Trip Information:

A Blue Marlin catch had not been recorded in Port Aransas yet and as every year goes we race for the title of first or last blue marlin caught.  On 5/17/2004 Jason Kallivokas from Washington, D.C. called me to book a Billfish trip.  I let him know the weather was VERY unstable however he was adamant that sea conditions were no problem for him.  Let’s fast forward to 05/22/2004, the morning of departure, I woke up to winds that were sustained 15-20 knots and had been the entire night.  The good new was that north of Port Aransas the winds were a little lighter which prompted my decision to take the 1 hour and 15 minute boat ride to Port O’Connor which is 20 NM closer to the East Breaks anyway.  As Jason, Chance (my 7 year old son and deck hand) and I reached Port O’Connor, I placed one more call to the National Weather Service who informed me that the weather may actually lay later that night making at least the ride back comfortable.  Nine thirty A.M. we broke the jetties at Port O’Connor and with 6’ seas we were only able to make a 9 knot boat ride for the next 55 NM, fairly comfortable but slow.  After reaching the East Breaks, we placed the Marlin spread out and began running all the numbers I have for that area, in thirty minutes the lightest outfit, the center short went off, Fish On!  The lure this fish hit on is a mini turbo slammer, we nicknamed it the Fish Catcher 5000 last year. We slowed down to bring in the fish which we believed to be a Tuna or Bonita.  As we tightened the drag and began to pump the rod a Blue Marlin the size of a Volkswagen jumped out of the water and proceeded to spool the International 30 of line, with a quick turn we were able to run the fish down and with 500 yards of line still out began to apply pressure and fight this big fish.  After about 30 minutes the fish pulled the hook, probably due to the amount of line out and stretch on the 30 lb. test.  We were disheartened to miss a shot at the big Blue, however we knew we had little chance of catching that fish on a 30 lb. outfit.  We trolled the 100-fathom curve off the East Breaks for about another hour and I made a decision to head toward the Falcon rig, which was in sight, for Wahoo and Tuna trolling and a possible billfish on the way.  Eight miles from the rig Jason and Chance yelled “Billfish on the left rigger” as they saw a fin!  I grabbed the rod and popped the clip, reeled up the lure (Texas Turd) a few feet and the fish hit it, however the hook set wasn’t good so I started the reel up technique again – no fish – I dropped back and felt a subtle grab waited a second and set the drag to full strike – Fish On!  The angler had strapped on the fighting belt and was set for a stand-up fight with the International 50#.    Chance and I quickly cleared the lines and I got the video recorder ready for the cameraman (Chance).  The Marlin looked about 200 lbs., much smaller than the first Blue but a Blue is a Blue and we were very happy!  As the fight went on, the fish jumped quite a few times, sounded and did not want to come within 100 yards of the boat.  With 6’ plus seas tossing us about this battle was going to be tough.  We used the boat to gain line several times, but when I grabbed the leader the fish used the current to get away from the boat and he always went underneath to get away.  The angler did a great job keeping the rod overboard and not breaking off.  I knew the only way to get this fish was to quickly raise the engines and grab the leader and bring the fish to the boat which we did!  Now with the sun almost down, we decided to head to Port Aransas.   Eleven hours later and a lot of white water behind us, we were docking at Fisherman’s Wharf as they were opening up!  Thanks for the great angling from Jason Kallivokas and the good video job from Chance McCune!

Summary:

Date:

May 22, 2004

Boat:

Spare Time 31’ Sport Fisherman

Where:

Marlin #1: East Breaks

Marlin #2: 8 Nm north of the Falcon Rig

Numbers for the Rig:

Falcon:  27' 40.17  95' 52.47

Crew:

Captain: Scott McCune, Port Aransas,Tx

Deck Hand: Chance McCune, Port Aransas Texas

Anglers on trip:

Jason kallivokas, Washington D.C.

Lures:

Marlin: Mini Turbo Slammer

Marlin: Texas Turd