# GC Marlin and Mahi Mahi - Now with Video



## DennisT (Jan 2, 2012)

What a great day.

Got to the Car park at 3:45 am and was pleasantly surprised to see Duran there, haven't seen the ol pirate in a while as he has been working his chops off in WA for the last few months.

Tom arrived around 4 am and by 4:15 we had our baits in the water. Well at least I did, Tom had a few tangles to sort out so I was a few hundred meters in front of him when I got to the reef, which had a ton of Boats and Kayaks on top of it.

Caught up with Duran and decided to head out wide to the pinnacles to evade the crowd.

Some Dolphins startled us and got us discussing the man in the grey suit. After few minutes of not really paying attention to our surroundings, my reel let off a soft and continuous zzzzzzzz - which Duran called for a Shark. This made me very nervous. I thought perhaps a Snapper had taken a liking to my bait, but when I started to reel in, I could feel that there was something a bit heavier on the line. This got me even more nervous&#8230;.

But then&#8230;. A proper zzzzzzzzzzzz and out the water jumps a Marlin.

Happy days. I am on. Its been a while since I got anything substantial. Was great fun playing the Marlin, which was Jumping all over the show.

Every time I seemed to make a bit of ground and get close to the fish, the reel would scream and the fish would start jumping again. Awesome fun.

Fought it for about 25 mins or so, before Tom got there. By this time, I had already grabbed the leader a few times (which the Fish had responded to by bolting in the other direction).

Eventually got it close enough to grab the bill, which was quite a daunting task. First time I grabbed it, it nearly shook my arm off. Second time I held on a bit longer hoping for a photo before I released it. Tom Managed to get one as it shook itself back into the water. One last grab and fish shook enough to free itself&#8230;.









I surrender...haha

Awesome&#8230; No donut for me.

Paddled around a bit more and eventually decided to head towards Gravel in hopes of a Spaniard. We were not quite get there, when we decided to head in the direction of Palmy. On the way there were some birds working and a fair few bait fish around. Paddled in amongst it and while mid conversation with Duran, the Reel goes off&#8230;.this time Like an absolute rocket.










The sound had the three of us thinking it was a Spanish for sure, but then the fish jumped out of the water&#8230;. Mmm never seen a Spanish do that, but thought who knows. Played it for a while whilst it towed me around and then a Saw the tail and Thought&#8230; Definitely not a Spanish, perhaps a Mahi Mahi or Kingy. Not sure as the water was not the clearest I have seen it. Eventually got it close enough to see that it was a Mahi Mahi. I knew it was big by the shape under the water. The fish was reluctant to come up yakside, but eventually got there.

Went absolutely berserk when I sunk the gaff - once again nearly shaking my arm off. But up she came &#8230;. a very beautiful looking Mahi Mahi.

















Notice the Damage to the Sticker, thanks to the Marlin

Had her in the hatch for about a minute, when she starting freaking out again, shaking the yak to the point that I thought I might be going for a swim. After a couple of minutes&#8230;.Silent. I opened the hatch and watched her change from the Green, to Brown, then Silver with Blue and then back to Brown.

After a fair few hours on the water we headed back in. We crossed paths with a fairly big Shark along the way. The first time I had ever seen one on the Gold Coast, was not keen to get closer than what we were.










Got back to the Beach and had a great Brekky. Lattes were involved&#8230;.


















Mahi Mahi came in at 8 kg's and 124 cm

We estimate that the Marlin would have been about 1.6 - 1.8 m (Tail to bill) around 25 - 35 Kg's.

Both Caught on a 4 - 10 Kilo Ugly Stick with a New Daiwa Seagate 35 H ( Chrissy Present) spooled with 25 lb Lo Stretch and a 40 lb Leader, with a 40 cm 27 lb Wire Trace. Both Pillies taken on my new Pulsator rigs (Glad to know they definitely work)

Anyway - Happy Chap today.

I will hit Duran up for what he captured on his GoPro.






Tight Lines Gents


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## sunshiner (Feb 22, 2006)

woohoo, well done Denis. Great description and good story. Looks like it's gonna be a great summer in SEQ. I'd swap a Spaniard for a mahi mahi any day, and yours is a stand-out fish.

Kev


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## spork (Jan 21, 2012)

What an amazing morning session!

Any of you SEQ blokes up for a house and kayak swap for a week or so next summer?


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## Paulos (Nov 7, 2012)

All time Dennis, well done.


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## Duran (Nov 19, 2005)

last time i am ever fishing next to you.
I got no idea when it comes to video editing so will just give you the video when I see you heres a pic till then.
was a great day well done


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## grant ashwell (Apr 24, 2007)

Good on you Dennis.

Send their brothers down here.

Grant


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## pipnosis (Aug 5, 2009)

Top stuff. Thats what its all about. Early bird catches the marlin!


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## Sprocket (Nov 19, 2008)

fantastic Dennis. don't those dolphins have some life in them when you land them? what a double!!


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## Bigdyl (Feb 13, 2012)

nice one Dennis. I got out there today for a donut, might have to purchase one of these pulsator rigs I think


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## Bigdyl (Feb 13, 2012)

nice one Dennis. I got out there today for a donut, might have to purchase one of these pulsator rigs I think


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## Bigdyl (Feb 13, 2012)

nice one Dennis. I got out there today for a donut, might have to purchase one of these pulsator rigs I think


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## RhubarbTheYeti (Oct 28, 2013)

What an echo in the room tonight!


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## Stealthfisha (Jul 21, 2009)

Well done dennis
fantastic


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## dazza11 (Feb 16, 2010)

Well done Dennis , Awesome


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## carnster (May 27, 2008)

That's what ya talkin bout baby! Flawless victory! Gr8 eating as well.


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## Beekeeper (Aug 20, 2011)

I go along with Indie... WOW!

Dennis, you won't get the grin off your face for a week!

Jimbo


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## paulo (Nov 1, 2007)

Top stuff Dennis. Great day on the water.


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## Safa (Aug 4, 2006)

Well done Dennis you obviously learnt to run before you could crawl as a kid ........ you should start with bream and whiting then work your way up to chase the pinnacle fish,great fishing mate ,definitely will be tough to top that double .


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## mrwalker (Feb 23, 2009)

That will be a hard day to top, fantastic fish the both of them. One for show and one to eat! Cheers, Dave.


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## blueyak (Jan 20, 2009)

Oh a simple Marlin is not enough anymore, you guys have to finish with a bull Mahi Mahi on the way back.

Fantastic effort.


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## suehobieadventure (Feb 17, 2009)

Great day out well done. Duran you have to upload that vid to youtube. Someone please tell him how.


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## Guest (Dec 28, 2013)

Two trophy's mate , great work

Cheers


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## spottymac (Aug 29, 2005)

Awesome work landing 2 Trophy fish in one session, 
I can only dream of something like that,


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## Guest (Dec 28, 2013)

Nice work mate.


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## RekFix (Dec 30, 2011)

Well done mate, love the new battle scars on the yak


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## paulsod (Dec 28, 2008)

DennisT said:


> What a great day.


I will put that up as the understatement of the year.

Absolutely fantastic result Dennis, incredibly amazing.

Cheers
Paul


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## bruus (Aug 27, 2010)

Gee Dennis whats left to do now? Sensational


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## VikingJim (Nov 22, 2012)

Awesome stuff Dennis. Great report and what a beautiful mahi mahi


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## Beekeeper (Aug 20, 2011)

blueyak said:


> Oh a simple Marlin is not enough anymore, you guys have to finish with a bull Mahi Mahi on the way back.
> 
> Fantastic effort.


You'll think I'm being picky, blueyak, but I'm wondering if you realise that Dennis's dolphin fish was really a female, not a male. If you look up mahi mahi in the net, you'll see piccies of bull-dolphins, the ones with the large heads compared with the head of the one that Dennis caught.

Shoot me down in flames if you want... it was still a fantastic fish!

Jimbo


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## ant (Aug 28, 2008)

Great day I'll say  love the fish   some days your hot and some days your not, well done for putting in the effort   
Cheers
Ant


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## carnster (May 27, 2008)

Bigdyl said:


> nice one Dennis. I got out there today for a donut, might have to purchase one of these pulsator rigs I think


You can say that again! 8)


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## jayman (Feb 7, 2010)

Dennis my man that's a dream session for any fisho. Those pulsator lures sure are the goods when can the rest of us get our hands on some?


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## SLB (Jul 8, 2010)

Fuck yeah dennis!!!


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## clarkey (Jan 13, 2009)

There's a new sheriff in town,awesome going Dennis.


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## DennisT (Jan 2, 2012)

Thanks for the kind words gents.

Video should be done by tomorrow.

Here are a couple Frame grabs from the Marlin


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## DennisT (Jan 2, 2012)

This was about 20 mins into the fight. I had to get Duran next to me to loosen his GoPro from the deck.

Scary minute or so when I had the rod under my leg, trying to get the camera loose.


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## spottymac (Aug 29, 2005)

Nice one Dennis, you the Man second Marlin at Palmy


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## TouringTom (Mar 6, 2012)

Nice fish old mate, now you may understand why you don't get invited every time. Not many people have caught two Marlin in one year, grant excluded of course.

Cheers

Tom


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## Dave73 (Dec 3, 2006)

Mahi mahi go bezerk onboard or on the gaff. Cloth over the eyes help but generally it's in the hatch or kill tank till they calm down.
Shame as they are such great candidates for pictures.

Well done, top effort on such a double header.

Cheers Dave


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