Steve Campbell - Blue Marlin Magic

Same as for many Kiwis, Steve Campbell’s passion for fishing came from his father, the late Irvine Campbell.

Initially, Steve chased inshore species from wharves, dinghies and various family boats, before graduating to the challenges of big game fishing.

At the age of 30 Steve says he remembers setting himself the goal of retiring before he turned 45 so he could pursue his passion for game fishing. In 1998 he sold his business and commenced charter fishing, catching 80 billfish in his first season and quickly becoming one of New Zealand’s top charter-boat skippers.

In 1999 Steve built Reel Passion and took her up to Samoa and Tonga with his fishing mentors Bob and Chris Ash, chasing the mighty blue marlin. Twelve months and 1500 engine hours later, he says he’d learnt ‘how not to catch them’, but fifteen years further on, and with over 2,000 marlin under his belt, he thinks he’s starting to figure it out.

After fishing a wide variety of destinations in the South Pacific, Steve chose Vava’u in the Tongan Islands to realise his dream of running a top-class fishing lodge. In March 2000, workers started building Ika Lahi Game Fish Lodge, planning to open for the 2001 season. The lodge had two game boats, Reel Addiction and Reel Devotion, with a Shark Cat appropriately named Reel Connection for transfers and supply runs to the mainland.

However, the islands are not the easiest place in the world to start a business, as Steve and his partner Caroline discovered when Cyclone Waka hit on New Year’s Eve, 2001-2002. During the cyclone, one of the worst in recent history, Reel Devotion was sunk, Reel Addiction was holed above the waterline and, to top it all off, a tree came down through the newly-completed restaurant’s roof.

They were forced to delay the lodge’s opening until May 2002. Over the following 14 seasons, Steve’s choice of location was vindicated. He has caught 1,801 marlin in Tongan waters, currently holds 44 all-tackle and line-class records, along with 174 national and club records. His dream fulfilled, Ika Lahi Game Fish Lodge has given his clientele access to what is one of the best blue marlin fisheries in the world.

As you can imagine, when asked what his proudest fishing accomplishments were, Steve had a few! Releasing 97% of all billfish caught was right up there; in 2012 he caught 11 blues in one day, and he has tagged and released three ‘granders’ (blue marlin over 1,000 pounds/453.6 kilos). Steve also has had four grand slams on his boat (a ‘grand slam’ is when three species of
billfish are caught by the same boat in a single day).

Steve believes the key to his success is due to his analytical attitude to fishing. The data on every fish caught is meticulously recorded on a series of spreadsheets, alongside his personal observations, and then analysed. For instance, he has discovered that using a teaser increases the number of strikes by 7% on whichever side of the boat it’s run from. The shotgun accounts for 31% of strikes and on average catches the smallest fish. The port long ‘rigger accounts for 25% of strikes, the starboard long ‘rigger 21%, the port long fl at (long corner) 13%, and the starboard short flat (short corner) only 10% – although this corner tends to hook the largest marlin.

In the quest for more data, Steve towed a camera for two seasons and discovered that marlin tend to come up into the middle of the lure spread, striking the lure from the inside and escaping out the side the lure is run. This information saw Steve develop a stiff hook rig and lure type for each position.

The lures are rigged with single hooks, 24ft (7.3m) of 650lb (295kg) leader, and a 10ft (3m) double.
When asked for his favourite lure, he did not hesitate: the medium-sized Moldcraft Bobby Brown Senior in black and purple, with a third inner skirt in either orange or pink, based on the current baitfish in the area.

Matching the lure to the position in the spread is also critical. The Bobby Brown runs on the port long ‘rigger; a #3 Demon (‘fruit salad’) is out on the shotgun; a Tantrum pusher is placed on the
long flat port; a Bonze Ballistic on the starboard long ‘rigger; and the Black Bart Brazilian on the short corner.

Trolling techniques are based on data he’s collected: 85% of strikes are made on the turn, so Steve trolls in a zigzag pattern and avoids running directly with the sea. Statistics tell him that most
strikes occur when trolling into or across the sea with a boat speed of around eight knots.

While Dacron and nylon line are preferred for charter work, due to its stretch and forgiving nature, Steve is sure that braid is the way of the future, especially now that brands like Shimano and
Platypus are producing line-class braids.

Always happy to share his knowledge, Steve authored his first book Blue Marlin Magic in 2014. Many years of studying the physiology, anatomy and behavioural traits of blue marlin while collecting and recording masses of data has been distilled into this book. With amazing photography by Doug Perrine and Jon Schwartz, Blue Marlin Magic has received worldwide acclaim and was the first fishing book ever to receive an ‘Independent Book Publishers’ gold medal, not to mention two silver medals. With fresh challenges in mind, Steve sold Ika Lahi Lodge in December, 2014, and headed up to the Conflict Islands in Papua New Guinea with the idea of establishing a lodge in this untouched paradise. As it turned out, the fishing was outstanding, but the logistics of transferring guests to the lodge and then out to the fishing grounds 100nm offshore proved too challenging to make the venture viable.

Further research around the Pacific only confirmed what Steve had suspected for 15 years: Vava’u has arguably the finest blue marlin fishery in the world. So, with this in mind, Steve and a long-term client, friend and now business partner, Murray Winks, purchased a purpose-built American game-fishing boat Blue Marlin Magic, a 34ft (10.4m) Luhrs Sportfisher powered by two 315hp Yanmar diesels. The boat offers air conditioning, accommodation for four overnight, and a spacious flybridge with an easy-access internal stairwell. Better still, Steve is able to utilise a comprehensive and modern electronics package, with radar, two GPS units, autopilot and sounder.

Steve and Murray have equipped the boat with a brand new range of rods and reels, which include: four 60-kilo Shimano Tiagra reels with bent-butt rods; four 80w Tiagras with bent-butt rods; two Shimano TLD50 LRS reels with bent-butt rods; two TLD50 24kg stand-up rigs; and two TLD30 15kg stand-up rigs. Then there are the light tackle rigs, with Avet reels being incorporated into the 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 8kg line classes. Want to cast surface lures or jig? No problem, as there are also four Shimano Stella 30000 bait-switch outfits spooled with 37kg braid, and four Shimano Stella 30000 reels spooled with 37kg braid clamped onto Jigging Master rods.

Blue Marlin Magic was commissioned on August 3, 2015, and in its first three months accounted for 53 marlin. Without the lodge to worry about and with plenty of confidence in Blue Marlin Magic’s capabilities, Steve is now free to take clients on long-range trips exploring the outlying islands and seamounts. While interviewing Steve I was struck by the unbridled passion and respect he has for blue marlin particularly regarding their adaptability, strength and dogged determination. They are the most difficult of all marlin species to catch. Tellingly, even after all these years, Steve’s eyes still sparkle and his enthusiasm bubbles over whenever he’s talking about them; I don’t think that will ever go away.