Dave Ferrell and Peter B. Wright’s Trip Reports

My voice has still not recovered. It never really had a chance, with the Miami Boat Show talks and then coaching the Marlin U. students in Costa Rica. Trying, vocally, to make enough noise (speech) to be understood over a pair of diesels always gets me hoarse, and in this case, it kept me hoarse.

We had a great bunch of students, a mix of very skilled and complete novice anglers. Getting a first billfish is always a thrill for a new angler, and helping someone else have fun has always been fun for me.

Our pro staff quarters at Los Sueños were the most amazing ever! We have been to some very cool places, but as Jessica Perry said after seeing some photos CP sent home, showing our temporary home, called Harmon House, this time we suffered in “obscene opulence” — and loved it!

The fishing was OK, but not great, with a decent number of sails and a couple of blue marlin bites and one released.

The boat I was on was very comfortable and had a skilled and friendly crew. I suggested that we troll fewer ballyhoo baits with hooks to cut down on the confusion when beginning anglers had to react quickly without having yet acquired the skills needed to cope with an unexpected bite, especially one on a long rigger.

In an attempt to keep things pleasant, I did not press the issue, and confusion did in fact cause us to miss some catchable fish. Lack of communication between the Latin American crew and the English-language-only anglers made it more difficult for some of our students.

Fishing too many lines is one of the most common problems for many amateur crews. In the latest issue of Marlin magazine, a story featuring several highly skilled top pros addresses this very situation, and I preach it when I give talks at fishing clubs. More baits in the water often does not get more bites, but causes a lot more tangles and missed chances. The larger the fish you are seeking, the more you will lose if you fish too many hooks on too many rods!

Call Barb Lehner at 407-571-4606 to book a trip of a lifetime in upcoming Marlin U. hot spots like Guatemala, the Dominican Republic and the Cape Verde Islands.

Good fishing,
Peter B. Wright

Another Tropic Star Adventure

The Marlin University trip to Tropic Star Lodge was last week. The Dominican Republic at Punta Cana trip is not until May, and we still have openings for what should be a good trip. This is a place where we could get a hot white marlin bite, though grander-size blues have been also been caught here.

In Panama, I chose to walk up the steep hill to my room in the “Palace” (the owner’s mountainside house at Tropic Star), but took the cable car down. I got in better shape and saved my knees by cruising down after a shower had cooled me off. These rooms are great for a family or a small group of friends; if They are available, they are spectacular!
I was quite impressed with Gustavo and Vicente, the crew on Miss Scandia. Tropic Star crews are always known to be good, but these two really knew what they were doing and worked hard at finding fish. Lodge management told me that Vicente will soon be promoted to captain of his own boat.

A conversation with Gustavo one afternoon (his English is quite good and he is obviously bright) led me to think that he may never have seen a globe of the Earth. My longtime friend Terri Andrews, who is the owner (with her husband, Mike) of Tropic Star Lodge, told me that she could not remember seeing one in the local school, which only recently went from six grades to nine grades. After ninth grade, pupils country-wide must go to Panama City for any further education. I asked Terri about the best way to get a globe down to the lodge for Gustavo. She suggested that I give her a donation and let her buy one in Panama City. She would see that it got to Gustavo, and she would ask him to pass it on to the school, where the whole village could study it.

The bonitos are really thick some of the time, but were not in the same spot every day and avoided the famous Zane Grey Reef altogether on all four fishing days. It’s too bad, because they’re really tough baits. They look like a cross between two fish that I first learned to call a bonito and an arctic or oceanic bonito — more accurately a “false albacore” and a “skipjack tuna.” They have the wavy lines high up the back and the black spots on their belly under the pectoral fins and are a totally different species.

These bonitos can be trolled faster and live longer than any other tuna that I’ve used as live bait. They can also survive the constant changes in speed that are caused by a following sea, which would quickly kill any of the other tunas I’ve trolled as live bait.

On Miss Scandia we picked up and ran several miles a number of times after our first choice of locations didn’t work out. We never failed to find quantities of baitfish ranging from impressive to mind-blowing, but did not always find the big predators we sought, proving once again that bait alone is not always enough to ensure good fishing.

One day, way down south near the Colombian border, we jumped off a black and a sail, and a porpoise pulled out line against a good drag before tearing the dead bonito bait into pieces. Since we were using circle hooks, the mammal was almost certainly never hooked.

We ran back north, to the edge in front of the lodge, and got three nice yellowfin, from about 85 pounds to just over 100 pounds, on lures.
The blue marlin we caught the last day was on a Panama strip bait. A good 350- to 400- pound fish, it was a nice catch on 30-pound line, and George did a nice job getting it in — responding well to my coaching to add some drag on the up stroke of his pumps with the fingers of his left hand.

I had nothing to do with the design of the AFTCO-vest-style shoulder harness we were using there, but it’s the most versatile and comfortable harness I have ever seen. I’ve used it on line from 8-pound to 80-pound-test, and it is all the harness most anglers will ever need. It allows anglers to easily add drag with the thumb and two fingers of the left hand, which can be instantly released if the fish begins to make another run. It lets novice anglers to do a better job of angling than most self-reckoned “experts” who disdain using a fighting belt.
Btw, I have re-rigged all my light casting gear in hopes of some hot estuary action at home. We’ll see…

Good fishing,
Peter B. Wright

Dominican Republic Delivers

There are only a couple of things that you can’t control on a fishing trip: the weather and whether or not the fish are there and/or biting. Luckily, we’ve enjoyed pretty good fishing on our last two Marlin University trips: in Guatemala in late April and the Dominican Republic just a couple of weeks ago. I can tell you that the students really appreciate a good bite, but not as much as the captains we hire to take us fishing!

I knew we’d made the right decision with our boats in the Dominican Republic when, on the first day, Capt. Butch Cox told us that he’d like to leave a bit earlier. “Our guys just like to fish as much as possible,” he said. You’re damn right! And fish we did! I also switched boats in the middle of the session, so I also got to fish with my old friend first mate David Hernandez, Steve “Skibo” Eakle and Capt. Ken Ross. It was incredibly refreshing to fish with such professional and top-notch crews.

I think we ended up catching 34 marlin from two boats in four days. I saw at least three or four blue marlin every day and four or six whites as well. On the third day — my first day fishing with Cox and his top-notch deckhands Capt. Newt Cagle and Pelicano — we began the day with an interesting doubleheader of blue marlin. The fish took off in opposite directions, and after several minutes of rushing forward, losing line on one to gain line on the other, Cagle and Cox decided to pitch a rod over on a buoy and go get the other fish. (Cagle had actually rigged the buoy up at the initial hookup.)

As my Marlin U. angler watched Cagle prepare the life ring/preserver combo, he said to Cagle, “I ain’t going in the water; what are you doing with that?” When Cagle told him he was going to throw the rod in the water, the angler said, “Oh, hell no, you aren’t!” He finally came around after a brief explanation, and Cagle locked up the drag, attached the ring and pitched the rod over the side. Cox marked the spot on the plotter and immediately began chasing down the other fish, which was by now stretched out pretty good.

We caught the second fish in short order and then started back to the mark on the machine. As we approached the spot, the buoy was nowhere to be found, and soon all eyes were scanning the surface looking for the life ring and our second marlin in the doubleheader. Cox spotted the buoy first and plotted a course to intercept the still pushing buoy from behind.

Cox backed up to the buoy and Cagle reached over and retrieved the reel, winding on a few yards of line before handing it back to the original angler, Bob Nettles. Nettles now had to wind in the entire spool of line for the third time — but he got it done! It was one of the coolest “doubleheaders” I’ve ever seen, regardless of the IGFA infractions!

We also had a great room at the nearly empty Punta Cana Fishing Lodge. We got a great deal on what was really a five-star room, and the all-inclusive aspect was awesome as well.

We’ve got one last Marlin U. session left in 2012 and it’s filling up fast, so visit www.marlinuniversity.com and book your Bermuda trip quick!

Dave Ferrell

Everybody Hooked Up in Guatemala!

We had a full house of 16 students and four boats from the Casa Vieja Lodge. The rooms, food and service were top notch, as always.

The sailfish bite was good enough for all the anglers to catch several sailfish, including a few students getting the first sails they had ever caught. That is always special.

I enjoyed fishing with my old buddy Ron Hamlin during his last-ever charter in Guatemala. We’ve crossed paths in a multitude of hot spots, and I try to teach skippers and anglers to run a boat the way Ron (and I) do when fighting a hooked fish.

Practicing on lots of small billfish hugely increases your chances if you ever do manage to get hooked up to a monster marlin weighing 8 or 10 times the breaking strain of your line.

Peter B. Wright

Oopsie Daisy

I recently returned from our second Marlin University trip to the always amazing Tropic Star Lodge. I get to travel to some pretty neat spots, but few can compare to the natural beauty and prolific waters found off Piñas Bay, Panama. But, as with all fishing holes, sometimes the fish just aren't biting — or at least the ones you're looking to catch aren't. Such was the case on this past trip to the lodge. A red tide had moved in, and the billfish were nowhere to be found. I saw a free-jumping striped marlin the first day, but didn't see another one until three days later. Luckily, there were plenty of tuna around (and a few nice dorado) to break up the long days with no billfish.

I ended up fishing with a group of young men dubbed the "Alabama boys" on the last day, which is normally our "tournament" day, when all the Marlin University boats compete against each other. With the slow fishing we were experiencing, I decided to just forget about it on this trip. We didn't need to add any pressure to our already frustrated anglers and crew. I was glad to be fishing with the young guys, since I knew that whether we got one that day or not, a good time would be had by all!

The day started out like the three before: mostly flat calm, without any signs of life. We had moved down south, to the area where Peter B. had raised a couple the day before, but we had no luck there. Around 10 o'clock or so, I got the stupid idea for all of us to shotgun a beer for good luck and to break the boredom! Of course the boys jumped on it, and we all promised to do another shotgun if we caught a marlin. OK, sure. Down they went.

Like most good-luck charms, the shotgunned beers didn't seem to be bringing us any magic, and the day got hotter and the seas lay down to glass. By this time we were pulling lures to cover ground, and the captain had moved us quite a bit offshore. At 1:30, about two hours before the trip came to an end, the left rigger came down and the reel started to scream.

"That's the one, boys," I yelled as I came out from under the overhang on the 31 Bertram. Thomas Gross jumped in the chair to fight the fish while Wylie Parks climbed up to get photos and Drew Mouron started helping us clear the lines. The fish came up jumping right at the boat, and our captain, in what I think was an effort to keep the line tight, slammed the throttles forward. He stopped, and then slammed them forward again when the fish kept coming.

That second push threw Mouron clear out of the cockpit and into the water. He surfaced immediately with the rod still in his hand and gave us the thumbs up. When the captain saw the signal, he took off again! He left Mouron bobbing in the water some 50 yards away with the enraged blue marlin spinning circles about 20 yards behind him. As he floated with the rod sticking up in the air, it looked like he was trying to have a sword fight with the still-spinning blue.

The fish finally picked a direction and sped off, and I told the captain, "Go get the boy!" so we motored over and picked him up. We caught the fish to save the trip, but it sure scared the crap out of me. And, of course, we had to shotgun another beer!

Dave Ferrell

It's Never Good All Of Time – Panama - Sept. 24 – 29th, 2011

Enlarge Photo
One of the first things we tell our students at Marlin University is that no matter where or when we go to our favorite hot spot, the fishing can still turn off slow. No place, even the best ones, is good all of the time. Unfortunately, I found myself repeating that same phrase over and over on our last trip to Tropic Star Lodge. Despite the best efforts of our world-class crews, we had a hard time catching them on this trip.

The first day started with a miserable, rainy sky that never stopped spitting on us - it rained for nine hours straight. I actually started to freeze to death about 6 hours into the trip and the last three hours seemed to take forever to pass. We caught one sail right at the tail end of the day - a big bugger that ate a pitched Panama strip. We were lucky to get that one too - our angler set the hook like Bill Dance putting it to a big black bass and jerked the bait out of his mouth two or three times before the persistent fish got stuck.

The weather cleared up a little the next day -- it wasn't sunny, but at least it wasn't raining --and the marlin started to come up. Terry Biting and his boys Clint and Brent caught two blue marlin and we caught another sail on my boat. This sail marked the first billfish for Edison Rijna and it was a classic bite. During the day, we had mystery fish come up and take a shot at one of the teasers and then fade off. Edison seemed kind of perturbed that we were pulling four lures with no hooks in them and said that we should get some hooks out there. I explained that we were pulling teasers to get the fish up close to the boat so that we could get a pitch bait to the fish -- a much more fun and exciting way to hook them. Not 10 minutes later another fish charged into the spread. I saw the fish trying to eat the left rigger bait and called down to the anglers that we had a sail up. Our mate Jacob threw the pitch bait in the water and handed the rod to Edison. As I teased the fish up to the boat the sail grabbed the teaser and almost jerked the rod out of my hand. Jacob ran over to me and snatched the teaser rod out my hand just as the fish pulled free. It quickly resurfaced and started banging the teaser again. As soon as Jacob pulled the teaser out of the water, the fish crossed the wake and piled on the Panama strip bait. This sail meant business too -- it came all the way out of the water on the bite -- about 20 feet off of Edison's rod tip! We caught the fish quickly and Edison was grinning ear to ear. "What do you think of those teasers now! Did you like that bite?" I asked.

The clearing skies and bites of day two had us all anticipating a hot bite the next day, and although the weather turned out to be perfect, the hot bite never materialized for all the boats. I had my good friends Drew and Butch Hart as well as Richard Creed and Matt Thomas fishing with me on the last day and we did get a our shot. We had a little trouble getting live baits that morning so when our last bait died we started pulling four teasers again. Capt. Charles Perry, one of instructors, had brought along a few lures given to him by Canyon Gear. He had rigged them up and offered one of them up to me that morning. I chose the green Thruster. After we had pulled the teasers for about an hour with no joy I asked the mate if I could put the lure out - he said sure and out it went on the left long. About 10 minutes later, a 450-pound blue piled on the lure and started greyhounding toward the boat. The captain roared ahead to keep the line tight and fish stayed on. The proved to be a challenge for Drew on the 50-pound, but he got the fish to the boat in about 40 minutes or so. (It would have taken about 10 minutes if we had him properly set up in a fighting chair with a footrest.)

The last day Edison caught himself a black marlin to win our little mini tournament and you've never seen a happier guy -- he even did a little dance at the awards banquet.

Like always, the service and expertise of the staff and crews at Tropic Star Lodge was exemplary. You won't find a better run -- or more beautiful -- fishing lodge in the world, and if you are unlucky enough to experience a bit of slow fishing, there's no place better to suffer through it. Tropic Star is truly a magical place and we'll be returning as soon as they will let us back in!

P.S. Happy Birthday Albert!

Marlin U Doesn't Miss a Fish! – Madeira - July 27 – Aug. 1, 2011

That's right! The Madeira session marked the first Marlin University in history where the anglers didn't miss a fish! Unfortunately, they also didn't get a shot at one. In four days of fishing on our two boats, Margarita and Katherine B, I saw three flying fish. To say it was slow would be a monumental understatement. But here's the kicker - we had a truly great trip. Seven of the eight students were returning clients - all tremendous folks who really love to have a good time - and the island of Madeira did the rest. Most all of the returning students brought their wives along, and all the ladies had a fabulous time touring while the boys fished.

It was easy fishing as well, with great food every day, deep-purple water and a light breeze that kept you comfortable throughout the day. The sun doesn't come up until 7:30 a.m., so we didn't start fishing until 10. Fishing starts as soon as you clear the breakwater, and we never saw anything more than a two-foot chop. Lines came out at 4:30 or 5 p.m., and it took us about 10 minutes to get back to the dock.

We pulled four big lures from tag lines on 130-pound tackle and unlimited rods - big-fish hunting at its finest. If a grander had decided to show itself, we would not have been outgunned.

Like most big-fish hunts, our trip was not successful as far as the fishing went; however, I think we all came away mesmerized by Madeira's majestic beauty and its warm and friendly people.

I can't tell you how many times I caught myself whispering out loud, "This place is so beautiful," as we trolled in the lee of a 2,500-foot cliff.

And the cab drivers drive like the proverbial bats out of hell - which I really enjoy! They all have Mercedes Benz taxis, and they like to keep the pedal on the floor.

And if you like to look at old cars, Madeira is the place for you! Everywhere you look you see some slick European-styled Triumph, Jaguar or some such antique muscle car parked in the street. I could just imagine letting one of those babies rip through Madeira's curving mountain roads.

While I don't think that I'll ever stage a Marlin University here again - we just can't get the bites we need - I'd love to come back and fish with Capt. Peter Bristow and Capt. Januario Santos in this lovely setting. This is truly one place where catching the big one is just the gravy...

Slow Bite, But Still Fun – Guatemala - May 10 – 15, 2011

This past week, I traveled down to Guatemala for our second Marlin University session of 2011. I look forward to the visit since I usually get to see my old buddy, Capt. Ronnie Hamlin - a true living legend - and watch our anglers battle one big Pacific sail after another. Unfortunately, the sails didn't show up in their usual numbers - we'd hit the beautiful Casa Vieja Lodge a bit late in the season.

Our fellows still managed to get around 10 or so bites a day, however, and one lucky team ended up catching a blue marlin on three out of the four days of fishing! That same team caught 10 out of 12 or 14 bites on the first day with one of our brand-new instructors, Capt. Randy Baker. Baker did an excellent job throughout the session - I hope our anglers appreciated the many years' worth of skill and knowledge that he relayed during the short trip. There are few folks in this business who have traveled the world and fished to the extent that Baker has, especially at such a relatively young age. Again, we were lucky to have him along.

On my first day, our guys had a bit of trouble getting the hooks to stick and we ended up catching one out of 10. The next day, we didn't do much better with the new group and only managed to catch two out of six bites or so. It was then that my two mates started calling me Gato Negro (black cat) - and I couldn't blame them. On the third day, "team lucky" shows up, and they live up to their reputation. We catch two sails as we're putting the lines out and get a doubleheader about 10 minutes later. You gotta love a lucky team! Around 12:00 - I know this because I had just started eating my cheeseburger when the fish bit - Gabriel hooked a nice blue one on the 20. As the fish starts tearing up the water in a huge semicircle, I glance up just as she leaves the water in a long, low jump. The fish must have cleared 30 feet of water in that leap! Truly spectacular! After an hour and 15 minutes, we got the leader on the fish, but we couldn't get the tag and she powered off again. Since we had already gotten the release and the fish were still biting, we decided to crank up the drag and either catch the fish quickly or break it off. The line broke, but we still had a nice celebration!

After the lucky team left us, I was back to Gato Negro on the final day. We only caught five sails in our little mini-tournament, but the lucky team got their last blue and few more sails to boot to take first place. We did get second, however, so I get to say I beat Randy Baker!

Lots of Billfish Action in Costa Rica!

Just recently returned from a back-to-back stint of Marlin Universities in Costa Rica and Bimini, Bahamas. We enjoyed a turn of good luck in Costa Rica when the sailfish started moving north into the area we were fishing in around Carrillo. On the first day fishing was slow, but just 80 miles to the south the sail bite was blowing up. The second day proved much better and we all saw or caught double-digit numbers of sails, with a few marlin thrown in for good measure.

One boat - Wet Ass II - caught a grand slam on the same day that I went 0-19 on sail bites. For a while there I thought I must be the worst teacher in the world. I'd thought I'd seen every way possible to miss a sail, but these fellows invented a few new ones! I fished on the Bushwacker with Capt. Skeet Warren for all four days of the event, but that third day was particularly frustrating - at one point we were 0-17.

On the last day of Marlin U we put on a little tourney among the boats, with the anglers chipping in a little cash for a prize that goes to the crew on the winning boat. As luck would have it, the guys who had the terrible day drew Skeet's boat for the tournament. Now like most skippers, Skeet's a pretty competitive guy who doesn't like to lose, and the extra $600 in tip money isn't something to sneeze at either. As we boarded the Bushwacker for the second time, I could see a bit of panic in Skeet's eyes. I told him not to worry...we were going to redeem ourselves.

Things got off to a great start when we released the fist sail that bit and kept on getting better. After releasing a second sail, to double our lead in the tourney, here comes the blue dog into the spread. After eating every bait in the spread - including a bonito bait fed to it on a reel with the drag engaged - one of the anglers finally hooked the hungry blue on a ballyhoo. But he did so with a giant backlash!

As soon as I saw what was happening I started screaming for Skeet to start backing up. "We've got a backlash on this one Skeet! We can't let it get more than 5o feet out!"

Skeet responded instantly and we roared back through the gear trying to get the release. I laid down on the gunwhale, stretching out as far as I could with both feet off the deck, straining to reach the wind-on...but it stayed just out of my reach. After another couple of seconds I finally got my hand on it and we got the release! But the drama was just beginning.

As soon as I touched the leader I raced up the ladder to try and get some pictures on the lit up 250-pound blue marlin. The fish jumped about 10 feet off the left corner, bending into a giant U-shape before jumping right at the transom. The fish bounced off the back of the boat, only inches from tipping over into the cockpit. The angler was standing just inches away, and somehow managed to get the leader wrapped around his rod tip on the jump. When the fish ricocheted off the transom, it came tight on the leader and broke the rod tip with a resounding "SNAP!" Skeet, who'd seen his equipment take some serious abuse during the trip, whispered to me, "Just par for the course."

His mood turned around a bit later, however, after two more sails to our total and giving our beleaguered anglers a victory in the Marlin U tournament. The Bushwacker crew won the cash and the anglers received a cool Guy Harvey necklace and special trophy made especially for the event. The fish showed up in good numbers so everybody left Costa Rica with a big smile on their face.

Purple-Water Blues

The Kona, Hawaii, session of Marlin U this past July marked my first chance to ever fish in these fabled blue marlin waters. For some reason or another, I never got the opportunity to fish in Kona - Hawaii was always just a jumping-off point for a trip farther off into the Pacific. I've always wanted to wet a line in the spot where you can catch a grander at any time of the year, so I was happy to learn that we had a number of previous students clamoring for a trip to Kona, and so we finally decided to oblige.

To be perfectly honest, I was a little hesitant at first because I wasn't sure that we could get enough bites to catch a billfish for each student in a full class. Our stated goal at Marlin U is to try to get you as many bites as possible. Well, since we had a lot of students wanting to go to Kona, we decided to tell them what was what and do it anyway, explaining that this was very much like our St. Thomas session, and we probably wouldn't get a whole lot of bites, but what would bite would be blue marlin! And so it was.

Our all-star fleet (check out Peter Wright's blog for all the players) averaged about one shot at a blue marlin per day, although we did a little bit better than that on Marlin Magic, captained by my good buddy Jason Holtz. Our first day we had two good blue marlin bites on our lures, but neither of them stuck. On day two, we caught two blues and spearfish - things were definitely looking up.

On day three I had several things happen on board that I've never seen before, which is always a treat. We had three or four blue marlin bites and didn't catch a single one - but that's happened to me many times. What was weird was how one of them bit. The first time the fish came up it hit the left long bait like a skyrocket, clearing the water like a kingfish but never getting the hook. Thirty seconds later, what I assume was the same fish attacked the right long with the same method, coming up straight from below like air jaws, only finishing this one with a cool back flip. And he missed it again. I wanted the little dude to calm down a bit and get a good shot, but he never came back.

Several hours later a group of porpoise swam into view and started following alongside like they are apt to do. I hardly gave them a glance, but then I noticed one following right up alongside the boat, about even with my seat on the flybridge, turning over on its side, giving me the eyeball. I was just about to get up and take my 10,000th dolphin shot when I decided against it; I have plenty. Just about that time, Flipper did a short spin, and with one mighty push of his tail, vaulted a good 20 feet out of the water about 10 feet away from the side of the boat and looked me dead in the eye at the top of his jump. My camera sat about four feet away, but it was way cool anyway! Jason and I turned to each other and said, "Did you see that?!" at the same instant. It was a real neat moment.

One thing I came away with on this trip is that those Kona boys have it easy! I've never seen water that color of purple anywhere in the world, and it starts about 200 yards out of the harbor. It's just amazing! I don't think we ever got more than five miles offshore the entire trip.

Unfortunately, my video camera was stolen out of my car at my parents' house back in Florida after I returned, so you'll never get to see the cool shots of that little spearfish trying to jump up and hit me in the face. That was pretty cool too.

I posted some pics I took at the dock one day as the Hugo's Wahini (ladies) tournament ended and some other photos from our Marlin U seminars - the ladies look a lot better.

Too Hot

Just got back last night from our Marlin U session in Guatemala, and the word that best describes the trip was "hot." The water was hot, the air was hot, the cockpits were hot - the fishing...not so hot. Things started out like gangbusters, however.

On the first day I had Leigh Johnson, Tiffany Griffin and Gary Cole on board, and we caught nine sails out of the 13 bites. Johnson and Griffin were on fire, catching four apiece and hardly letting Cole get to the rods. I'd let either one of those ladies fish with me any day. They never left the cockpit, and you could tell they had spent a lot of time on the water. Griffin is the girlfriend of Randy Ramsey, the owner of Jarrett Bay, and although she's won a couple of tournaments, she hasn't hooked many herself. After what I saw on my day with her, she better tell those mates to sit down the next time a rod goes off because she can take care of it herself. And Johnson was just as good. Cole was covering the session for Playboy magazine, and he got an eyeful on the first day as well. Unfortunately, the hot bite didn't last, and as the water heated up, the fishing dropped off to nothing. Chris Sheeder saw quite a few marlin over the four days, but our anglers never kept one on, and no one else did either. But it didn't really matter. We had a great group and were able to chat away the long periods in between bites. That first day with the girls really got my blood boiling, though. Every time they hooked up, they'd start yelling and screaming with excitement. And when the fish finally came to the boat, the high-fives and hugs all around made everyone's day! It's amazing how just a little bit of enthusiasm can lift the spirits of everyone on board, and these girls really brought plenty.

Our next stop is Kona, Hawaii, on July 29, and I hear we've got plenty of room!

Dave Ferrell

Galapagos 2010 Trip Report

I usually don't get to see much of a country when I fly in to fish it. I usually just jump from the airport to the hotel to the boats and back again. But when traveling someplace for the first time, or visiting an extra-special destination, I like to spend a little time exploring.

Since we had to spend a night in Guayaquil, Ecuador, while traveling to the Galapagos Islands for this past Marlin U session, I got a chance to join a half-day tour of some San Cristobal sights.

A visit to the cool highlands for a delicious outdoor lunch exposed my tender skin to a horde of biting beetles that I couldn't keep off until someone produced a can of Deep Woods Off. Still, I must have got bit at least 30 times on my legs and face before scurrying back to the bus in a cloud of biting insects.

As a multitude of welts rose on my legs later that night, it just so happened that I came across an informative show on the Discovery Channel about insect-borne parasites and the nasty symptoms they induce as they eat you alive from the inside out. Now, every gnat, caterpillar or fly I saw transformed into a carrier of some evil liver fluke that would turn my guts to mush in three days time. The last night one particularly hungry individual tried to sketch out a map of the Galapagos on my right cheek, pecking nine holes in a two-inch square.

It's now been more than a week, and the bites are still itching - I'm just waiting for the hatchlings to emerge so I can get on with my life itch-free!

From now on I'm staying on the water. And in the Galapagos that will wear you out. On my boat we caught 16 striped marlin out of at least 50 bites; we just couldn't keep a hook in them. (The three-boat fleet released 43 in four days.)

Unfortunately, we didn't have the best gear. Our reels all needed work, and we lost several fish to frozen drags and busted lines. If we return, and the fishing certainly justifies it, we'll make sure to bring along our own gear. I didn't get to take many photos while fishing either; I wired all the fish and had to keep the cockpit straight and our baits rigged.

We got quite a few bites on our lures but just couldn't seem to keep them hooked. However, we seemed to do a little better once I switched out to smaller lures with 7/0 and 8/0 hooks versus the 12/0 we started with.

Our bait situation wasn't ideal either; we had great-big ballyhoo, some of the biggest I've ever seen, but they were frozen in clumps and didn't last very long in the spread.

However, our students proved to be real troopers, and most saw more marlin on this trip than they ever had before, so our fishing trip to the Galapagos paid off for all us in the long run! I can't wait to go back next year.

I usually don't get to see much of a country when I fly in to fish it. I usually just jump from the airport to the hotel to the boats and back again. But when traveling someplace for the first time, or visiting an extra-special destination, I like to spend a little time exploring.

Since we had to spend a night in Guayaquil, Ecuador, while traveling to the Galapagos Islands for this past Marlin U session, I got a chance to join a half-day tour of some San Cristobal sights.

A visit to the cool highlands for a delicious outdoor lunch exposed my tender skin to a horde of biting beetles that I couldn't keep off until someone produced a can of Deep Woods Off. Still, I must have got bit at least 30 times on my legs and face before scurrying back to the bus in a cloud of biting insects.

As a multitude of welts rose on my legs later that night, it just so happened that I came across an informative show on the Discovery Channel about insect-borne parasites and the nasty symptoms they induce as they eat you alive from the inside out. Now, every gnat, caterpillar or fly I saw transformed into a carrier of some evil liver fluke that would turn my guts to mush in three days time. The last night one particularly hungry individual tried to sketch out a map of the Galapagos on my right cheek, pecking nine holes in a two-inch square.

It's now been more than a week, and the bites are still itching - I'm just waiting for the hatchlings to emerge so I can get on with my life itch-free!

From now on I'm staying on the water. And in the Galapagos that will wear you out. On my boat we caught 16 striped marlin out of at least 50 bites; we just couldn't keep a hook in them. (The three-boat fleet released 43 in four days.)

Unfortunately, we didn't have the best gear. Our reels all needed work, and we lost several fish to frozen drags and busted lines. If we return, and the fishing certainly justifies it, we'll make sure to bring along our own gear. I didn't get to take many photos while fishing either; I wired all the fish and had to keep the cockpit straight and our baits rigged.

We got quite a few bites on our lures but just couldn't seem to keep them hooked. However, we seemed to do a little better once I switched out to smaller lures with 7/0 and 8/0 hooks versus the 12/0 we started with.

Our bait situation wasn't ideal either; we had great-big ballyhoo, some of the biggest I've ever seen, but they were frozen in clumps and didn't last very long in the spread.

However, our students proved to be real troopers, and most saw more marlin on this trip than they ever had before, so our fishing trip to the Galapagos paid off for all us in the long run! I can't wait to go back next year.

Dave Ferrell

Sails Still Biting in Isla Mujeres

Even though we fished near the end of the season, our first-ever Marlin University session in Isla Mujeres, Mexico, went off without a hitch. I've traveled to many of the world's billfishing hot spots, but for some reason I had never made it down to experience the hot sail bite found off this little island near Cancun.

About 4 miles long and 1 mile wide, Isla Mujeres is only a two-hour flight from Orlando, Florida, and its streets are packed with cool restaurants, bars and shops. The main part of town is so small that our group got around the island on a couple of golf carts! I'm not sure, but there has to be some sort of happy drug that's infused into the plastic seats of all golf carts: Every time I climb into one, I'm certain a good time's just around the corner, especially if I'm driving.

We fished with Obsession and Keen-M and enjoyed several good, although rough, days of chasing sails. The sails stacked up on the baitballs of sardines, and it was the first time I ever saw so many Atlantic sails in one spot. Several times I saw more than a dozen sails slashing the bait, and we knew that more lurked down below out of our sight.

We also got a taste of the very different ways that these guys fish for sails down there. When the sails were up on the baitballs, the angler and captain had to work together to get the angler's bait to skip up to, and then penetrate, the baitball to get a bite. If you were just a few feet off to either side, the sails would ignore your bait and stay fixed on the baitball. Oftentimes, the captain would just tell us to dump everything and wait for one of the sails working underneath the baitball to pick up one of our "wounded" ballyhoo. Our first day we caught 20 out of 45 bites with Capt. Jeff Ross on Obsession and continued to get more than 10 bites a day for the entire trip.

Isla Mujeres, with its abundance of eager, spirited sails, makes a great destination for the first-time traveling angler to stretch his wings outside the States. With a short flight time, plenty of bites and a friendly local population that's eager to please, Isla will definitely make an appearance on the Marlin U schedule in the coming years.

Right now, we're getting ready for our first Marlin U trip to the Galapagos Islands. We've heard that the striped marlin have been snapping, and we're just hoping that they'll still be around once we get there. Wish us luck!

Dave Ferrell

Costa Rica 2010 Trip Report

I just recently returned from a whirlwind trip to our first Marlin University of 2010 in Costa Rica and a side trip to the Miami Boat Show. Although the fishing wasn't red-hot in Carrillo, we did manage to catch a billfish for every one of our 15 brand-new students. Most trips we have a couple of repeaters, but this session was full of newbies. Three or four of the fellows had never even been fishing before...for anything! But, they took to it like ducks to water, and everyone had a great time. We even got to watch the Super Bowl in Carrillo - for the third straight year - but at least we had a good feed where we could watch the commercials this time.

The water temperature has been pretty hot down in Costa Rica due to an El Niño effect, so we didn't see many marlin. The sails started cooperating on the second day of the school, however, and only got better the third. We had 24 sails bites on day three and caught 12, so we were certain that the bite was firing back up and that we'd see a ton of bites on the last day. But, like many fishermen's dreams, the bite never materialized for us, and another boat won our mini-tournament with five fish.

Dave Ferrell

Costa Rica Trip Report

Red was the predominant color of the skin of Marlin U students last session. After weeks of winter, even the Texans were pretty pale, and the guys and gals from farther north (Toronto, Nova Scotia and New Jersey) were all slopping on the sunscreen from day one, which had to be in the high 80s, with enough bright sun for me to seek shade and apply sunscreen three times!

They were also cackling with glee over escaping from the northern blizzard to sun-drenched Costa Rica with blue skies and intense sunlight. Talk about great timing!

This week we had 15 students, and every one of them has already caught multiple sailfish. On the first day, a father-son team got a nice doubleheader, and Dad Walter is a sprightly 80 years young and hooking more sailfish than he misses. The ladies, April and Joanna, are both doing a great job and hooking fish better than many of the guys. This is pretty typical in my experience.

I had a scare on day one when a sail April had brought to the boat went ballistic on the leader and came half into the boat, pointy end first. After having told her to take a look at her fish, I wound up yanking her back to the center of the cockpit and having to apologize for some unanticipated hands-on instruction. It all ended well with some great video and a reminder we need to be aware and treat these large agile fish with respect.

On this day we also had our one-day tournament. More later!

The last day kept promising more than it gave us. My boat, Bushwacker, with Capt. Skeet Warren and a great crew in Oscar and Randell, was surrounded by jumping sailfish all day - mostly with lock jaw.

A couple of times when we had a flurry of bites, we thought it was going to bust loose, but then an hour or two would pass with plenty of free-jumpers and no bites. Just before quitting time, a doubleheader put us into a tie for the daily lead, but a backlashed reel and broken line kept us one back.

Two of our guys had never fished with rod and reel before. With the one serious backlash, and a few more minor events with loose coils but hooked fish, the newbies did pretty well (MU instructors can help anyone!). They managed to catch several fish between them. I lost track but think overall the anglers averaged about a fish and a half per man per day. Pretty nice fishing in a lovely and hospitable setting with top crews - all the while dodging a blizzard back home.

I got to Miami about dark straight from Costa Rica and made it to the Hatteras gala 50-year anniversary event. Sparkling boats, lots of rum and champagne, and awesome food!

I always nominate the "widget of the show" award, and so far it looks like AFTCO's built-in drag scale is a prime contender. Imagine knowing exactly how much drag you actually have on your line at all times!

Peter B. Wright

Wet and Wild in Panama

Although the fishing could have been a lot better, Panama sure offered up some grand adventures. Even getting out of the States wasn't easy. Everyone's flights were right on time, and we all met up in Miami for the trip over. After boarding our flight to Panama, however, things started to get a little funky.

About 30 minutes after taking our seats, the captain's voice cracked over the intercom explaining that one of the crewmen had spotted some sort of hydraulic leak and that they were trying to ascertain its source and whether or not it could be fixed. Now I don't know how familiar you are with the intricacies of aircraft mechanics, but anytime I hear the words "hydraulic leak" my mind immediately races through all the airplane disaster films I've seen, stopping at each reference to an aircraft suffering from this little problem, and let me tell you, none of the outcomes are good. As the captain droned on about how he didn't think they were going to be able to fix it, I'd already leapt up and gathered my things, eager to get off the death trap before they changed their minds and sent us up in piece of crap held together with bailing wire. (It's amazing how your mind races when your butt's on the line!) Luckily for all of us, my worst fears were unrealized; they couldn't fix the leak, and we all filed off to wait for another plane.

All I had to worry about now was catching the connecting charter flights in Panama that would take us to the island of San Jose.

We arrived in Panama City, about 1 1/2 hours late but still with plenty of daylight to make the short hop over to San Jose and the beautiful Hacienda del Mar resort.

As we loaded all of our guests into a twin-engine Otter for the flight, Walker Holcomb and I walked over to the ancient little four-seat Cessna that would be our ride. There wasn't enough room for all of us and our luggage on the Otter, so Holcomb and I volunteered to go over in the belly of the mosquito.

As the Otter roared to the runway and took off, our pilot, who looked like he might have just turned 17, instructed us to throw our bags in the back before folding ourselves up and crawling into the tiny plane. My first impression upon taking my seat was, "Holy crap, this thing is old!" Funky plastic chevrons, like the ones you saw in your dad's early model "oldsmo-buick" adorned the steering yokes, and seats were as dry and dusty as a pile of winter leaves. I swear this thing had to be hull number one!

I gave Walker a worried glance over my shoulder, and he responded with his usual snicker and pull off a bottle of rum he keeps handy for just such occasions. Not feeling too brave myself, I gave him the universal head nod for "gimme some!"

Now, with my belly boiling from the shot of straight, hot, cheap rum, the pilot climbed in beside me and started his preflight checks. Once all the appropriate knobs and chokes were pushed and pulled into their proper positions, the pilot turned the key. Nothing happened. After glancing through his checklist again, the pilot fiddled with the controls and fired her up again. This time the telltale murmurings of a dead battery or starter echoed through the little tin box. After several more attempts, he declared the plane dead. (Not that we would have left with my butt on it anyway; I'd already decided after about the third try that we weren't going to be leaving on this plane even if it did start.)

I spent a few frantic minutes trying to call the rest of our party on the Otter as they flew away, but got nothing. Since our van had left for the terminal, we were now stuck out on the hot blacktop tarmac, sweating as we waited for another bus, wondering where the heck we were going to stay the night and how we were going to get back over to the island in time to go fishing the next day.

Thirty minutes later another bus arrived, and we loaded up and headed for the Marriott. Our driver and the pilot assured us that we could get on another plane the next day before 6 a.m., but I didn't sleep a wink all night, wondering if we'd make it over in time for the first day's fishing. I shouldn't have worried - precisely at 5:00 our pilot picked us up and whisked us to another airport for our short flight to San Jose, and we made it just in time to get our butts kicked in the nastiest rainstorm we've ever encountered at a Marlin U. Even so, I was just happy to be there.

We ended up catching five sails and two blue marlin on Bushwacker with Capt. Skeet Reese, but the other boats didn't do as well. The fish seemed to be stacked up inside the edge, and most of our guys spent the majority of their time out a bit farther in blue water and came up short. Peter Wright's boat ended the trip with three blue marlin bites the last day; however, his students couldn't connect.

I will say that even though the fishing was bit slow for Panama standards, we couldn't have been happier with the resort. The Hacienda del Mar sits in an idyllic spot, and the food and accommodations were first-rate. I'm sure that we'll be back again.

Dave Ferrell

St. Thomas 2009

Good news! I'm sure you'll all be glad to hear that the blue marlin are still busting it up on the North Drop down in St. Thomas. I just returned from a Marlin U session down there, and our two boats experienced some pretty good fishing - even on the dark of the moon. Local wisdom says that the best bite for blues occurs during the week prior to and after the full moon. But after eight years of planning Marlin U trips down to St. Thomas, I can say with certainty that you can get plenty of bites on the dark periods as well.
On our last trip ending July 28, our two boats got 17 blue marlin bites and caught seven. Not the best catch ratio in the world, but one boat was using lures and had some pretty bad luck on the hookups, and even pulled the hooks on a nice 500-pounder about two feet away from the mate's outstretched hand. That boat got more bites but just didn't connect as well as the boat using lures/dead-bait combos with much smaller hooks.
We had a pretty small class this session, and two of our five guys didn't catch one. However, one of our anglers, Simon Arnsby, caught his first blue marlin ever and then proceeded to catch three more for a total of four! You can see Arnsby fighting one of his fish in the photo gallery on this newsletter (he's the little fellow sitting in front of the waterfall).

Dave Ferrell

Costa Rica Session 2 - March 13 - 18, 2009

We just completed another Marlin University down in Costa Rica, and although the fishing proved a bit better than our last trip, we seemed to hit Carrillo in between bites again. We spent our first two fishing days in some real pretty, clear blue water, with temperatures in the low 80s and rips and currents galore. Everything looked perfect, but we couldn't find any bait. Usually, boats here find baits schools down deep with their sounders and work the immediate area until predators drive them to the surface. Unfortunately, during our last two trips, the scarcity of bait meant few bites for our clients.
Things started looking up over the last two days, however, with two of our boats getting 10 shots at billfish, some stripes and mostly sails. However, one of the boat's caught a 400-pound blue on 30-pound during the week, and since it marked the angler's first blue marlin, it was quite a thrill for everyone on board.
We had a huge class this time -- 20 anglers and three guests - so the pressure was on to get everyone a fish. Although we didn't reach that goal, we did get quite a few people their first billfish release, and that gives us great excitement. Cherilyn Deary got the trip as a Christmas present from her husband after she handed him a copy of Marlin magazine and hinted that she wanted to go someday. I'm sure glad he took the hint.
I got to fish with the Dearys on our third day, and Cherilyn still hadn't caught one. As I went through our hookup drill, she told me she was having a great time and what a dream come true the trip was turning out to be, which really got me fired up to catch her one.
After about 20 minutes, a fish came up on the right short of Cherilyn's rod, and she quickly jumped to the rod and got in the ready position. As the fish came in to attack the teaser again and again, she kept her eyes on the bait as instructed. As soon as the teaser left the water, the fish spun around in a perfect switch and ate her bait going away. She fed the fish perfectly, pushed the drag up to strike and started winding. As soon as the fish started pulling drag, I told her to lift the tip a little, and she was on! The fish left the water right off the transom after it felt the pull, giving Cherilyn quite a show. As she squealed in excitement, I couldn't help but let out a whoop or two myself.
After seeing countless sailfish and marlin brought alongside for a release, sometimes you forget just how special this experience is for most folks. I'd like to thank Cherilyn, and all of our less experienced Marlin U students, for reminding me how lucky I am to get to enjoy the sport of billfishing and for letting me share in the joy of their first billfish capture and release. It's an honor I do not take lightly.

Dave Ferrell

A Successful Costa Rica Trip

I just recently returned from a very successful Marlin University down in Playa Carrillo, Costa Rica. The fishing was pretty darn good -- we saw a marlin every day on our boat, the world-famous record setter, The Hooker, with Captain Trevor Cockle. We even caught three blue ones on the last day ... and still lost the mini-tournament! (I had made the mistake of counting released sails at 100 points and all marlin at 200. The crew on Wet Ass II scored two blues and two sails to take first place on time! Trevor never let me hear the end of it.)

After the students left, my wife came down to join me for a little R & R.

Capt. Sonny Kocsis on Wet Ass II volunteered to take us fishing for a couple of days -- no charge (Thanks, Sonny!) -- and we readily accepted.

The first fish of the day came up on the left long and eagerly got up to catch the sail. (I'd been watching and teaching other people how to do it for four straight days and really wanted to get in on the action myself!) The fish ate; I dropped it back; and he was on - a perfect hookup. It was too easy. Just as I hooked my fish, a striped marlin swarmed into the spread and our guest angler. Sonny's brother-in-law, Rolando, hooked the fish. Of course, we started charging off in reverse after the stripey -- he was closest and a marlin no less, so that's the one we wanted to catch first.

The stripey streaked off in the opposite direction of the sail, and line melted off my spool as we chased down the marlin. It took a good five or six minutes to catch up with the greyhounding fish, and by the time we got a release, my sailfish was jumping over a half-mile away! The circle hook hung in there, though and I finally got a release after reeling in several hundred yards of 30-pound. Joy.

I then proceeded to go on a five-swing losing streak. The next two sails came up and ate perfectly; I dropped back five seconds with the line falling off the tip perfectly, smooth as a baby's backside. But the fish were slicker. When I lifted the drag lever to strike and started to wind ... nothing.

After missing the second fish, I decided to let the next one eat a little bit longer. Sure enough, another fish came up and ate the shotgun bait (I know he ate it because I saw it), and I really let this one chew!

After about five seconds, the fish raced off like a rocket on me and I let the damn reel backlash. But I calmly told the captain what was happening and started reeling immediately after pushing up the drag to get some line on the spool and wind over the mess. That worked great, and when the line came tight, the hook pulled. Or so I thought. I reeled in the rig and found an open swivel. The mate then told me I was feeding them too long.

In the meantime, our first-time angler was hauling back on the circle hooks, pumping the rod the like a madman and hooking everything.

The following day the fourth and fifth fish just kept my streak, and the jokes, flowing. During the two days I heard several comments about my need to attend the next Marlin U. Ha Ha! Very funny.

The truth is I wouldn't have done a thing differently on any of the fish that I missed -- except for the backlash incident. The whole scenario just proved the point that we hammer into every student -- you try to do the same thing every time, smoothly and in a timely manner. Let the fish take the bait without knowing you are there and set up easy on him. He will either be there or he won't.

It sure sucks when he isn't.

Dave Ferrell

It’s a Wrap

You’ll never see a more surprised look on someone’s face than when they ask you how your recent trip to Australia went, and you reply, “It sucked.” I didn’t realize it before, but it’s a real mind-boggler. The questioner’s glowing happy countenance instantly runs the gamut from amazement to confusion in mere seconds. “It just can’t be,” they stammer. How could you travel all the way around the world to fish on the Great Barrier Reef and not have a good trip? Well, you can . at least on the fishing end.

Don’t get me wrong - if I had to climb back on that plane and endure the 24 hours of flying time to get back to Cairns, I’d do it in a heartbeat. Heck, I’d probably do it just for the noodle houses alone! But sometimes even the best-laid plans hit a snafu . or two.

The 2008 Australian Session of Marlin University started out as a particularly exciting one for me. One of my buddies here at the magazine got to join the group as a sales bonus, and a lot of the students were repeat customers whom I’ve grown to know quite well over the years - Tom Irizarry, Richard Creed and Robin Day, to name just a few. I couldn’t wait to get over there and see my friends hooked up and fighting grander black marlin.

Things started out as smooth as a sow’s ear. Mercifully, on my flight from Los Angeles to Sydney, the crew bumped me from a horrendous seat due to another passenger’s inability to clear an exit row and presented me with the Holy Grail of overseas coach flights: the empty three-seat row! When the steward showed me to my seat, a joyous laugh almost burst from my lips, but I quickly realized I wasn’t the only one pining for some extra elbow room and that I should lay low until the doors closed. After what felt like hours, the doors finally shut, and I immediately began spreading out every item I carried over the empty seats beside me to mark my territory.

Just then, a stern-faced female flight attendant stood right over my seat and announced to the entire tube of crushed humanity that there were some extra seats available if anyone wanted to move. An unholy hatred I’ve never felt before immediately overwhelmed my entire being, and it was all I could do not to peg her right between the eyes with my complimentary toothbrush. Luckily, my new nemesis failed in her bid to fill the remaining seats, and I enjoyed one of the most restful flights ever on my way across the big pond, stretched out like a turtle on a log the entire 14-hour flight to Brisbane.

The first clue that the fishing might end up a little dicey started about a week before the class left for Australia. Nobody we talked to in Cairns had anything good to say about the fishing. Some boats were picking at them pretty good, but overall everyone seemed to be toughing out a pretty slow bite.

It didn’t get any better. I arrived a couple of days early to scout out the hotel ahead of the group and get in some barramundi fishing. I set up a trip the day before the students came down and got up bright and early for my big treat to myself and to meet the captain. He never showed.

Unfortunately, the black marlin on the reef took their cue from the disappearing charter captain and failed to make an appearance as well. Our three boats only caught three marlin (two blacks and one blue) in five days of fishing.

I have to give credit to our students, however, because even though the fishing was slower than island time, each man hit the water every day with a smile on his face. And they were still smiling when we left - a miracle since we almost starved them half to death by feeding them ham-and-cucumber wraps every day for lunch. Sorry, fellas!

Dave Ferrell

Aussie Marlin U Session Dicey From the Outset

A cyclone named Goober, Ganga or some other such nonsense (could never make it out over the radio) made the first two days of the Great Barrier Reef session of Marlin U a bit on the hairy side. Ten to 15-foot seas tossed the game boats around quite a bit, but the intermittent rain and grey skies made up for it...ha. In short, we thought we were in for a busted trip. Any increase in wind would have made the fishing unsafe and we about a hair away from canceling a couple of fishing days. But our captains, Peter Wright, Hayden Bell and Darrin "Biggles" Hayden, decided to make a run for it to the south and ended up saving the trip for us.

Even in the mountainous seas rolling through the first day, two of the boats; the Release with Capt. Bell and the Allure with Capt. Biggsy, managed to catch one each.

On Day Two, the weather actually intensified as the storm wobbled around to our north. Allure caught another little one and we all decided to get the heck out of dodge and move south. Peter lost two nice ones, however, so the fishing wasn't that bad even in the all the slop.

After a nasty, rainy run down the inside of the reef, we popped out down closer to Cairns and found the seas a much more fishable 6 to 8. We caught two blacks that day on the Release weighing 200 and 400 pounds, the Allure added another to their total and Wright's Sea Baby finally got the hooks to stick and got on the board with their first. The sun even popped out for a few seconds so everyone felt much better about our prospects over the last two days.

Day four turned out to be the day of the giants on this trip with angler Chris Pepin hooking and releasing a fish that the crew on the Allure says was well over 1,000 pounds. Robin Day, one of the four Canadian fellows on the trip, also hooked and released a monster - Wright called the fish "900-plus." The video and stills of Bo Jenyns and Brandon Jackson on the wire with both of these fish thrilled everyone that night back on the Nomad. On the Release we had something to celebrate as well, we went three for three on our bites and caught several anglers their first black marlin ever.

Day four was our miniature tourney day, and although the seas didn't pick up any, the rain came in intermittent sheets. Sea Baby caught the first fish on Linden Bank, taking the lead and the coveted first-fish position that gave them an advantage on time. We had nice one come up early that morning and finally caught one for Spencer Allen, our 19-year wild man from Delaware. But we weren't through yet.

About 3 o'clock a huge explosion of white water took the place of the 30-pound scaly mackerel we had swimming on the left rigger - you could drive a truck into the resulting hole.

As our angler Paul "Paulie" Rowen heaved the rod out of the covering board and into the chair, our mate, Martin Bates, started reeling in the swimming scad. Just as the scad started skipping across the wake, a 500-pounder piled onto the bait, almost jerking the rod out of the mate's hand. "We've got another one on here Heyden," grunted Bates as he headed for the rod holder on the left.

Since there was no way Spencer could stand up with the 130, we opted to fight the 500-pounder from the covering board, hoping to get a quick release or break it off so we could chase down the monster.

Of course, both fish took off in opposite directions.

"This is not good," Hayden growled down from the tower, "we're going after the little one...get ready to wind Spenca'!"

The seas were still 4 to 6 and we started reversing quickly downsea on Spencer's fish.

"Wyonde, wyonde, wyonde..." chanted Hayden in his gravely Aussie accent. The fish came up jumping and Martin got his hands on the 600-pound leader but had to dump it when the fish started jumping hard away.

"Come on Martin help him out...quit ******-around," screamed Hayden, "I wanted you to break that thing off not dance with it!"

Yeah right. Nobody else blamed him for letting go.

We soon caught him again and got the tag in him for an unofficial release that didn't count in our little tourney. But now we needed to chase down the fatty.

Rowen told me early on in the trip that he wanted to catch a big one and now he had his chance. The "wyonde, wyonde" chat started again as we slowly backed up-sea following the long belly of line. Not more than five minutes later, the big girl came up behind the boat, shaking her huge head back and forth, slicing the water with a bill the size of a baseball bat.

We backed right up to her and when Kiwi Dean gave the leader a tug, out popped the hook. Martin put a tag in her and she was away - none the worse for wear. That second release (third for the day) gave us the win in our mini-tournament and made and excellent ending to a trip that looked pretty sketchy at the start.

I would like to personally thank all the participants who made the trip for coming and having the dogged determination to make something good out something that looked so bad. We had a great group of fellas and I think that it was their good spirits that kept the cyclone at bay.

In the end we a caught 17 black marlin, two over 900 and one we called a grander. Every student that fished caught at least one black marlin...it doesn't get any better than that.

Dave Ferrell

Marlin U. St. Thomas

I Just recently returned from a Marlin University Session in St.Thomas and had a great time with a fine group of fellas ... And this year the blue marlin decided to show up! It wasn't a stellar bite but it was good enough to get everybody a blue except for one guy ... And he had plenty of shots at it. (Sorry Jonathon!)

This year we fished with Red Bailey on the Abigail III, Eddie Morrison on the Marlin Prince and Hans Kraaz on the beautiful Bayliss, Vintage. Since I was trying to take some pictures, I rode along the Vintage to stay a bit drier, but Hans only had one mate and was running six teasers, so I got to play in the cockpit next to Alberto Sanchez for four days.

I got to tease a nice one up for bite and even suffered a snap-swivel wound to my left knuckle when a swivel came apart while Sanchez was wiring one of the two 450-to-500-pounders we caught on the trip. I reached out to cut the line and POW, the broken swivel came back and sliced a chunk out of my knuckle ... Better there than in the eye.

Red Bailey came out on top for the week, catching five blues in three days pulling lures at 8 knots. We had three good bites on the last day but we had a couple of angler errors -- not enough dropback, and a huge backlash -- that worked against us. But we saw some great bites and caught a few ...

What could be better?

Dave Ferrell