The best game in town is striped marlin fishing. There has been a few dorado and wahoo in the counts but not like the last couple of weeks. As the
hot marlin action off Punta Pescadero died a huge body of fish popped up south of Los Frailes. It is a bit of a run for us but once there the action
has been non-stop. In shore the roosterfish are cooperating one day and gone the next. Live bait has been tough to come by making it hard to target
the roosters. Tuna? We are just holding our breath.
The marlin action has been very entertaining but somewhat frustrating at the same time. By far rigged ballyhoo has attracted the largest percentage
of fish. The problem has been they are grabbing the baits and just holding them in their beaks and not swallowing them down. We found rigging the
ballyhoo with circle hooks to be most effective. The J hook swing was just yanking the bait away from the fish and tearing it up. With the circles we
just point the rod at the fish and apply the brakes. If the we don't get a hook set the bait is not getting as torn up and the marlin will come after
it again.
This method was working well and we thought we had it figured out until yesterday when we went 2 for 10 and ran out of ballyhoo. We released 2 fish
and had action all day so it wasn't all bad. It was just amazing how many fish were there and how much opportunity we had.
I must say the smooth drag of an Accurate reel does make a difference. The twin drag is the real deal. It takes less inertia to start the spool
turning with the brakes applied which results in less jerk. With less jerk greater pressure can be applied with less risk of line breakage. This
week we had four guests catch their first marlin ever. Smaller reels and smoother drags makes even a beginner look like a pro.
Great photos!!durrelllrobert - 4-29-2013 at 06:23 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by David K
Great photos!!
..and great
fish to pose for the camera too.dtbushpilot - 4-29-2013 at 08:54 PM
Nice Mark, good job on the pictures and the healthy fish releases, circle hooks rule.Alan - 4-30-2013 at 04:28 AM
I love circle hooks! For non-believers, look closely at each photo. Every hook right in the corner of the mouth makes for clean releases that will
definitely increase the survivability of the fish.monoloco - 4-30-2013 at 07:18 AM
Awesome photos!BajaBlanca - 4-30-2013 at 08:23 AM
amazing photos ! makes you feel like you are right there with the boat !Cancamo - 5-1-2013 at 10:00 AM
As always, great photos, (in the water). But I am compelled to address a possible misconception.
If we are trying to increase the chances of survival for a released marlin, why would we remove if from the water for photographs? Internal organ
damage can occur when a fish is removed from the water. All successful tagging and release methods never remove the fish from the water and carefully
monitor the fishes health through his skin color, eye movement, and swimming movements. In many cases it takes prolonged effort to revive a spent fish
enough for it to survive, including renewed blood circulation to all extremities. Sometimes after the fight of their life they will never recover. I
wonder how many of these "released" fish actually survive. I hope a lot more than I suspect.
Keep up the good work on the photo work, (in the water).
