# HI 8/8/12 The one that got away



## Boogie (Dec 2, 2011)

I have often dreamed about what this day would be like and new the time would eventually come. The kayak fishing day started off like any other day. Nothing out of the ordinary to speak of. I arose before dawn to arrive at my favorite launch spot while still dark. I forgot a few important things including my back up paddle, my camera, and ice for fish. I was in the water one hour prior to sunrise and began heading for my spot. I started the day dragging dead bait but was looking for some live opelu. I got lucky and found a big pile of bait and was able to quickly fill up my live well net. I bridled up 2 mackerel scads and started off dragging them down the coast. Along the route I came onto another ball of bait and stopped to try and catch a few more. It always feels good when you got live bait on the line.
Down the coast further I had something chase the baits. The drags made a little bit of sound but i continued a bit further without checking things out. That was a big mistake. The baits had crossed and by waiting a little bit longer they completely tangled in a huge mess. When I finally did check the baits it was utter chaos. They were all wrapped up on each other's lines. I was so bummed. The only way to do this quickly and get back to fishing was to cut one line. With two live baits dangling I cut into one power pro. I untangled the one leader and in hast, I had no choice but to surgeon knot the two power pro lines back together. With both live baits still intact, and one line surgeon knotted back together, I was off down the coast for more offshore trolling.
By now the sun was coming up and it was getting bright. What a perfect day to be out sailing on my Hobie AI. The winds were predicted to be 10-15 later in the day but in the morning it was a light 8 mile an hour wind. I was so tired from such an early start I found myself dozing off in auto pilot mode catching a few minutes of sleep here and there. The gentle trades pushed me down the coast towards my destination. The tide was a three day new moon with a fluctuating tide. I had a feeling the noon low tide would triggered some feeding. I trolled a good 6 miles at this point with no strikes. I was starting to feel a little disappointed but it was such a nice day to be on the water how could one complain.
Just after noon I found myself about 3 miles offshore at the shark tour operation. Here they have a buoy that is anchored up in 400 feet of water. This continues anchor spot acts like a FAD and bait balls will cluster around it. Beside sharks, and bait balls there are a lot of pelagic species that frequent the area as well. When I arrived, the shark boat was there with their cage in the water. I have often caught sharks by getting to close to the cage while they are in operation. Most times when the shark boat guys are here they are using some sort of chum to bring in the sharks for viewing. This chum also attracts the bait and the predators that feed on them. Today I took a course just windward of the boat and as I past the shark boat I maneuvered my bait into their chum line. I noticed that there was also some kind of current upwelling going on and there was lots of stuff in the water. I could see debri, bait, and fish. About 50 yards past the shark cage I took my first strike of the day. I looked back and immediately saw a mahi go airborne. This mahi put on a nice show for the shark boat people and gave me some good fun to. I was able to boat this fish and it felt good. 
Seeing as how the water looked so productive I decide to give the shark cage one more pass before heading down the coast. I took a wide angle to the boat and hooked it just downwind of the cage. 50 yards off the stern I noticed right away I was kayak fishing in the same area as before with lots of debri and small fish in the upwelling. During the second pass I took a small strike. The fish didn't go airborne right away and it didn't do a blistering run so I knew it was not an ono or a mahi. My gut was telling me that it was a big barracuda. Whatever it was on my line was coming at me with little resistance. I decided to give the hooks a quick set and pulled back tightly on the line. Next I saw a tremendous splash. I thought a shark had hit the barracuda that I thought was on the line. I cranked back on the reel and what happened next completely surprised me. I huge blue marlin exploded out of the water and started tail walking across the surface right at me only 50 feet away. My first reaction was complete shock and awe followed by "oh shit, oh shit." Then the "What am I going to do with this thing." I was scared for sure. A fish this size could kill me. From the looks of the blue marlin it was about the size of 2 tall men and as big around as three dolphins. Simply one of the most massive fish I have seen while out fishing. My first thought was that this is going to be an impossible marlin to land and that I should just cut my line. Then I noticed blood gushing from the gill plates of the marlin as it was tail walking. So I had to make an effort to land this fish that I thought may be dying. So much going on in your head during these moments and everything seemed slow motion even thought it was full speed. I buckled down and went to work on the blue marlin. After a while of spectacular tail walking and bleeding the marlin went down. Luckily it was close to me when it went down. My mind was racing and I kept thinking the fish may die and be hard to pull up as dead weight. So I started boosting to get it up quickly. I got the marlin all the way up to my leader and got my wind on leader onto the reel. At this point the marlin was 10 feet below my kayak and I could see the size and beauty of it. The marlin was about 14 feet long with a girth of about 2 men's arms. I am by no means an expert but I am guessing this fish was over 400 pounds. I continued to try and lift the marlin closer to within gaff range. Just a few more hand lifts and the line broke at the knot on my hook. 60 pound fluorocarbon knotted was no match for this kind of weight. I watch the marlin slowly sink and swim away. At this point the fish looked OK but was unsure if this fish was injured or not, I said a quick prayer that the fish would live and survive. I was very happy not to take this huge fish home. I would have had to tie the marlin to the kayak to get it in. The marlin would have taken several men to get it from the beach into my truck. I would have ended up with way to much fish. So when I lost the fish at leader I was somewhat relieved for myself but uncertain of the fish's fate.
I shook in my booties for the next several minutes. The adrenaline was pumping through my whole body. What a rush, very similar to the feeling of skydiving in comparison. I have never been this pumped kayak fishing. I had always wanted to feel the power of a marlin on the kayak and it was a dream come true. Hooking into a marlin takes kayak fishing to another level. I got to give a lot of credit to the kayak anglers who have actually landed these beasts and took them home. So much goes through your head during the battle with a marlin. The images of this fish tail walking directly at me will stick with me the rest of my life. If I never get to do battle with a Marlin on my kayak again at least I had my chance and will never forget the moment.
I decided to finish up my day and head into shore. I took a quick ono strike on the way in that didn't stick. I pulled out a full sail and booked it to the shore. It took a while for the adrenaline to filter out of my body. I had to call a few people and tell them what happened. I was high for the next several hours and when I came down it was like a crash. I was beat and drained. The next day was worse with a lot of pain in the shoulders from hoisting but still very joyful for the experience. Now supposedly a friend of mine working on the mountain saw me out there fishing that day and was watching my sailing kayak from afar when he saw me stop. He told me he saw something big exploding out of the water behind me. I could not believe he could see this fish from the mountain. He called today to ask what I had caught. I told him "the one I was happy got away"

Written by "David Elgas"
aka "Boogie-D"
web: www.christmasislandkayakfishing.com


----------



## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

David

Amazing memories of those moments.

These are some of the things that fuel us for the next adventure. Thanks for the reports.

trev


----------



## haynsie (May 26, 2008)

Great read David. What an amazing experience!

Cheers

Tim


----------



## Ado (Mar 31, 2008)

Now that's a big bunch of life points. What a great story and so well told. Perhasps you should forget your camera more often and just rely on the more permanent reminder stamped firmly in your neurons. Awesome stuff.


----------



## ryan (May 30, 2012)

simply awesome read bud certainly not something you will ever forget cant wait till the day i catch a pelagic let alone a marlin


----------



## tonieventer (Jul 27, 2009)

Great read, what a rush it would be to hook something like that!


----------



## Darwin (Jul 25, 2008)

What an experience! Next time take a photo rather land the fish. Anyway, it has already landed in your memory! I am sure you got it forever.

Cheers
Darwin


----------



## Boogie (Dec 2, 2011)

Thanks guys for the kind words.. someday i hope to write more.. i am often published in the Hawaii Fishing News, The Milk Crate, and The Kayak Fishing Magazine.. in the future i would enjoy more writing assingments and many have told me i should pursue writing.. MAHALO and i will try to give you some more updates from hawaii soon.. ALOHA.. Boogie


----------



## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

Boogie said:


> Thanks guys for the kind words.. someday i hope to write more.. i am often published in the Hawaii Fishing News, The Milk Crate, and The Kayak Fishing Magazine.. in the future i would enjoy more writing assingments and many have told me i should pursue writing.. MAHALO and i will try to give you some more updates from hawaii soon.. ALOHA.. Boogie


Good onya mate. Ya got the goods. You're addicted, and what a way to go.

trev


----------

