the Bi Blue Marlin are back in numbers this week and feeding hungrilly on a slightly out-of-season run of Yellowfin Tuna in the 10-20 kg range. There are packs of Blues mixed in with huge pods of Common, Bottle-nosed and Spinner Dolphin all chasing the same sashimi!
Unfortunately some of the Blues fight too hard, too early and suffer from exhaustion as happened earlier this week when 2 fish died on the line. The 1st was estimated by Pat Hemphill (Broadbill) as a 450 lb fish on 50 lb line, that leapt all over the ocean for 15 minutes and then dived very deeply. It died at depth and all the efforts of the crew to plane it up were unsucessful. The same day another Blue, also on 50 lb fought bravely for 45 minutes and then was boated after the crew failed to revive it beside the boat. This weighed in at 365 lbs. A tough day for the fish and a hard work-out for the anglers. Several packs of good sized Sailfish are also being caught (tagged & released) and the sea is smooth, blue and clean.... Beats the snow in the UK anyday!
Photos and articles/reports at:
www.pembachannel.com