On the all-day trips, we would fish in 140 to 180 feet of water where the larger fish lived. We would catch about 200 to 500 pounds of fish a day. Irby out fished all the other boats on the dock, day in and day out.

Brant Kelly was an excellent fisherman. He taught me plenty. Brant owns his own charter boat in Destin now. It’s called Relentless. I highly recommend him if you want to go fishing in Destin.

After having fished for two or three weeks with Brant and Irby, I landed a job on the Miss Jamie with Captain Jim Gerard. Using a single-engine trolling boat, he fished hand-lines off each corner of the boat to add a few more fish to the day’s catch. I remember catching a 30-pound king mackerel on the hand-line. That was fun, but I didn’t know how to bend and break leader wire when making the rigs for trolling for kings, so I just cut the wire close and bent it over with the fishing pliers. Unfortunately, it would cut my hand when the fish pulled the wire through my hands. Jim didn’t know how either, since he was new at the game and had bought and rebuilt his charter boat. Jim fired me after two weeks for asking too many questions. After taking a little time to allow my hand to heal, I went back where I started with J.P. Davis on the Pisces.

We usually just had charters on the weekends. I remember one all-day trip when we trolled about 10 miles out and found a large grass line of Saragaso seaweed. There were big dolphin or dorados swimming around and we saw sailfish jumping. We caught several dorados that day. Well, J.P. ran over a piece of floating polypropylene rope, about three inches in diameter, and it shut the engine down because the prop couldn’t turn anymore.

J.P. hands me the deck knife and says, Jump in there and cut that line out of the prop.

I said, You ran over it, you cut it out.

He said, If you want a job when I get back to the dock, you go cut it out.

So, I jumped in and swam under the boat to cut it out. I had no mask or snorkel, but I still remember seeing three or four dorados of 10 to 20 pounds, swimming around near the boat. It took about 10 minutes to cut the line out, with numerous trips back up for air.

In August 1971, my friend, Joe Wheeler, recommended that I take his place as deckhand on the Robroy, which was docked at the Robroy Lodge and Marina. The captain was Hoot A.L. Hilpert, a retired Air Force Colonel. He was the pilot and charter boat captain for the Robroy Corporation based in Pittsburg, PA. Hoot was a class act. I found out years later that he was the commander for Hulbert Field, and deputy commander of Eglin Air Force Base, before he retired. He never said a word about that.

Hoot taught me how to rig baits for sailfish and marlin. He was very detail oriented. I can remember tying the Bimini knot with him sometimes three or four times or more until we got that knot perfect. He rigged baits the same way – perfectly. The Bimini knot is what you use to tie a double-line for up to 12 to 20 feet in length, depending on the strength of your fishing line, to connect to your snap swivel. Then you connect your leader wire that has the bait and hook on it. We used #10 wire for king mackerel (about 124-pound test), #12 wire for offshore fishing (about 174-pound test), and #15 wire for blue marlin baits (about 240-pound test).

We had an examiner from National Fisheries, who would come and question us about our trips – what fish we saw, what they bit, where we saw them, how many hours of effort fishing. If we caught one billfish, he would measure the length of it, weigh it, and check the sex of each fish caught. For example, the male blue marlin are rarely over 200 pounds. That means that the big ones of 500 to 1000 pounds, and then up to 2000 pounds and more, are all females. In Destin in 1971, I think the total for billfish caught was about 250 sailfish, 250 white marlin and 30 blue marlin.

Destin charters caught about 78 percent of the billfish caught on the Gulf Coast of Florida, Panama City caught 12 percent, and Pensacola caught about eight percent. Bob Oliver, fishing for Captain Royal Melvin on the Venture II, caught seven blue marlin and had a grand slam in 1971. They caught the most blue marlin in Destin when I arrived that year. Captain Tommy Browning on the Finest Kind is a great fisherman as well, and he caught lots of blue marlin. He caught a 1046-pound blue marlin in 2001, which still stands as the largest blue marlin ever caught in Florida. I got to offshore fish as an extra deckhand with Tommy Browning and Craig Griffith on a couple of trips. We raised two blue marlin and two sailfish on one of those trips, but we were unable to hook any of them.

This is the 1046-pound blue marlin that was caught in the Bay Point Invitational Billfish Tournament in Panama City. It was caught aboard the Lucky 2, captained by Tommy Browning of Destin, Florida. Leon Edwards took delivery on his new Bertram 510 and hired Tommy Browning to run it for him in the tournament. His friend, Conrad Hawkins from Jacksonville, caught this fish. It broke the Destin and Florida state record of 980 pounds. The mates on this catch were Tom Banachowicz and Danny Timms. This fish ate a lure due south of Destin near a place called the Squiggles. It only jumped once and fought for 2 ¼ hours on 100-pound test line. It measured 131 inches long and the girth was 78 inches. There was a 1054 pound blue marlin caught to win the Mississippi Gulf Coast Billfish Classic a year or two later. That fish ate a Spanish mackerel for bait. There are blue marlin running over 1000 pounds out there waiting to be caught.

Bruce Marler caught the first blue marlin out of Destin in 1962, about six miles offshore of Fort Walton Beach. I heard it took two or three weeks to find a scale large enough to weigh the fish. Meanwhile, they pulled the fish out every day and hung it for the tourists to look at, and put it back in the walk-in freezer every night. I think that fish weighed 496 pounds after drying in the hot sun for a few weeks.

I can remember the guys, the other deckhands talking about losing the big blue marlin. They called him, Ralph, the big blue marlin. I went to see a 530-pound blue marlin that a private yacht called Tulagi caught and weighed at East Pass Marina. Bob Oliver and Craig Griffith were looking at this fish with me. They said, That is definitely not Ralph. Ralph is much larger than that.

The story I heard about that fish was that the crew didn’t know how to rig baits and they fished artificial squids on every rod on 130-pound class tackle, Penn 130s. They had no flying-gaff aboard. So, the fish fought for a long time and from near the boat, it made a run straight down and died. They were able to reel him in from the depths and then put him aboard.

I don’t remember seeing a blue marlin over 600 pounds in the baits or on the line, but those guys had. Joe Wheeler told me about hooking a blue marlin over 1000 pounds on a needlefish and he stripped a 12/0 Penn reel, so they clipped it on another 12/0 and threw it over board, The fish stripped about half of that reel, dragging the rod and reel through the water. They lost him early in the fight to a pulled-hook.

Maybe one of the unseen blue marlin that I have fought and lost could have been larger but who knows. Everybody talks about the big one that got away.

To me, blue marlin fishing is at the top of sporting challenges. Fishing is much different than hunting. Hunting you go to find the animal or get him to come to you and then you shoot him. If you make a good shot, game over. In fishing, you have to go where he lives, then find him or he finds you. Then you have to entice the fish to bite. Then you have to hook him. Then you have to fight him to the boat and then not lose him at the boat. Then you have to put him on board or release him at the boat. To me, that is much more challenging. Then you have the IGFA, International Game Fish Association with all of their rules for the fish you caught to be a record fish with all of the different line classes, 120, 80, 50, 30, 20 12, 6, etc. I consider the fishermen of Destin to be world class anglers. I had the honor and privilege to fish with and learn, from the best in Destin.

How to Hook a Billfish

I had my first offshore trip on the Robroy, a 34-foot Post with Captain Hoot’ Hilpert. Hoot gave me lots of instructions on how to rig baits. We fished two Penn Senator 9/0 reels with 80-pound test dacron line and two Penn Senator 6/0 reels with 50-pound test dacron line. Captain Hilpert had his own personal rod and reel on the fly bridge, called the fly-pole."

Dacron line does not stretch like monofilament does. So, it’s better for hooking fish, but monofilament is more forgiving because of the stretching of about 10 percent before it breaks. We set the drags with scales with the line coming from the rod tip. On 50-pound test line, we set the drag at about five or six pounds. When the fish strikes, the drag, depending on how smooth it is, will stick some before it lets go.

Sailfish and marlin have boney mouths and bills, so you put your thumb on the reel to prevent the spool from spinning on hookup to be sure you set the hook in that boney mouth. So, when you hook one, the spool will spin under your thumb. If it is dacron line, it will burn you deeper and quicker than monofilament. Your skin will turn white and burn like fire and you will get a water blister that evening or the next day, depending on how badly you were burned.

Now when you charter a boat in Destin to go offshore fishing or bill-fishing, you have outriggers to spread the baits out. That way your baits are 30 to 50 feet apart, depending on boat size and the length of your outriggers. Billfish have no teeth, so they eat the bait whole. Many times, the fish will strike the bait with its bill. It expects the bait to die and stop swimming. If the bait keeps on swimming, many times the fish will leave and you might never see him. But you might see the evidence on your bait later, and you should be upset.

You need to be careful setting the tension on the outrigger clips, so that a slight pull of more than the bait swimming will open the outrigger clip. So when the fish hits and the clip opens, the deckhand or angler, depending on previous agreements, must run to the rod, pick it up, and then slack the line back before it comes tight and the bait starts swimming again. So, you slack it back to a count of five to 10 seconds, depending on who taught you – or you feel the fish running with the bait. My opinion is, if you can feel the fish run, then he can feel you and might spit the bait out.

So, it’s time to set the hook. But if you see the fish eat the bait and turn away from the boat (as they will about half of the time), give it a little line and then set the hook, because you saw the bait go in his mouth. He is turned away so that you are pulling the hook into the fish’s mouth. Don’t give him a chance to spit the bait.

Put the reel in gear with the rod pointed at the fish and wind on the reel until the line comes tight or the bait starts skipping on the water back there. If the line comes tight, try to hook the fish by raising the rod firmly or pull to the side – depending on the situation – with your thumb on the spool to increase the drag at the strike. If you didn’t hook the fish, start reeling in the line to get the bait back on top of the water skipping back there. You might wind on him slowly to bring that bait back in the spread of the other baits. Then stop reeling and take the reel out of gear with your thumb on the spool. Now wait for the fish to strike again. Hold your rod high. If the fish strikes again, you are ready to drop the rod tip and put the bait right in his mouth. Use your thumb to prevent backlashes as the line rolls off the spool again. I will usually drop back 20 to 30 feet of line; depending on the size of the bait, where the hook is in the bait, and whether it is a blue marlin, white marlin, or sailfish.

I try not to slack back too long because that could lead to a gut-hooked fish, which is what happens when you let him swallow the bait. If you intend to kill the fish or keep the fish for mounting or eating, you have a better chance of catching him, but a gut-hooked fish fights very differently than a fish hooked in the mouth. They don’t jump as much and tend to sulk down deep in the fight. They can also bleed a lot, which increases the chance of sharks eating your fish, especially blue marlin which fight much longer, sometimes for many hours.

So, if you had a bite and the fish is gone and you have your rod in your hand with the bait skipping and the fish doesn’t come back to your bait, he could hit several other baits on the other rods. White marlin are the worst for that. Sometimes they will hit every bait out there and eat nothing, which can be quite frustrating. These white marlin seem to move in pairs or large schools in August and September off the Destin coast in 70 to 100 fathoms of water. The sailfish used to school in September near the Knuckle on the Southwest Edge, which is about 210 degrees at about 23 miles from Destin. That is where the bottom drops from about 150 to 300 feet, or more. As you troll west along the edge, they call the area south of Navarre, the Timber Holes. This is a great area to fish as well and is famous for large king mackerel.

When I started fishing in 1971, the charter boats ran to the Southwest Edge and started fishing there. They trolled offshore, and many days there was plenty of action there. I learned from some good fishermen from south Florida, who I met in Cancun, that sailfish really like 90 to 150 feet of water. Blue marlin tend to like 600 feet or 100 fathoms or more, but I have seen them and hooked some several times in about 60 to 70 feet of water north of Isla Mujeres near Cancun. White marlin seem to be the thickest in 70 to 120 fathoms off of Destin. But any of them can be found anywhere. They follow the bait. They must eat. But if I want to catch them, I have to go where they live. Hurricanes seem to ruin the fishing offshore for a few weeks.

Blue marlin start showing up in May and June off Destin. Most of the fish tend to be between 140 and 250 pounds, with large ones mixed in. The white marlin tend to show up in July and August and stay through October into November. The sailfish used to school on the Southwest Edge in late September for two or three weeks. After the 1980’s, the number of sailfish dropped off tremendously because everybody started trolling lures for marlin in the deep and they ran past most of the sailfish before they even started fishing. It is rare for a sailfish to eat a marlin lure. I have caught only one sailfish on a lure out of 300 sailfish or more, and that one ate a small chrome jet-head lure off of Cozumel.

Now the large blue marlin can show up anytime all summer and into the fall. The favorite bait for blue marlin is mullet. I have seen them eat mullet of all sizes. Spanish mackerel are also good. Spanish mackerel are generally too large for white marlin and sailfish to eat. I have also had blue marlin eat ballyhoo and bonito strips. I have seen other fisherman catch blue marlin on needlefish. I have only very rarely used needlefish as bait. Flying fish are excellent bait, as well. They are hard to find.

Blue marlin are aggressive fish, more than any other, the kings of the sea. I remember talking to Wayne Russell, while working for Bruce Marler one day at the dock, he had caught two blue marlin and one white marlin that day. Wayne said, You can give a bait to a blue marlin and he won’t eat it, but you can’t take the bait away from him. What Wayne meant was if the blue marlin strikes your bait and then refuses to eat it, you put your reel in gear and try to take the bait away from him. They are so aggressive that the movement just makes them mad. They aren’t going to let that little fish get away from them. I have caught several blue marlin because of this golden nugget of advice from Wayne. He developed and made his own lures, Russell Lures in the late 70’s and 80’s. They were very effective marlin lures. I still have a few.

Sailfish and white marlin are not that way. They are not aggressive like blues.

You can catch a sailfish or a white marlin in about 10 to 45 minutes; depending on the fish, where it is hooked, the experience and technique of the fisherman, and the skill of the captain and crew.

I fished among the Master’s Invitational Tournament boats in Cancun in the 1990’s. These anglers fished two to a boat, two rods each, one outrigger and one flat line. They traded sides of the boat every hour. They fished 20-pound test line and the boat stopped after hookup. They had stop watches and you raced the clock. If you hadn’t caught your fish in 10 minutes, your fish was called overtime and you had to cut him off or break him off. You traded boats every day and the tournament ran for four days. I forget exactly how the scoring went; actually, I never knew or asked.

If you broke a line on hookup, that was minus 100 points. If you broke your line late in the fight, the penalty was less the longer you fought the fish. You got more points for catching your fish the quickest. It started with 100 points and the points went down the longer that you fought your fish. A catch was when the mate grabbed the leader, which was 50 to 100 pound test monofilament line.

They would call on the radio to report the catch or the event. Angler number 10 caught a sailfish on boat so-and-so in four minutes and 25 seconds – or angler seven broke a line on hook up. The base would record all the events and give the captain an event number.

This four-day tournament of 10 to 15 boats usually had over 400 events or hookups. In some years there were over 700 events. I remember hearing of a sailfish released at 56 seconds. A lot of fish were released in four to seven minutes.

One of the tricks the anglers would use would be to pull the sailfish’s head toward the boat when he was out of the water jumping. That way, he would be jumping toward the boat. But if you do that, you have to be able to reel in fast enough not to lose the fish due to a slack line or the fish will throw the hook.

So, we would fish out of the same dock, watching the anglers come and go and then fish among those boats with my boss’s son and his guests. It was a great experience to fish with them and watch and listen to the radio, year after year. I remember one time when we had about five boats running by us to fish in shallower water in the afternoon. We hooked a triple header of sailfish in 118 feet of water at 21* 24N and reported it on the radio. So, a bunch of them stopped to fish around us for a while.

Blue Marlin

Now, fighting and catching blue marlin is about 10 times more difficult to me than catching a sail or white marlin. People seem to catch about one out of 10 blue marlin, unless they really know what they are doing. I have caught a 180-pound blue marlin in 45 minutes, but I once fought a 500-pound blue marlin on 30-pound test for five hours and 45 minutes. But that is another story that I will share later.

Fisherman have fought blue marlin for over 12 and 15 hours, and sometimes much longer. I think most of those long fights usually end in a tackle failure with something breaking and the blue marlin getting away. When you have a fish on the line, it is only as strong as the weakest point. So, in a long fight, all of it is put to the test. Beginning at the hook, I have had them straighten out. Mustad is a great brand of hooks. I still have some Mustad hooks from the 70’s that are still good in the tackle box. Then you have the leader connected to the hook. When I started, all we used was single strand wire leader. Blue marlin are famous for bill wrapping the leader or rolling up in the leader during the fight.

I lost a 250-pound blue marlin after a 45-minute fight when he bill-wrapped and broke #10 leader wire after eating a bonito strip with a red hoochie skirt on the fly-pole. Let me tell you the story about this fish.

It was October, 1973. We had not seen a blue marlin all season. We were fishing down a scattered grass line in a three to four-foot sea. This fish struck the port outrigger bait that was a ballyhoo, hard. I was busy slacking the bait back, when the fish charged the stern to hit a finger mullet on a flat line just behind the teaser. So, I am winding the ballyhoo back up as that is happening and I realize that there is only the bill left of the ballyhoo wired to the leader. He destroyed that ballyhoo with one lick. Then he hits the finger mullet and knocks it off the rig where I had wired it through his head. I only had an empty wire leader with a hook on it. I had never seen a blue marlin so aggressive in my life. Then he went for the fly-pole bait. It was a bonito strip on a pin-rig. That is where you make the leader with the hook and finish with a short pin sticking up about three-eighths of an inch high, and you have copper wire twisted between the hook and the pin. So, you pin the bonito strip near one end, and twist the copper wire around it above and below the pin to secure the bonito strip to the rig. Then you put the hook from the flesh side to come out on the skin side, so that the hook is hanging slack and the bait pulls from the pin so that it doesn’t spin. I knew he couldn’t knock that bait off. So, he blasted the strip just like the others. Captain Hilpert slacked it back to him. Meanwhile, a second blue marlin hit the six-inch mullet on the starboard outrigger. So, I am slacking my bait back as Captain Hilpert hooks his blue marlin. His blue marlin runs to the right as we looked back. That fish accelerated and came out of the water swimming hard at an angle of about 10 degrees. So, his body comes out of the water until just the bottom half of his tail is in the water. I never saw anything like that before or after. Meanwhile Captain Hilpert is trying to give me his rod but I was busy slacking mine back, so I hooked my blue marlin too. My fish pulled the hook after about five minutes. So we had a double hookup of blue marlin. Then we had a white marlin trying to eat a teaser. We called the fleet in. The first boat raised two white marlin and caught one. The Shooting Star raised and hooked four white marlin and caught two of them. We were doing well on our blue, until the #10 leader wire broke. I had just put a lady’s hat on my head when those two blue marlin showed up. It became my blue marlin hat. There were about four boats dead in the water around us fighting white marlin. When we lost the second blue, the guests said, We have a dinner at 4:30 PM, so is it time to head back in now. It was obvious that their priorities were not my priorities. I was not happy. As we say, We left them biting.

Then we went to seven x seven braided-cable leader, 275-pound test with big snaps and no swivels on each end. I rigged the baits on #15 leader-wire with about two feet of single-strand wire leader to connect to the snap on the leader. We didn’t break that rig!

When you need a good strong snap swivel, don’t use one that has a piece of metal crimped on there to hold it together; those pull apart so easily. You need one that is made of a strand of wire twisted around itself that is solid, with a strong swivel connected. Don’t cheap out on your snap swivels. When it fails on the big one, you will be sorry.

I remember when my parents chartered Bob Oliver’s boat, the Happy Hooker, and we went offshore fishing with him. He didn’t allow snap swivels on his boat. He had a small stainless-steel ring that was tied to his lines. Then his deckhand would twist the loop on the single-strand wire leaders to connect it to the metal ring. That eliminated snap swivels. But it was quite labor intensive for his deckhand