2005-09-03

I got stripped by a marlin!


Yesterday, around evening time, I reached home back in Singapore from Lucornia Shoal, E.M'sia. I have taken almost 300 photos and I really need some time to sort them out before posting it out for you all.

Exhausted? Yes, I am. Tired? Bet double!

Bluewater jigging is not child's play. Bluewater angling requires the best outfit you could afford to tame those wild and powerful fish out there. I was trying my luck using my Ryobi Safari for trolling when we were moving on to another reef hoping for some yellowfin tuna action. Instead of hitting a yellowfin tuna, I got a MARLIN instead!

Marlin!!! Hookup!!! My fellow angler, Mr Chan, ran to press the bell to stop the vessel.

The whole incident (not even a battle) last almost a minute only. 300m of YGK's PE4 50lbs just disappeared from the spool leaving behind a smoking reel. The spool was HOT to touch and during switching spool, I could smell 'chao da' (burnt scent) from the drag assembly within.


At least we get to see what fish was it. A marlin. It came out of the surface and did the shake-it-off thing to dislodge the skirt. We saw only the bill and the head and my jaws dropped. It is a huge one! Huge to me. The captain of the boat saw it too. "Ikan besar! Ikan besar!"

At 150m (my line is color coded, I saw the yellow section with half a spool of line left.), we saw the beast. I could even see the inner jaws of this beast at this distance!The marlin is estimated around 200kg-300kg. The 7kg drag went off screaming and never stop for even a split second. We locked up the drag to the fullest but it just didnt work at all. The last 50m of 50lbs left the spool and burst like thread. Suddenly everything went quiet after the line burst. It left me in awe of the power of the beast that stole my line... my fingers were trembling when I was switching spools. My fingers were trembling for at least 5mins or even more as I was getting my rig ready, I couldnt tie a proper knot to the swivel at all. My fingers havent trembled in a long time...

Stay tuned for more stories. (When I feel better and could write more.)

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