Bait vs lure
While Cairns has always been a bait fishery – back in the day live-baiting even used to be common place although seldom done any more. More and more though big game lures are finding their way into the spread.
Trolling lures allows you to cover ground faster (troll at a higher speed than baits) and have great success on other pelagics as well besides the marlin.
As we trolled out the opening perfectly perpendicular to the reef edge Luke began to have second thoughts. The water didn’t look quite as dirty today. But we knew with the tide still running out strong that would probably change and so decided to stick to the plan.
We hadn’t traveled too far when I decided to join Luke in the tower with morning tea and a coke for him. We were looking back at the edge and again lamenting about the water not looking too bad when we both saw her at the same time, a big black marlin coming up on the Koya Poi Dog lure.
What an awesome bite! I think we had time to mumble about it being the right decision after all before I scrambled down the tower to help the boys clear the fourth rod (we run four rods when lure fishing).
Marlin Bite
Glen was our angler on strike. By this stage Glen had been fishing with Luke for about 10 years and we could always count on Glen to be slow and steady but a workhorse on big fish. And he loved nothing more than the fight of a big black marlin. Oh the number of big fish that Glen had caught over the years… and the number of photos I have of them…!!With Glen settled in the chair the fight was on!
Want to see a really bad photo of a grander black marlin on a lure? In my haste to get upstairs I banged my camera on the tower leg and something was going on with the zoom. I ended up having to change cameras in the end!! lol
That fish stretched from morning tea past lunchtime – as the cook on board I often think in meals haha. Lucky it was calm and we could all grab a bite on the fly but Glen was waiting to celebrate until the fish was released which ended up being almost perfectly three hours later!
grander black marlin
Finally after just on three hours she was close enough to the boat for Ross to grab the leader and for me to grab a few pics with my wide angle lens now considering my zoom lens was out of action.
Luke didn’t want Ross to pull too hard as he first wanted to get his favourite lure back and safely on board. Once Adam was able to reach out and grab it, we all breathed a sigh of relief, not in-the-least Glen as Adam cut her off, Glen sank back in the chair in pure exhilaration!
There is always one fish that you think back on and wonder, and for Capt. Luke, this is that fish. He thinks she would have been in the 1200lb range and although it is always wonderful to watch them swim away, it would also be nice to have an exact weight.
We’ll never know but can certainly settle on this one being the first grander black marlin caught on a Koya Large Poi Dog lure!