# Marlins on a kayak, Cabo Style!



## BluewaterJon (Aug 5, 2007)

*Kayak Marlin Video Clip #1*:




*Kayak Marlin Video Clip #2*:




Hi folks Bluewater Jon Schwartz here. Whatsup? I wanted to share some adventures that I've had in the last month or two. There was an epic, seemingly once in a lifetime marlin bite 57 miles off of Cabo San Lucas in Baja. I had heard reports of boats landing so many, that I figured I just had to get down there and try it from a yak. I had a boat drop me off in my kayak with a paddle, pdf, baited rod, and some other safety equipment, and trolled live mackeral over an underwater seamount. The marlin were chasing the bait balls, which were moving helter-skelter all over the place.

Basically the stratgey was, paddle like mad towards the roving "masses of life", and then hope that the baitballs, the accompanying dive bombing birds, and surface slashing marlins would turn directions so I could head them off. Sometimes, the massive storm of action would even reverse course completely, and come raging right back at me! I'd be in the middle of hundreds of dive bombing birds, foaming schools of bait, and pods of marlin that were thrashing and slashing the surgface with their bills! Of course usually my bait was 30 -50 yards behind me, so I had to just sit there and hope that they keep running past me till they got to my bait. Ironically I don't think I ever hooked up when I was in the midst of these crazy scenes of mayhem- but it sure was a blast to be there!

Anyway, long story short, first trip, 2 marlins, hooked, landed, and released from the yak. The weather that first trip was relatively snotty and windy. One marlin, I let him run for too long, and when he was done fighting and I grabbed his bill and removed the hook.















He was a bit tired and dazed, so I jumped in, held him upright, and hung out with him till he came to his senses and swam away. 
















After that I realized that to accomplish my goal, which was to release all of them, from my kayak, with them in good enough shape to swim away full of vigor, I'd need to bring them in sooner. My new game plan became fight them to a certain "tipping point" in the fight, where they were mellow enough to bring them to me, grab the bill, and either remove the hook or cut the 100# leader at the hook, yet not so tired that they couldn't swim off in good health.

The next and last trip, same place, but better conditions. The wind came up pretty good, and so did the chop at times, but at least it wasn't raining and the sun was out. Over a two day period I lucked out by hooking, landing, and releasing 8 striped marlin from the kayak. _Yahoo!_ It was really like going to a water park. The fish were _super_ cooperative. Many times a marlin will only jump once or twice, and at that, far away, but most of these fish were jumping multiple times, super close to my kayak ( ometimes too close!) Fortunately, I had a videographer catching it all on high def video, and he got the wildest footage I've ever seen. Really, super lucky stuff. 









Anywho, it was a total blast. If you have any interest, here is a complete writeup of the first trip, with pics: http://www.bluewaterjon.com/story/story7.html

I don't have the most recent trip, the one with the 8 marlin, written up yet, but again, here is a low resolution youtube clip of the action:





Oh yeah, I guess I should mention- if you ever want to do something like this and you don't have experience with big game kayak fishing, please be safe, start slow, hire a licensed, professional guide, and learn how to handle big fish safely. Shoot, maybe you will do it better than anyone else! Just never think for a second it's safe, because it's not- it has the potential to be very dangerous; after all, these are wild animals and we kayakers are in their domain, only inches above the water.I don't want to sound like a know it all (cuz I don't know it all- far from it!) but I think it would be irrresponsible to post stuff like this and not put out a word of caution.
Take care all!
Bluewater Jon Schwartz


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## sbd (Aug 18, 2006)

Yeeehaaa!


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## GoneFishn (May 17, 2007)

Now Thats Fishing


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## murd (Jan 27, 2008)

Showoff!

Hey Jon , what line are you using and do you ever feel like the yak will pull over from the weight on it?

Rick


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## BluewaterJon (Aug 5, 2007)

Hey all thanks for the replies!

Murd, what line do I use, I use 50 or 60 pound orig P-Line, It remains limp, I like that, and it stretches a lot( relative to others, IMHO), I like that too, so it is very forgiving on big game. I'll back it up with braided line. As far as, have I ever felt like I was going to get pulled over, well, yeah, but it's all about keeping your drag on the right setting. For example, say you are helping your friend with a couch up a flight of stairs, and you are the person at the top. You lean back so that you don't fall down the stairs, and keep an eye out so that you can react if the couch starts to fall down quickly. If I feel like the fish is going to make a run, I will brace myself and put the rod against the side of the yak. Overall, though, I'd rather keep the drag on a lower setting and tighten down if I need to than have to let out line when I am getting pulled over- that can result in a backlash, getting pulled over, taking a wrap, and losing the fish.

Roberta, tell me more about that place with the rocks, and what they catch, and who it is. That's not where they filmed "Marlin from the Rocks", is it? I'd like to chat with them- and you guys- more.
Thanks!
Jon


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## murd (Jan 27, 2008)

Hey Jon me again.

This place in Baja sound like a Marlin bivouac! What size fish do the power boats hook up to then. Are there any world records from the area or are they all similar size to the ones on your video.

Are you guaranteed a marlin if you go fishing there or do they have specific seasons. What I'm getting at is that if they are so plentiful, wouldn't there be a thousand boats fishing for them? I was at Jacksonville, Fla some years back when they had a fishing tournament on and you couldn't count the number of craft there were so many.

Rick


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## avayak (May 23, 2007)

Like your work Jon,
nice captures and no backing up on them game boat style in a yak.
Have you had any fish get tail wrapped around the trace?


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## HiRAEdd (Nov 12, 2005)

Wow! That's extreme fishing! Well done.


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## AGE (Oct 7, 2007)

Legendary!!!!!!  Great job Mate!!


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## Duane (Oct 20, 2007)

looks awesome


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## BluewaterJon (Aug 5, 2007)

Rick, no guarantees, but this was a wide open bite, that's why I was there. The bite has since fizzled and it may never return to this concentration for all I know. The boats were mainly getting the same size. Actually one day, when I was only 4 miles offshore, I hooked into a decent sized ble, maybe 225 lbs, but he freyed the 80# leader. I also lost a huge tuna that hit my bait when a porpoise school passed me, and I came very close to landing him, but the hook broke! Can you believe that?
The thing about this area that i was at is that it is 57 miles from port- so it's beyond the range of what most boats will go to in a day, they mostly fished an area 30 miles out, and yes, that was packed, so I stayed away because it would have been dangerous for me to be in an area where so many boats were.

Avayak, I did have one of the fish on this last trip get tail wrapped. What I did was, let out the line and keep switching my position on him, and it came free. My goal is to keep them kind of close, so if they do get tail wrapped, they don't drown, because I might be able to rectify the situation before they sound.

Tx guys!


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## Biggera Yakker (Jan 25, 2007)

That's exciting looking fishing!
I love the videos too!


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## Southerly (Apr 20, 2007)

That makes us longy guys look like right wimps, anyone fancy bridling a 65cm yellowtail king and heading seaward?

David


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## Southerly (Apr 20, 2007)

Howdy,

The marlin from the rocks vid was shot south of Sydney, as far as I know no one is actively yakking for marlin there, it would certainly be do-able especially around The Tubes, an AKFF field trip maybe? It would be a fair paddle from any of the put-ins but hey, it would not be a challenge otherwise. Some of the land based guys use small inflatable rafts to position the livies out to sea.

The South West Rocks trip is north of Sydney, lots of marlin but not accessable from the rocks usually.

David


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## BluewaterJon (Aug 5, 2007)

Roberta, Thanks for that information. I would like to keep informed on all of your guys' big game stuff down there and learn who is doing what, and see some pics! That is great about that place with the rocks. I wish I could come and take come pics and film of you guys! I looked for, I think it was, Grant's name, and I didn't see it in this thread- was it somewhere else?

Randy, I have seen some pics of the giant baits some boats use in your neck of the woods. The biggest baits I have used from the yak are in Hawaii- 3-4 pound tuna- either deep dropping them down for amberjacks like this one, or slow trolling behind my yak. Are these fish what you call sampson fish?
















Here is a story about the latest Kona adventure I took last summer, going after the big AJ's. 
http://www.bluewaterjon.com/story/story6.html
I was actually hoping to bring up a tiger shark and get some footage and stills before I released it, but my 80# braid kept snapping!

Cheers!
Bluewater Jon


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## grimo82 (Jan 16, 2007)

South west rocks is a much better place for land based (Hat Head -slightly south), as has been mentioned one of the closest spots the shelf is to the coast.

Jervis bay (tubes, diamond etc) where both land based addiction dvd's were shot is probably just as well known. Problem is its smack on the edge of a bombing range which has greatly been shutdown for public access (even more so then a few year back) - so its a long walk. On top of this there is no 'easy' entry point for kayaks as its shear cliffs all the way around (spectacular part of the world) and trolling, live baiting, anchoring etc has greatly been restricted as alot of the area is now designated 'marine park'.


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## bombora (Mar 8, 2006)

Marlin have been caught from Hat Head _ spinning with metal lures _ but they are small compared to Jervis Bay's marlin from the rocks. Only problem with hat is that it fishes best when the current is running, and it can run HARD along the headland. Have seen guys anchor a big tinnie and basically "anchor troll" live and dead baits in the current. So a yak might be a tad strenuous!


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## KingsRule (Sep 14, 2005)

onya mate, great write up and fish


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## Chop (Jan 3, 2008)

Your nuts :shock: And a legend, great fishing and vids. can only imagine the buzz from that!

chop


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## yaker (Aug 29, 2005)

.


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## BluewaterJon (Aug 5, 2007)

Roberta, Thanks for the info, I emailed Grant. Yaker, I can see now that they are slightly different( samsonfish vs. amberjacks).


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## couta1 (Sep 10, 2005)

a good variation..with good results...i different way to do it


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