An 849-pound black marlin, landed recently after a six-hour struggle off Barra de Navidad, Mexico, is believed to be the largest black marlin ever caught in the region.
But Osiel Arteaga Aguilar’s catch, after his 24-foot skiff had been towed six miles offshore in blustery conditions, also generated some much-needed excitement for a fishing community sidelined by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tourism is temporarily non-existent in Barra de Navidad, north of Manzanillo in the state of Jalisco. Sportfishing is allowed only for personal consumption, but the enormous marlin caught on May 17 provided sustenance for dozens of townspeople.
Arteaga, 45, was interviewed over the weekend by Tracy Ehrenberg, whose family runs Pisces Sportfishing in Cabo San Lucas. Ehrenberg told For The Win Outdoors that Arteaga and two deckhands, Jesus Benjamin Samora and Jose Alfredo Zamora, had ventured 24 miles to sea a day after landing a 176-pound blue marlin.
Fishing was slow and the windswept ocean was not safe, so they began the long voyage home.
“They kept their gear in the water and when they were seven miles offshore they caught a small striped marlin, which was handled quickly, then they continued to head back home,” Ehrenberg stated in a report on the catch. “At six miles from shore something hit their lucky pink and purple lure about 220 feet behind the boat.
“Osiel assumed it was another striped marlin. Boy was he wrong! They saw the head, then shoulders then half the body emerge from the water in a powerful thrust of a massive black marlin – the moment was suspended in time.”
The powerful billfish ran and the chase was on to avoid having the reel spooled. Six hours later, in late afternoon, the fishermen were 12 miles offshore and the marlin suddenly died, so the new struggle was to somehow raise what felt like dead weight.
They managed to hook the carcass with another line and 45 minutes later they had the fish alongside the skiff, or panga.
“I have no idea how they got that fish in the panga,” Ehrenberg wrote. “But according to Osiel, they managed to get half the fish up over the side of the boat, then put a rope around the tail and swung it clockwise so the belly of the fish was across the middle of the panga with the head sticking out one side and the tail the other.”
It was dark when the anglers reached the dock, and a giant crowd was present when they unloaded the marlin. After it was weighed on a borrowed scale, they celebrated and began to process the meat.
“The fish was carved up and shared among the excited locals, but Osiel, happily giving fish away, realized it was all gone – he did not even get to try it,” Ehrenberg continued. “Nevertheless, he felt very satisfied at having caught the biggest fish of his life and to be able to help the people of his town during this difficult time.”
–Images courtesy of Osiel Arteaga Aguilar and Vidal Dávalos, via Pisces Sportfishing