black marlin – Syndication Server

Shark tagger offers blunt response to catch of giant marlin

An angler in Australia has caught and released a black marlin estimated to weigh 950 pounds, but not everybody is impressed.

Grander Watch on Saturday shared an image of a giant black marlin jumping behind a boat off Cooktown, Australia. The Facebook description boasted that the marlin, which was released, weighed an estimated 950 pounds.

Apparently, Keith Poe, a prominent California-based shark tagger, was not impressed.

Beneath the marlin post, Poe shared an image showing a massive great white shark alongside his boat and commented, simply: “5,000 pounds.”

Poe told FTW Outdoors that he caught and tagged the shark years ago off Mexico’s Guadalupe Island.

Poe now tags white sharks and mako sharks for the Marine Conservation Science Institute, run by Michael Domeier.

Keith Poe poses with catch of an estimated 5,000-pound white shark.

As for the catch of a 950-pound black marlin, it’s impressive. The catch of any marlin weighing close to or more than 1,000 pounds (a.k.a. grander) is considered rare.

The all-tackle world record for black marlin stands at 1,560 pounds. The record, set off Cabo Blanco, Peru, has stood since 1953.

–Top image courtesy of Grander Watch

Hooked marlin does a U-turn, kills fishermen’s boat motor

Australian fishermen were hooked up to a black marlin when the billfish turned the tables on them and left them stranded 20 miles offshore.

Fishermen in Australia were hooked up to a black marlin on Sunday when the billfish turned the tables on them and left them stranded 20 miles offshore after disabling their boat motor.

“It happened so quick,” the skipper told Marine Rescue New South Wales. “We were fighting it and it did a U-turn and slammed into the engine.”

The estimated 150-pound black marlin punched a hole in the engine’s canvas cover and cowling, disabling the vessel just before 1 p.m.

“It was a freaky thing,” the unidentified skipper said.

The fishermen were forced to cut the line and radio Marine Rescue Merimbula to request a tow.

It took the rescue boat an hour to reach the disabled 22-foot vessel and about two hours to tow it back to Kianinny boat ramp, located about halfway between Sydney and Melbourne.

For Marine Rescue Merimbula unit commander Bill Blakeman, this was a first in his 15 years of volunteer service on the water.

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“It was an unusual rescue,” Blakeman told Marine Rescue NSW. “I’ve had a couple of shark-related incidents over the years where they attacked propellers, but never a marlin disabling a vessel.”

The boat owner was extremely grateful. He said he’d be making a donation to the Marine Rescue NSW.

“I am very thankful for the assistance Marine Rescue provided,” the skipper said.

Photo of generic blue marlin courtesy of Wikipedia Commons; photos of the rescue courtesy of Marine Rescue NSW.

Kayak angler’s epic battle with giant marlin immortalized

Scott Mutchler pulled off a rare feat in May when he landed a 600-pound black marlin from a kayak while fishing in Panama.

A photo of the massive billfish leaping just beyond his bow was widely circulated and brought Mutchler notoriety in fishing circles.

Now the resident of Jupiter, Fla., has both the photo and a vivid painting of that epic moment to help immortalize the catch.

Scott Mutchler battles 600-pound black marlin. Photo: Adam Fisk/Los Buzos Fishing Resort

“I’m honored to have the painting legend Carey Chen paint this for me,” he wrote Friday on Facebook. “He’s as nice as he seems on videos.”

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Chen, a marine artist known for his creative use of colors, also posted about meeting with Mutchler:

“Met with the kayak legend that has the most viral fishing photo on the internet Scott Mutchler, who commissioned me to do the painting of his 600 lb black marlin he released on the kayak [at] Los Buzos Panama. Such an incredible feat not only to release a 600 lb black marlin but from a kayak this takes extraordinary skills.”

Scot Mutchler (left) poses with renowned artist Carey Chen

After the May 23 catch, out of Los Buzos Fishing Resort, Mutchler told FTW Outdoors, “Once I was hooked it was nothing like I ever could have dreamed about. I was in for the fight of my life.”

Mutchler became the first Los Buzos client to catch and release a black marlin from a kayak. Adam Fisk, a Los Buzos guide, had previously released two marlin estimated to weigh 500-plus pounds from his kayak.

Mutchler’s 45-minute fight, during which he was towed one mile against a strong current, was captured by Fisk on video.

Massive marlin landed after epic struggle; feeds townsfolk

An 849-pound black marlin landed after an epic struggle off Barra de Navidad, Mexico, may be the largest marlin ever caught in the area.

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

Kayak fisherman towed 15 miles by ‘record’ marlin

A kayak fisherman in Panama caught what was unofficially being called a record for a black marlin caught from a kayak.

A kayak fisherman hooked up with an estimated 500-pound black marlin in front of a Panama fishing lodge and by the time the battle was over, he was 15 miles from the point in which he started.

The recent catch by Adam Fisk was unofficially considered a world record for a black marlin caught from a kayak and it came a year after he caught an estimated 450-pounder in a kayak from the same spot.

Fisk of Los Buzos Resort, a kayak fishing destination on the Pacific Coast of Panama, called it an “epic experience.” After a 4-hour, 37-minute battle, he reeled the marlin close enough to touch the 15-foot leader to constitute a catch and turned the rod over to Robert Field on a boat to ensure the marlin lived.

“We decided to transfer the rod to the boat to save the marlin’s life,” Field explained to USA Today/For The Win Outdoors. “Marlin are notorious for fighting so hard and for so long that they die of exhaustion. It’s quite common, even when the angler intends to release the fish unharmed.

“From a kayak, Adam simply could not physically put enough pressure on the marlin to shorten the fight, and we knew if he continued from the kayak, the fight would drag on for hours longer and the fish’s chance of survival would plummet. We didn’t anticipate it taking me another 90 minutes in the boat to bring her up.”

The entire battle lasted 6 hours, 12 minutes before the marlin was close enough to the panga to cut it loose.

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“The power of a monster like this is unbelievable especially when you are battling it from a kayak,” Fisk, a managing partner in the resort who is from Florida, told Outdoor Life. “I have pretty big gear that I target marlin with out here and even with it, sometimes I feel like the fish doesn’t even know I am pulling on it.”

One of the best parts about the battle is that Field, who produces new fishing episodes each week for his YouTube channel called YakFish TV, captured the entire thing on video and posted it Tuesday.

After the marlin puts on an aerial display, you can hear Field saying in the video, “That is the most insane thing I’ve ever seen come out of the water. That is crazy. It looked so ridiculous next to that little boat. It’s so much bigger than Adam and that kayak together.”

Concluded Fisk on his Facebook page, “I can’t think of a more epic experience to happen in the world of kayak fishing and the fact that Robert Field was here to capture it all is absolutely incredible. This catch is one for the books and one we will all be telling for the rest of our lives. So proud of the whole team!”

Photos courtesy of Robert Field of YakFish TV.

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