With the wicked weather that was forecast over the last weekend me and the boys made a plan to do a couple days trolling and a bit of swordfishing if we got the chance.
Plan was made to head north friday and launch from whangaroa in the morning.
First thing in the morning we headed out to where marc and myself had caught some fish the week earlier but not much sign around we went for a look, but soon the afternoon came around and we needed to make the call if we would stay out wide for the night,
With the weather looking alright we went wide and set up for some night time swordfishing
After cooking a roast lamb we had some rums and put some baits out.
Around 10:30 we had our first bite from an unknowen fish but it was pulling 18kgs of drag and doing some blistering runs.
10 minutes in we pulled the hook and was short lived.
When then drove back up to do another drift and as we set the baits we hooked a nice mako and soon had it released but no one wanted to try retrieve my hooks
We then carried on doing shifts, checking baits and re drifting to make sure we were in the right place.
It was a long night but at 3am i went to lie down and while trying to get to sleep i could hear marc mucking around with one of the reels and soon i could hear the sound of very tight line leaving the reel!
WERE ON!!!!
Tony picks up the rod and starts fighting that unknown and it doesnt run but just sits there shaking its head and we can nearly see the fish and shark is on all our minds but then some real weight comes on and is heading straight down!
This time we stay lighter on the drag and the fish puts up a good scrap doing some blistering runs.
Most of the fight the fish would run down then race to the surface and we would see the lights appear 100m infront of us we would race up to it and it would power back down before we could get a look at what it was
after 30-40mins the leader popped up and we got a look at it
ITS A LING!!! my mate yells
as the gaffs go in there was a bit of cheering and my mate tony had now caught his first sword!
We then fished through the night and no more bites so we made our way back to whangaroa to weigh the fish
Fish went 148.6kg and we were all wrapped
That night the boys had to drive back to auckland for commitments the next day so dropped me in the bay of islands and i waited for Tony and Long to arrive and we would fish the next day and maybe troll lures or try for a daytime sword
Long took some photos as i rigged some baits
here i rigged a kahawai to be fished off a circle hook as we would try a drop for a sword
After 30 mintues with the bait down 500m and no sign of a bite it was time to bring the bait up so started winding.
On the way up we would take turns and when the bait was around 100m away I felt it go tight....
then slack so i quickly free spooled the reel and next minute something grabs the bait and after 5 seconds i increase the drag and hook what we thought was a shark.
Tony puts a harness on and we start the fight.
next thing 100m away there is a splash and a jump....
we take a double take
MArlin????
we are hooked up to a striped marlin!!!!
It was one of the toughest fish i have fought and did some great jumps for us!
soon enough had it boat side
this isnt the first time that Tony Long and I have caught a striped marlin on a sword rig and i hope its not the last!!
Tony chose to take the fish as this would be his only chance at a marlin this year so we put the lures out and headed for home
It was a great weekend and one ill remember for sure!