Marlin vs SeaCraft

[Capt Chuck]

Had nice fight with a big Blue Marlin today off Stuart. I have not done much Marlin fishing and I had nothing to gauge it's size so estimate was in the 400lb Class. The fish sucked in a skirted Ballyhoo off the Starboard outrigger in 105' of water. He put on quite a dance and wore my friend Curtis out for about 1Hr/40 Min.

The Cool Thing was at one point I was in neutral and according to the GPS this bad boy was towing my 23' SeaCraft at 2.3 mph

The funny thing was it was hooked & fought on standup gear TLD 20. All knots held including the 8/0 J hook with a 75lb snap swivel crimped to 60lb fluorcarbon leader
We didn't want the fish to die after such a long struggle on light line so we brought the boat up and over the fish and broke him free approx 15' - 20' from the rod tip....
Another great SeaCraft adventure for sure!

The bad news is I didn't have Mark on board taking the pictures...Enjoy anyway!!!!

[SC302FB]

Great job on the fish. I hope that the marlin is not "SeaCraft Shy" next time he passes South Carolina.

[BigLew]

Holy S--t! WAY TO GO!!!!
Years ago when the whaling industry was active in New England, a harpooned whale would often end up towing the dory that the whalers were in. They would call that a Nantucket sleigh ride.

You now know what that sleigh ride was like. Congratulations.

[Old'sCool]

Excellent!! Congrats and great pics!

[joey]

GREAT JOB CHUCK!!! Man you know how I love blue marlin! I was in the mall when you called today buying the newest guitar hero for Joby wishing I was with you.I'm going to shanghi Marks lift at the Stuart house and put the new boat there so I have an excuse to come down and go harass all the Martin county billfish with you.Congrat's on a kick ass blue one!!!!

[bigeasy1]

Awesome,and what a fish to get off a 23'Seacraft,Congrats on the catch.
We catch lots of salmon,and they fight very well,but i can only imagine what a fish like that fights like. I'd be in my glory catching a Marlin like that.
Dam what a catch.I'm not sure I'm in good enough shape to even fight a fish like that.
Great job Chuck.

[Mark]

Excellent job Chuck. I had sent Chuck an email with a screen-shot of the St. Lucie inlet saying how it was flat calm and he should take out his flats boat for some fishing. About ten minutes later, my cell phone rings and I see it's Chuck calling. I assume he's merely replying to my email via phone. I answer to hear an out-of-breath Capt. Chuck saying he's moving along at over 2mph being towed by a marlin. We spoke several more times by phone during the battle but it was as much a highlight of my day as it was his. Really great job Chuck, can't wait to hear what you go out and catch tomorrow [img]/forum/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

Tell Curtis hello for me, I'm sure he'll remember this for a while

[CaptLloyd]

Outstanding job Chuck!! That is way cool

TLD 20 on a stand up rod, and the man in the blue suit was dragging you backwards Your buddy Curtis is the man!

This reminds me of a mexican charter boat using Penn Senators, and with a billfish hooked up, the mate keeps screaming...

"SENOR, DON'T TOUCH THE STAR!"

Congrats to the crew!

Lloyd

[strick]

Jealous as hell!! good Job there Capt Chuck!!! Thanks for sharing.

strick

[gofastsandman]

Did the TLD smoke?
color / type skirt?
Main line # test?
These are the days we live for!
I`m SOOOOO jealous.
Nice pics and memories.
Well done.