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hooo bl..dy ray!!

Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2014 11:19 am
by Kp NT
Last Sunday my dad and me had decided to go for a fish. Our plan of attack was to head out to Higginsons and get some goldies and nannies before the tide change and then later in the day put out the skirts and go try catch some billfish.

So sunday rolls around we are up nice and early, boats all packed and ready to go and we head of yirakala boat ramp , we launch the boat and an hour later we are at our fishing spot.
So im feeling like having a fun challenge catching the goldies so i grab the 8kg rod with the old tld15 on it . A couple of drops and a half dozen smallish nannies later i rig up a new bait and drop it down on the way down i feel a little twitch in the line but didnt think much of it at the time but when the line was still coming of the reel when it should of hit the bottom i realised that something had taken it on the drop.
Up goes the drag and im thinking to myself bl..dy mackerel has taken my bait , with the line peeling of im waiting for it to finish it first run so i can get it in before the sharks get it but it doesnt stop running amd im now thinking faark this is a big macky, then out of the corner of my eye i see white water going every where and my first thought was oh no the sharks have got it but then this 100kg marlin just launches full out of the water going bezerk all over the country side.
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So im full of excitement that I'm hooked up to a marlin and the adrenalin is pumping watching this marlin grey hound across the surface and then it hits me :shock: im hooked up to this fish on an old tld 15 with half a spool of 30lb braid , using a 7/0 octopus suicide hook
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Now im not going to bore you with the full recount of the1hr 40min fight so ill condense it for you.
Over the fight we got dragged over 3 miles from where we hooked up
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And had it close to the boat multiple times but couldn't move the stubborn bugger any closer so we could tag him even when i had the drag fully locked up.
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But eventually he tired out enough for us to tag it and for me to finally claim my first marlin after 11 years of trying to catch one.
Hoooooooooorrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyy 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)

Re: hooo bl..dy ray!!

Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2014 11:26 am
by Kp NT
Oh yeah he measured 2.1m long (lower jaw to fork) and we estimate it at around 90-100kg (he was pretty fat).

Re: hooo bl..dy ray!!

Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2014 11:29 am
by jersy
Not bad for a by-catch! :drinking8: Good work getting him to the boat! 8) and pics to prove it. Win win win :drinking5:

Re: hooo bl..dy ray!!

Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2014 11:40 am
by shaggs
Awesome effort
Well done

Re: hooo bl..dy ray!!

Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2014 12:45 pm
by jeffish
That's just way toooooo cool mate :mrgreen:
:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Re: hooo bl..dy ray!!

Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2014 1:05 pm
by Kp NT
Cheers guys so stoked to finally get that monkey off my back after 11 years

Re: hooo bl..dy ray!!

Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2014 1:50 pm
by Scottie5.3
Awesome effort mate, that's the stuff we all dream about

Re: hooo bl..dy ray!!

Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2014 2:28 pm
by Dick
Yeah good stuff that,

Re: hooo bl..dy ray!!

Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2014 2:29 pm
by Dick
Yeah good stuff that, a bit of an odd one but they happen occasionally. A great effort on gear not really suited.

Re: hooo bl..dy ray!!

Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2014 2:46 pm
by Seastorm
Bet that put a smile on your face for Xmas mate, well done.

Re: hooo bl..dy ray!!

Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2014 3:48 pm
by jabsy
Awesome story. Probably better than hooking up when actually chasing them...

Re: hooo bl..dy ray!!

Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2014 6:45 pm
by nomad
Great work! Talk about sticking to it 8)

Re: hooo bl..dy ray!!

Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2014 7:14 pm
by fff1964
love your work well fought out..................


cheers

Re: hooo bl..dy ray!!

Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2014 7:47 pm
by theodosius
Nice bycatch!

Re: hooo bl..dy ray!!

Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2014 9:01 pm
by Till
Good work Kel