Huntin' Striped Marlin instead of Coues...

[COOSEFAN]

As you've already seen, I caught a fish that was for me a fish of a lifetime! My buddy Scott and I headed down to Mexico to scout some ranches, visit with our friends that live down there and try to get some fishing in while we were there. We looked at a ranch on the way down and weren't too impressed so we went straight to our buddy Robert's house in San Carlos. Instead of describing what his house and the view was like, I'll just post some pics of the view from the patio, it says it all!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While down there we noticed all the Spiny Tailed Iguana's on the walls and Scott couldn't help himself, Robert and I laughed our butts off watching him chase those things around until he finally caught one!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first day we were on a 28ft boat owned by our friend Todd. We trolled all day in search of billfish or Dorado's. First thing in the morning we had a Sailfish on and by the time I got the rod in hand and the drag set he jumped once and spit the lure out. I was looking at the reel when he jumped so I didn't even get to see him. That evening I again hooked up with a gorgeous Sailfish that gave me about 4 minutes of excitement before gaining slack and throwing the lure. That was my first time even seing a billfish of any kind and he was going ballistic, flipping, folding and dancing on the water, absolutely gorgeous fish!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 2nd day I went with Robert on his 26ft boat and Scott went with Todd on his boat. Our plan was to spread out and hopefully find a weed paddy or any schools of baitfish and meet up at Tortuga Island around noon. The wind and swells were bad and it was rough all day, especially in those smaller boats. Robert and I made it to Tortuga but Scott and Todd never showed up. Tortuga is around 50 miles west of San Carlos and about 25 miles east of the Baja Peninsula and the town of Santa Rosalio. We fished around Torutga for several hours. I caught several small Yellowtail, a rock bass and had a giant Yellowtail on for about 10 minutes that was obviously bigger and stronger than the equipment I was using! He had me pinned in the corner of the boat with the drag set as hard as it would go and was still taking line! I was thumbing the spool to slow it down but he soon got me in the rocks and broke me off!! What a bummer!! Robert landed 2 of those big Yellowtails that weighed around 35 lbs and 1 Grouper which was probably around the same size. With the waves getting worse we decided to head West to the town of Santa Rosalio and stay the night there.

 

 

 

Santa Rosalio was a completely different town than San Carlos. The people there were just as nice but it seemed older and dirty. You definitely don't want to go play in the ocean anywhere near this town!!! We took half of the Grouper to a very nice little restaurant and they cooked it for us in a garlic and butter sauce and with fresh warm tortillas, rice and beans it was amazing!!! We got a small hotel room and then headed out at 4:00am the next morning to make our way back the 75 miles to San Carlos, with hopefully smaller waves!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The sea was worse! It was manageable still but was slow going most of the way. We stopped at Tortuga but didn't catch anything. We noticed that the winds had seemingly blown the green water north and the water was now a gorgeous blue color which is much better for fishing! We saw tons of Dolphins, Whales, and Flying fish on the drive back in this blue water!

 

 

 

 

It was after driving for several hours that Robert glanced out past me to the port side and yelled "Marlin"!!!! He yelled at me to grab the wheel, and don't lose sight of the fish! I could see, only 20 yards of the side of the boat a shark-like fin paralleling us going the same speed as the boat! We were slowly moving and the fish was just feeding along the surface very slowly with only his tail out of the water. At one point I could see his whole body as clear as if he was in an aquarium and it was breathtaking to say the least! He looked as big as the boat, his electric blue stripes were amazingly brilliant and seemed to pulsate as if he were powered by a battery! Robert was re-tying a rod for me to put a live Cabito on a hook and was still yelling at me to "NOT LOSE SIGHT OF THE FISH"!!! Just then, as I was trying my hardest to not lose sight of him, he dove down out of sight!!! I screamed "I lost em'", and started veering left and right to locate him. Thankfully I got lucky and stayed the same course as the fish as he then reappeared on my starboard side. " I GOT EM", I yelled and Robert was still re-rigging but could see his tail also and was relieved but again he yelled, "DON'T LOSE EM' AGAIN", and just then he dove and dissappeared!!!! dang!!! This happened for about 15 minutes back and forth and each time it seemed like a miracle that I stayed the same course as the fish and relocated him each time.

 

Finally, Robert was rigged up and ready, I was alongside the fish again and Robert cast the bait perfectly about 20 yards ahead of the fish. I let go of the wheel and went back to Robert and we watched as the bait floated past the Marlin's mouth without getting bit! Robert knew exactly what was wrong, he pulled the bait out, I ran back up to the wheel and stayed on the fish. Robert knew the bait wasn't swimming good enough so he grabbed a fresh bait and again was ready. After another couple minutes we were again drifting with the giant just off the rear port side and Robert casted way ahead of the fish. I ran down again ready to grab the rod and watched as the now frantically swimming fresh bait neared the monster's mouth........WHAM!!!! The rod was on freespool with line flying off it as Robert handed me the rod and said "Hit em'!" I set the drag, leaned back, slid into the side of the boat and watched as the monster made the drag scream! I could see the line rising and knew I was getting ready to see my first ever Marlin go airborne! He was amazing, constantly going crazy and seemed to be in the air more than under water! This went on for what seemed like hours, I was shaking, my arms were burning and I couldn't have been more excited! I sat down on the ice chest and set the rod on the gunnel of the boat then laid down on the rod with my arms dangling. I was worn out and needed a break and the fish at this time was straight down and broadside with a strong steady pull. Twice during this fight he spooled me past the knot where the monofilament is tied to the spectra backing and to have a knot between me and that monster was scary to say the least! Each time I got that knot back on the reel I felt better!

 

With multiple runs and nonstop acrobatics it seemed that I was finally getting a handle on em' at about the 40-45 min. mark. He was straight down again and slightly taking line from me but then he just stopped. I took advantage of the moment and started winching him up, a foot or two at a time. Finally I could see the leader, Robert ran back, grabbed and wrapped it and pulled up then got ahold of his bill! I ran to the side of him and the fish was motionless. We planned to have me hold him while Robert took the pics from the front of the boat then I could release him, but it appeared the fish had died or was too worn out. Robert held him low in the water and said he's not gonna make it, he was gill hooked and bleeding which is a sure sign they won't make it so we now had to get him on the boat!!! Robert jumped up on the gunnel, lifted as high as he could, and I leaned over to grab the tail and then we both fell over backwards into the boat with the monster!

 

What a gorgeous critter! I couldn't beleive the shear size of everything, his tail, his eyes, the overall girth around his shoulders, it was simply an amazing fish! I felt bad he didn't make it but I knew we were going to make the most of him. We immediately filleted him and had him on ice only a couple minutes after taking a couple pics. I then had a local in town smoke all the meat and even after giving more than half of the meat to the local guy, I still brought home a bunch! The smoked meat tastes like HoneyBaked Chicken with a Tuna texture, it's awesome!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I can't thank Robert enough! That guy know's fish like no other, there is no way I could've got that bait in that fish's mouth or even knew what to do. It was serious teamwork that got that fish caught and it is just as much his fish as it is mine and again, I can't thank him enough! Robert even took a bunch of pictures while I was fighting the fish and says there's some good ones of him jumping, I'll hopefully get them soon and share with you all.

 

We were late getting back to San Carlos and learned that Scott had gone out with some other friends who caught a similar Striped Marlin that same day, plus he got to catch a 80 lb Sailfish as well! We got the meat taken care of and then headed to the "Soggy Peso" to have a cerveza and relax. We didn't have a tape measure on the boat but the inside of the gunnels is 8 ft. and based off a conservative guess in length and using a weight chart my Striped Marlin is somwhere around 200lbs! Striped Marlins are usually around 100 lbs and don't get as big as the other types of Marlin, so this one is a true beast of a fish! Absolutely amazing experience, it's a good thing I'm too busy with hunting because I could get serious about that saltwater fishing, man it's addicting!!! Thanks if you took the time to read through my whole experience, I appreciate it! JIM>

 

 

 

 

[couesdiehard]

Jim that is a huge stiped marlin. They are the smallest ones in the area but that is truly a granddaddy of stripies. Congrats. Makes me wish I could get back to Cabo San Lucas soon and try to catch some more marlin and dorado.

Lee

[The Coues]

Nice pics congrats!!

[COOSEFAN]

Jim that is a huge stiped marlin. They are the smallest ones in the area but that is truly a granddaddy of stripies. Congrats. Makes me wish I could get back to Cabo San Lucas soon and try to catch some more marlin and dorado.

Lee

 

 

Yep, I saw one Dorado while cruisin' around but none of us caught any. I just wanted to see one in person up close, ever since I was a kid I've wanted to catch one of those! Those Dorado's i think are the coolest looking fish out there, one of these days i'll catch one hopefully! Thanks!

[Chef]

Stupendous write up!

I read through the entire story not missing a beat.

You did great with all the pictures and again, CONGRATS!

 

It will be nice to see your fish flying through the air!

Hopefully you will post those pics up soon.

 

Like I said...living' the dream!

[tjhunt2]

One awesome read! WOW

 

TJ

[cramerhunts]

Wow! That is one awesome experience Jim! While reading your write up I could feel the rush and the emotions of the battle. Excellent job and congratulations on a heck of a trophy.

 

Sorry to hear that the ranch wasn't what you were looking for.

 

Phil

[AZ402]

That's freaking awesome!

[Coach]

Ok, admit it, you said, "Hey, if I post a bunch of pix of me in heaven catching huge Marlin and drinkin' Tecate's in Mexico, everyone will be SOOOO jealous..." Well...... YOU WERE RIGHT...Awesome story, great pix, congrats. You've earned it 100 times over by putting guys in hunting situations they probably would never have been in without your help. Enjoy the gloating, , I'm still green with envy.

[coueswt]

Great story and thanks for sharing. Can't wait to hear your fall elk stories.

 

 

[Cowman]

Bad to the bone! Nice work!

[Coues 'n' Sheep]

 

 

 

YOU SUCK!!!!!

 

 

 

 

[C.O.U.E.S.]

I'm with Gino... ...While I was reading, I could've sworn I heard Robin Leach talk'n in the background ...livin it up big time...big thank's for tak'n us along...max

[elkhunter]

you are a spoiled SOB, I get to read all of your postings while going to school at U of A, you really really suck Jim, both Perk and I are starting a riot group against you and your spoilings.

 

 

 

all crap aside- looks like a great trip, that's a huge striped marlin and the eye looks awesome, never seen anythin with a pupil shaped that way, congrats!

[ehunt]

Looks like a blast!!!