A fishing story to get us in the right mood…:
Last year on a practice run we went out form Jolly Harbour very early in the morning bound for the “east bank” in search of the blue marlin. We knew that the more we caught the better we would get at it, and we were very serious about making sure that we knew what to do when tournament time came a few weeks later. Some people thought it was funny that we were out on a practice run for a fishing tournament but I knew it was important. It ended up being a bit choppier that we had expected and it took us longer to get to the bank which was 20 miles from Jolly Harbour. The bank is one of the few shallow spots around these parts which isn’t on the marine charts and finding it was super difficult when I was younger. As kids my brother, other friends and I would go up there to fish for tuna and had to use three land marks in order to find the correct place.
Last year on a practice run we went out form Jolly Harbour very early in the morning bound for the “east bank” in search of the blue marlin. We knew that the more we caught the better we would get at it, and we were very serious about making sure that we knew what to do when tournament time came a few weeks later. Some people thought it was funny that we were out on a practice run for a fishing tournament but I knew it was important. It ended up being a bit choppier that we had expected and it took us longer to get to the bank which was 20 miles from Jolly Harbour. The bank is one of the few shallow spots around these parts which isn’t on the marine charts and finding it was super difficult when I was younger. As kids my brother, other friends and I would go up there to fish for tuna and had to use three land marks in order to find the correct place.
We knew for sure we were in the right place because whenever we got there birds would cover the bank giving away both its position and the position of the tuna. Anyway, on this practice day I wasn’t on the old pirogue with my brother using land marks. I showed this pic of the small boat before and she used to catch fish, but i dont think we could catch a grander which is what we were after.
This time we were on the Arawak Odyssey, our 52 foot power catamaran which usually works doing the eco tour. Helping us find the bank and its edge were the electronic GPS chart plotter as well as the sonar depth recorder. The bank is a few miles form the continental shelf way out East of Green Island and the water around the bank is roughly between 900 and 6000 feet deep. The shallow bank itself is on average about 350 feet deep and the tuna and various other fish congregate on its edge. Wherever you find small tuna in these waters you will also find Marlin, and this is what we were hoping for. Finally we got to the bank and started trolling through the birds using massive lures which targeted big blue marlin. For about an hour we didn’t see any marlin or other big fish. Marlin fishing can be exceptionally boring, and many compare it to other forms of big game hunting. The hunt can be long and patience is of utmost importance. Suddenly we say something off in the distance that looked like a big floating object. Since floating objects in the Atlantic usually have loads of fish surrounding them we thought it would be worth going in for a closer look.
On the way there we saw some frigate birds and managed to pick up a few mahi mahi fish which gave us some of the excitement we were looking for. Their boisterous energy along with their beautiful green and blues always are things to excite fishermen. While fighting the fish we saw that the object off in the distance was getting closer, and we could see that it was actually an Atlantic row boat just coming in from The Canary Islands. 
Some people say these guys racing across the Atlantic in tiny row boats are completely mad, but the thought of being in a row boat for a couple of months with all the excitement and mystique of being out there alone kinda excites me too. (not too serious mom, don’t worry)Anyway, we managed to pick them up on the VHF radio and had a nice long chat with them. I guess we were the first people they had seen in about 70 days and seeing Antigua off in the distance filled them with excitement. We told them that we had just got some mahi mahi and that we were really looking for Marlin. To our astonishment they then gave us an interesting story. They said that half way along their trip, mahi mahi started hanging out with them feeding on other fish that would hide and feed under their row boat. Two days before a huge fin appeared behind them as they rowed into the sunset and it approached their boat rapidly before diving below them. They said they panicked for a moment not knowing what it was then saw it surface near them again immediately recognizing that it was a monster blue marlin. The marlin was trying to attack the mahi which were now trying to take refuge under the row boat. This photo by John Ashley shows a marlin hitting and killing a fish.
As soon as the marlin appeared next to the boat it vanished into the blue abyss and for nearly five minutes things returned to normal. All of a sudden there was a massive smash from under the boat’s hull and the two men knew that they had been rammed. What they didn’t know was why, but in my opinion the marlin hit the boat as it tried to kill one of the mahi mahi….crazy but true. The little boat actually took on water and they had to do a underwater repair job the next morning. Anyway, hearing this story the crew and I became even more determined to find a big blue. You will find out if our practice mission produced one tomorrow in part 2. hehehe
Not bad when u consider that unlike sailing week this even has always been a small association event. There are few comparisons to make but as many criticisms as there are for sailing week. The purpose of this blog isn’t to rant about it though as I don’t feel the same problems exist or even come close to those of ASW.
We were soaked from start to finish and beaten around quite a bit too. I think I was 18 years old and my crew including my brother Ali and former co-worker Adam felt quite a bit older after it was all finished up. We caught some good fish and ended up with several prizes. In fact, we have been quite lucky in almost all the tournaments that we have entered and the last few years we have done extremely well. Xtreme was the boat we were on last year and after catching the biggest marling seen in these waters in years the week before, we were being taken seriously. My crew including Big John and Tony had been out with me several weekends in a row before training for the tournament which sounded funny to many, but at the end of the weekend being prepared helped considerably. You see, we fish primarily for the massive Blue Marlin in this tournament hoping along with many other crews to be the first boat in Antigua to catch the elusive 
I think I sweat more than any boat skipper had done before as the marlin made me fight to keep the boat up with it. We traveled over 2.5 miles according to our GPS and did many circles while we fought it. Anyway, I could go on and on about that fight, but at no time did we feel that we were going to be beaten by the fish. I am sure that with our gear and preparation that veterans Tony, Big John, Chopper, me and the other crew…we will be ready for that grander this year. We finished 2nd behind Derrick Biel’s Obsession last year as he managed to catch one small white marlin more than we did. In fact of all the marlin that we both brought to the side of the boat, none were killed. All we had to do was bring them to the side of the boat, take photos of the fish and then carefully release them to fight another day. You are only allowed to bring one back to the scales if you want to and if it’s over 300 lbs. There is quite a bit of controversy about this and I won’t go into it here, but thanks to the pull out of the Japanese fishing boats last year from the area, we have more marlin than we have had in years. This year’s tournament will prove to be a contest like none seen here before. The largest marlin brought to the scale in this tournament over the past 41 years was a 772 lb Blue that was caught by some years ago by a foreign boat. I think this is a pic of that marlin.
We want bigger this year!!!
If you can think of a possible sponsor that would like to get some mileage out of this then please let me know J My poor uncle Jim is also determined to catch a grander and has spent considerable time and money trying to train and prepare his boat and crew for that event, but last week they hit a stumbling block after fighting a small fish for over two hours. Three of his (geriatric) crew had to take turns fighting the Blue Marlin which eventually freed itself close to the boat after several futile hours of punishment. I even here that a doctor was involved later that night, but can not corroborate this story 100%. Lucky for him there is a Sport Division where you target smaller fish like Mahi Mahi, tuna and the like. Here you see the stronger man on his team having a hard time with a mahi mahi..: