The Marlin Blowout on Harper's Folly
I've been in search of marlin for eight years now. I call them the strike of lightening. Let's start this tale on a morning from the four angry gods. I got to Teach's Lair Marina at 5:30 AM...a squall decided to rip across Hatteras and skies opened up. It was pouring like Niagara Falls. I walked back into the marina store and was watching the weather channels with the rest of the captains. There was red all over the radar coming right across where we were. Tom Harper told his clients that we would wait it out. There were no arguments here...I didn't feel like becoming a lightening rod. No weenie roast today...the storm finally passed.
An hour later we were heading out with the rest of the other boats. I was talking to Tom and was only expecting an okay day of fishing. The lines were laid and we trolled for a few hours...zip...not even a bite. The mate pulled the line in and we booked...looking for life. We saw some birds, they were not concentrated and some sea grass was floating nearby.
No sooner were the lines laid out when we were on dolphin...the fun had started. We were all over those little critters. A couple of bulls were hooked, but won the fight.
So we laid out our lines again, but this time John Vaught, the mate, laid out his squid spread. Well I turned my head and saw a marlin rip that baby apart. The rod was screaming for mercy...the poor guy who fought that marlin almost blew out his arm. We were all behind him to get his first marlin. Everyone on the boat was psyched. The mate grabbed the marlin and released it.
The gods were happy with us, because no sooner than you could say "jack rabbit" another rod was screaming bloody murder. Yours truly got to fight this one...the marlin swam straight to the boat...a suicide run for me. The mate grabbed the leader, the marlin was a little green and pissed off. We released that puppy too.
Everyone on this boat was psyched with bugged out eyes and smiles from ear to ear. We said, "OK, who didn't get a marlin yet?"...what's wrong with this discussion! Maybe 15 minutes went by and two rods were screaming out. Two large marlin were hooked and jumping all over. Talk about a chinese fire drill! These two firecracker marlin went for the gusto.
The double header marlin fight went on for close to an hour or more. I was taking the sea hose and cooling the guys down in the chairs. They were a nice shade of fire red and the sun was not helping us out...I could have baked a cake on one of their heads! We got one of the marlin in after a hell of a fight...it was in the 200 pound range. There was still one more kicking and dancing all over the ocean...putting on quite a show. This was a monster...he was not going to give up without a fight. Mohammed Ali would have had problems! The line finally broke...no one's fault. The marlin won fair and square.
The men on the boat were Thomas Frillici and Kerry Smith from Connecticut, Gary Wehner from New York, Tom Berardi from Sewell, New Jersey and Bob Grosser from Ohio. The Captain played all the maneuvers perfectly with those marlin and the mate was a god send. All experienced a one in a million fishing trip...pulled off with the help of St. Peter! I will never forget that day, it will never be matched. You just savor it like good wine and pass the tale down...the day we hooked four marlin and landed three.
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An hour later we were heading out with the rest of the other boats. I was talking to Tom and was only expecting an okay day of fishing. The lines were laid and we trolled for a few hours...zip...not even a bite. The mate pulled the line in and we booked...looking for life. We saw some birds, they were not concentrated and some sea grass was floating nearby.
No sooner were the lines laid out when we were on dolphin...the fun had started. We were all over those little critters. A couple of bulls were hooked, but won the fight.
So we laid out our lines again, but this time John Vaught, the mate, laid out his squid spread. Well I turned my head and saw a marlin rip that baby apart. The rod was screaming for mercy...the poor guy who fought that marlin almost blew out his arm. We were all behind him to get his first marlin. Everyone on the boat was psyched. The mate grabbed the marlin and released it.
The gods were happy with us, because no sooner than you could say "jack rabbit" another rod was screaming bloody murder. Yours truly got to fight this one...the marlin swam straight to the boat...a suicide run for me. The mate grabbed the leader, the marlin was a little green and pissed off. We released that puppy too.
Everyone on this boat was psyched with bugged out eyes and smiles from ear to ear. We said, "OK, who didn't get a marlin yet?"...what's wrong with this discussion! Maybe 15 minutes went by and two rods were screaming out. Two large marlin were hooked and jumping all over. Talk about a chinese fire drill! These two firecracker marlin went for the gusto.
The double header marlin fight went on for close to an hour or more. I was taking the sea hose and cooling the guys down in the chairs. They were a nice shade of fire red and the sun was not helping us out...I could have baked a cake on one of their heads! We got one of the marlin in after a hell of a fight...it was in the 200 pound range. There was still one more kicking and dancing all over the ocean...putting on quite a show. This was a monster...he was not going to give up without a fight. Mohammed Ali would have had problems! The line finally broke...no one's fault. The marlin won fair and square.
The men on the boat were Thomas Frillici and Kerry Smith from Connecticut, Gary Wehner from New York, Tom Berardi from Sewell, New Jersey and Bob Grosser from Ohio. The Captain played all the maneuvers perfectly with those marlin and the mate was a god send. All experienced a one in a million fishing trip...pulled off with the help of St. Peter! I will never forget that day, it will never be matched. You just savor it like good wine and pass the tale down...the day we hooked four marlin and landed three.
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