Скачать или смотреть Sydney Inshore Marlin 1-1-0

Sydney Inshore Marlin 1-1-0
On my bucket list was to hook a Marlin in the yak and it finally happened. It was totally unplanned as I was drifting for Bluespotted flathead and I saw what I thought was a shark but instead was a big stripe marlin that swam under my yak. I estimate it was almost 4m long. With no live baits prerigged I quickly wound up both lines and rigged 50lb leader to a 8/0 circle hook and bridle rigged the largest yakka in my live well. Sent it out unweighted and then rigged my other rod with the same setup except this one had a 150g sinker so I could troll this 10 meters deep. I trolled back to the mark where I initially saw the Marlin and the live yakka swimming on the surface started to get really agitated. It didn’t take long for the rod to bend and I saw a huge water explosion as it tried to toss the hook. It then swam a 180 circle around my yak and leapt into the air. All this happened so quickly I was in a bit of shock, and didn’t get a chance to set the camera angle properly, so all that was captured was the white wash. 😞

I had low expectations of ever seeing the leader as the slow pitch rod setup is good for handling kings not something of this size and plus my total leader length was only about 3m. It was a hectic fight as I had to balance the kayak from the fish lunges, the waves, thumbing the spool and steering at the same time. Midway through the fight I did briefly see it on the surface but I was a bit far away and when I got close it dove back down. It had towed me approximately 5km (3.1 miles) offshore and I didn’t want to go out any further due to the unfavourable fishing conditions. I cranked up the drag another notch but that didn’t seem to do much as I still had to thumb the spool. I would recover line and it would dive back down, this continued until eventually the Sunline ULT PE1.7 (30lb) braid popped. I was sad to loose the fish without sighting it clearly, but also glad the fight was over. Without a harness I figured the least tiring way was to fight the fish is to place the rod on one knee and tuck the butt under the other leg. This provided me the best leverage using my body weight.

Approx fight time: 1hr 40mins

When I got home I checked the drag on the Shimano Ocean Jigger Reel and it was fully locked! I’m amazed the braid didn’t pop earlier or the slow jigging rod didn’t break!

Gear used:
Rod: Ecooda EBESJ-B63ML PE1-2.5 Slow Jigging Rod
Reels: Shimano Ocea Jigger 2000
Line: Sunline ULT Jigger PE1.7 (30lbs)
Leader: Sunline FC Rock 50lbs
Hook: 8/0 Gamakatsu circle
Bait: Big Live Yakka