How to Catch & Land a Marlin

(or other LARGE fish)

from a Sailboat

By Mike Wapner

The simple answer is, unless you are going to eat it, don’t try! However, when you are blue water sailing and trolling for food, there is no way of knowing what you will hook. The following is intended to be informative and helpful to serious sport fishers and sailors alike. Being of both persuasions, no bias is intended. I have been a serious fisherman, spear fisherman and sailor for over 40 years and hopefully you will enjoy and learn from my mistakes. Tackle: A stand-up (5-1/2’ to 6’) tuna rod (50-120# class) with roller guides/tip and a gimbaled butt is a good choice. If you have a very high freeboard aft, you might consider a slightly longer rod but don’t exceed 6-1/2’. Calstar, Sabre, Penn and others offer variety & quality. The reel should be a lever drag model and preferably 2-speed. Penn and Shimano are preferred because of availability of spare parts in foreign ports. I personally like the Shimano Tiagra 50W, 80W or the TLDII50LRS. Use 100-150# Spectra line with a 150# Monofilament top shot. Use a 200-250# ball-bearing swivel between the top shot and the leader. The leader should be 150-200# monofilament. If you are in an area where Wahoo (Ono) are around, use a stranded wire leader.
A variety of lures have proven effective with a “hint” of using darker colors on overcast days and brighter colors on sunny days. Always, for Wahoo, the shinier the better. Lure selection doesn’t seem to make much difference in So. America and the So. Pacific. Have a gimbaled rod belt and/or harness readily available at the aft rail when fishing. Also have both a heavy fixed gaff and a flying gaff available aft on the rail.
	DON’T use a boat line (parachute cord and rubber bungee) on a sailboat in blue water as you WILL experience break-offs and lose a lot of tackle on all but smaller fish. This obviously is very dependent on where you are. More on this subject following. Rig a Robust rod holder(s) and associated backing on your stern or somewhere aft not to interfere with self-steering, wind generator, etc. The rig will be left unattended for long periods of time and the holder will have to sustain not only a strike but a run as it is difficult to hear the fish strike even with the “clicker” ON. Also, don’t forget a safety lanyard from the reel to a stanchion or cleat.
Set your drag to 15# minimum as you want the fish to self-hook and stay hooked. If you have an aft-cockpit and are close to the rod location, set even a higher drag. DON’T fish at night or in heavy wind. At night you can’t see what you’re doing or the fish and there’s usually minimal crew available. In heavy wind, you won’t be able to slow, stop or turn the boat quickly. Try to have someone always listening for a strike or at least periodically looking. Preferably this is not the responsible watch stander as he/she has other responsibilities, but this may not always be possible. When you hook a fish let all hands know ASAP. Develop a pre-planned scenario of who does what when a strike occurs. The basic steps are (depending on how many crew are available):
1) One person on the rod, with rod-belt on, fighting the fish. He/she has to keep the fish on and minimize line loss while the boat is being slowed & turned. 2) Crew to reduce sail (as required) to enable slowing/stopping and turning the boat. This usually means dropping/furling sail and starting the motor and it is the easiest. 3) One crew (if available) at the helm; otherwise use the auto-pilot to steer until the boat can be slowed & turned. 4) Once the boat can be maneuvered to fight the fish, do so to keep the fish on the stern or on the quarter; NOT forward of the beam. If you have to chase the fish, don’t try to back down as a sailboat doesn’t go fast in reverse.

5) Try to tire the fish as you are not trying to preserve it. This will make landing it much much easier. You do NOT want to attempt to gaff or boat a large green fish on a sailboat!

6) When the fish is ready for gaff, use the flying gaff first trying to place it well up into the body just back of the head. Learn how to appropriately use a gaff! If you have a walk-up or walk-thru transom, you can typically pull the fish up and into the cockpit or at least onto a transom step. If you have to pull a large fish over the rail, additionally put a fixed gaff into the fish forward of the tail (or use a tail loop) and two crew lift the fish over the rail. Depending on your life-line spacing, you may want to go under the life-line. Don’t worry about getting blood and guts on your pretty gelcoat. It is easy to wash off.

7) If you have hooked a large shark (other than a Mako or Thresher which are good eating), cut the leader or line and let it go. If it is a Mako or Thresher be careful! If you hook a Wahoo be careful of the VERY sharp teeth. If you hook a billfish, be cautious of the bills as they commonly have serrated sharp edges and can cut or severely scrape you (and the boat).

8) Clean and filet the fish, pack and get into the frig. (or freezer) as quickly as possible. If you have a vacuum bagger, use it after you dry out the filets. Don’t keep more than you can eat yourself.

9) In Mexican waters, be aware of licensing laws and make sure you have both personal fishing and boat licenses.

Personal accounts of catching BIG fish on a sailboat:

1. Our 1^st sailboat big fish: On board our 32’ Islander with only my 12 year-old son and me as crew sailing off the West end of Catalina Is. on a beautiful summer afternoon on the way to Cat Harbor from Santa Barbara Is. We were trolling for Bonita with two Penn "Squidders" (w/ 20# line) pulling one feather and one silver spoon. We had a blind strike from a Striped Marlin of ~150# on the feather. We had up a 135 genoa and full main. I told my son to grab the rod (which he didn’t want to do) while I furled the genoa, luffed the main and started the motor. Remember he was holding, or trying to hold a 150# fish on tackle for a 30# fish and he was 12! He was screaming that the line was going out too fast and the fish was under the boat. I told him to tighten down the drag “just a little” and keep the rod tip down to keep the line off the rudder and prop. It maybe took me 5 minutes at most to take care of the sails and turn the boat so the fish was off the beam amidst continuous screams. I tightened the stopper on the wheel and grabbed a butt belt from the cabin which barely stayed on my son’s skinny hips, but this helped him a lot. He fought the fish for approximately 40 minutes after which he simply couldn’t hold on any longer at which time, he took the wheel and I took the rod. After about another 20 minutes, the Marlin came to the surface, jumped 4 or 5 times and threw the hook. My son was disappointed, but I was happy not having to worry about what we would do to land it without any gaff or tail loop.

2. On board 46’ Hylas sloop approaching Fatu Hiva, Marquesas Is., pulling two boat lines (250# parachute cord w/ double, long, heavy rubber truck bungees) with Tuna feathers on 200# leaders. I was reading in the center cockpit with another crew member when we both heard a very loud “bang” and then maybe 2-3 seconds later, a 2^nd loud “bang” coming from the stern. Looking aft, I saw nothing wrong until I looked in the wake and didn’t see any lures at the surface; but the bungees were slack. Both lures were gone with both swivels broken. $50 of gear gone and only one swivel left! Actually, the swivels were pulled apart. These were Sampo 125# ball-bearing swivels and were the weak link in the tackle chain. After some of the large Yellowfin we had seen the day before taken by local islanders, my suspicion was that the lures were hit by two large Tuna and the bungees weren’t enough shock absorber to take the initial strike. Note: I have used boat lines many times both on my own sport fisherman as well as a deckhand on a party boat while fishing for Albacore and Bluefin Tuna and NEVER had anything let-go. However, we also never had anything over 50# hit a trolled boat line. IF you are in an on-shore or near-shore area that you know and the targeted fish are <100#, then a boat line is fine, but always consider “what you might catch”.

3. On board 46’ Hylas sloop just departing the Tuomotos (still in-sight of Kauehi Atoll) on the way to Tahiti (3-day sail). Crew of three adults including myself, flying downwind at 7+ kts. under a code 0 and full main. Tackle (no longer a boat line!) was an old Penn 8/0 Senator with a “rock cod handle” and 80# mono. The rod was an even “older” 7-1/2’ glass rod with a wood butt and rusted circular guides. There was a blind strike to the one feather lure being trolled and the fish sounded. I grabbed the rod and screamed to stop and turn the boat. I initially thought it was a small shark from the way it pulled, but it was hard to tell because I was losing line VERY fast from the boat’s forward velocity. I buttoned down the drag as tight as I could turn the star wheel and applied as much thumb pressure on the spool as I could, hardly slowing the loss of line. It took my crew mates exactly 30 minutes to drop sail and get the boat stopped. By this time the fish was “done” and after cranking a long time, I saw color and identified the fish as a very small Blue Marlin of maybe 130#. After handing the rod to a crewmate, I grabbed the leader from the swim step pulling the fish in close enough to grab the bill (with a gloved hand). After sliding the lure up the leader, I cut it right at the hook and pulled the fish through the water reviving it before letting go. Perfect ending, but a major “flap” getting there!

4. Same Hylas sloop and tackle as above but motoring between Tahiti Nui and Raiatea with original three crew plus my wife who joined us in Tahiti. We were enjoying a beautiful sunny afternoon approximately ½ mile outside the reef at Raiatea when the reel started to scream. The fish jumped immediately and it was a BIG Marlin this time. I was disappointed because we needed fish to eat and Tuna was preferred. As the boat slowed, the fish turned and ran forward on the surface with lots of aerial activity; it was a great sight. I ended up fighting the fish for well over an hour before I got it close to the boat for the first time and got a good look. Our estimate was 350# and it was a Black Marlin; small for a Black! I was tempted to jump into the water and shoot it, but it was decided to let it go and the same procedure was followed as with the Blue a few weeks before. This time it seemed much easier even though it was a much bigger fish. Unfortunately still no Tuna!! But I did shoot a nice one a few weeks prior.

Photos of the So. Pacific Marlin are in the Club Gallery.