A Stuart angler and his dad battled a Florida marlin aboard their 14-foot boat.
During the summer months, when the ocean calms down, we like to take our 14-foot Wahoo skiff offshore to fish. The weather report was good for the morning of August 18 ahead of Hurricane Erin, so my oldest son, Joel, and I decided to go out to catch blackfin tuna out at Push Button Hill, about 10 miles east of St. Lucie Inlet in Stuart.
We trolled back and forth across the ledges for an hour, but with no luck. I told Joel to reel in the lines to make a move, but noticed a current rip and some weeds ahead, so I told him to wait. As he was letting the long line back out, the outrigger clip violently snapped, and 40-pound braid started peeling off the reel.
Joel immediately took command of the rod as I turned the boat to give chase, trying to gather back as much line as possible. I had first thought that he had a large blackfin tuna, then Joel saw it jump and said, “That’s a marlin, Dad!”
Our mood and tone shifted. Things became serious, and the work began. For the next hour and 10 minutes, the battle went back and forth. The fish would dive deep, then rise slowly to spectacular jumps. Joel kept relentless pressure on, despite having relatively light spinning gear, no fighting belt or chair. He fought the fish largely from the top of a cooler!
Joel battled the marlin on a 6-foot Star Rod matched to a Daiwa BG 5000 reel. We used 40-pound braided line connected with 80-pound mono leader and a homemade purple tuna feather to fool the fish…