We had a special day this week on our boat, the "Yellow Rose". Her first blue marlin. We were about 60 miles out into the Atlantic. at the edge of the continental shelf off of Cape Fear near our home in North Carolina. Two of our more experienced crew members estimated its weight at 350 to 400 lb. It took nearly an hour to get the marlin boatside and released. Of course, the bait it took was on one of our lighter rods set up for mahi-mahi, so we didn't have exactly the right tackle combination for a fish that size! But we took our time, stayed calm, and it worked. We chased the fish around the ocean, waited through its soundings, and finally coaxed it up through that clear, cobalt blue water. Things got a little busy at the end with boat maneuvering and other stuff, and our designated photographer apparently forgot that he needed to be in a position where he could get photos of the fish. Too bad, but things happen fast sometimes on a small boat with a big fish. It was a beautiful sight, with the marlin breaking the surface several times during the fight, greyhounding across the water for our viewing pleasure, showing us its colorful side next to the boat, and basically just making sure all of us got enough looks to make this one of our most memorable days ever on the water. We gave the "Rose" a special pat when we got back to the marina. She's a 30 ft. center console we bought last year to replace a larger sportfishing boat that we had for a number of years. Ironically, I had mentioned to Norah the evening before that one of these days I wanted to venture out even farther out past the edge of the shelf to see if we could find a marlin. As it turned out, the Marlin came closer in to us. There is never a day that I don't think about how lucky and grateful I am to be able do do this sort of thing at this stage in my life. Today was one of those very special ones. I apologize for the length of my "report". Just wanted to share this adventure with friends and family. Phil pmoseley@cox.net
P.S. Note from Gloria - Phil, I felt sorry you didn't have a picture of your marlin so I looked and looked for a picture - all I could find was a Florida baseball player and the above fish. Sorry!!
1 comment:
Gee, Gloria. Thanks for adding the photo. So that's what a marlin looks like! Funny. Oh, and by any chance was the baseball player Alex Fernandez? He was the first owner of our last boat. Pitched for the Marlins in the mid-90s. We think he used his world series bonus to buy it!
Phil
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