It was a super quick turnaround in Cairns, less than 12 hours, coming off our two-week tour around the top of the Great Barrier Reef. A flurry of activity commenced aboard November Rain, including re-provisioning, swabbing decks, re-fueling, as well as a crew change, as we waved goodbye to Cody and welcomed Billy aboard.
Garry managed to find a few minutes to fix the leaky toilet, using the parts smuggled in Billy’s bag before we pushed off. Racing out at 17 knots, we were back on the reef again in two hours, dragging baits until dark. For the first time in weeks, the weather was flat calm, the ocean reflecting the orange sunset on its mirror surface. Maybe we can thank Billy for bringing the nice weather with him? We were praying that Billy had also brought Lady Luck. Our last trip had been pretty dismal, with only one small marlin released after 13 disappointing days on the reef.
Billy is a longtime Kiwi mate who doesn’t fish with us as often as we would like, due to the trappings of his own boat, family, job, etc. Somehow, he managed to carve out a week in Cairns, in hopes of catching himself a fish of a lifetime. Billy is normally part of a package deal, a group of mates who fish on a boys' trip with us every couple of years or so. It’s odd having Billy without his mates, but we know they are here in spirit, and we promised to document all his fuck-ups for future embarrassment.
The next morning, bait fishing opened with the boat’s first Queenfish, caught on the bib lure. There was a triumphant moment when Billy reeled in the planning board rig, loaded up with three Scads on the multi-hook line. We’ve really struggled in catching the smaller bait fish over the past few weeks, with scads being the preferred species for swim baits. By 10 am, the boys had loaded 3 Tuna, 16 Scads, and 1 Queenfish into the freezer next to the couple of dozen Scaly Mackerels already on ice. I started calling Billy “Rabbit”, as in Rabbit’s Foot, as it seems our luck is changing and he’s the differential factor in the equation.
Even though Billy Rabbit is only with us for a week, Garry was keen to fish Ribbon Reef #10 again, 130 miles to the north. In order to cover the distance, Garry decided to troll lures outside the reef the following day, instead of dragging baits. Trolling lures meant he could run at 9 knots, instead of 4-5 knots, doubling the distance covered. We could be at #10 in two days.
We tolled plastic all day but only picked up two stinking barracudas and made it as far as Ribbon Reef #5. As soon as the gear was put away, a free jumper appeared right in front of the boat, about 200 meters out. Garry yelled over the roar of the motors to Kale “ Get a bait in the water!”. Another boat had also spotted the splash and was racing over, trying to beat us to the spot. In the distance we could see a boat hooked up and backing up. Definitely fish here but nothing came of it in the end. We’ve never hooked a free jumper before and I began to wonder if anyone ever has. Let us know below in the comments if you have.
There were a dozen game boats as well as couple of motherships anchored behind the reef. We decide to hang around the area, assuming they knew something we didn’t. The current charts on Time Zero showed the water pushing into #5, and having seen first-hand evidence of marlin in the area, we bailed on the idea of continuing north. As they say, “You don’t leave fish to find fish”.
In the early afternoon, two marlin came into the gear, one of them being a big girl, 800+ lbs. She was lit up, her whole body a brilliant neon blue as she ate the swim bait that Kale fed back to her. The smaller marlin had a go at the skip bait, but missed, and got tangled up in the leader. Our woes continued as both fish fell off. From time to time, we watched with envy as nearby boats backed up on fish. We could see marlin jumping behind boats all around us. Ribbon #5 was on fire!
Around four o’clock bite time, we hooked up with a skip bait, in the shallows of 60 meters, right on the reef. Kale pushed up the drag and carried the rod into the chair, while Billy and I cleared the rest of the gear. Garry backed up into the oncoming sea, making for a wet fight for Kale. The stern pods began to fill with water and I had to go swimming to open the scuppers, draining the spa pool.
Kale's fish did a lot of vaulting around, with several spectacular leaps right at the boat. After an 18-minute fight, Billy Rabbit grabbed the leader and wired the estimated 180 kg black marlin to the side. We were wrapped! It was Kale's first-ever marlin, which is a bit of a surprise, considering he's the top deckhand for New Zealand's very popular Pelagic Charters. While Kale has wired 57 marlin and countless other species for punters, this was his first marlin on the rod. Always a Bridesmaid, never the Bride... until today. Imagining him in a white dress does makes a great image, LOL.
Pretty happy with our success, we started heading for the anchorage when suddenly, hooked up again! This time, it was Rabbit’s turn in the chair, while Kale and I cleared the gear. This fellow was a bit smaller, maybe 100 kg, but was very feisty and lively at the boat, giving Kale a workout on the leader, while the rest of us delighted in the aerobatic show.
We continued to fish the same area the following afternoon and hooked a small black marlin, estimated at 70 kgs, on the port rigger. I took my turn in the chair. The fish was jumping out of the water, and Rabbit yelled, “He’s bleeding!” It certainly looked like it, with its everted crimson stomach flailing all over the place. The marlin swam right to the boat so fast that I couldn’t reel fast enough to keep the line tight. Before I knew it, Kale had the leader, and the fish was released with the hooks removed, all over in 5 minutes. Our odds were improving! We were now 3 for 5 hits over the past 2 days.
A dropped fish put us back to 3 from 6 and just as we were going to call it a day, Kale hooked up again, this time on the Queen fish that had been rigged as a swimmer. Rabbit leadered and Garry removed the hooks, again another fish that had everted his stomach. Stomach eversion is somewhat rare phenomena and we had just had two in a row. We stand at 3-2-2 for the second day, a number we are happy with, with a second marlin notch under Kale’s size XXL belt.
As our bait locker was full, the crew was allowed to enjoy a leisurely morning snorkelling on a nearby reef. Brilliantly coloured purple stag horn, as well as soft and hard corals were alive and healthy and we saw a couple of giant clams. There were larger fish including Maori Wrasse, Barracuda, Coral Trout as well as numerous small, colourful reef fish. A 6" inch long Remora fish took a shine to Garry and tried to sucker itself to his belly several times, following him all the way back to the boat.
That afternoon, within an hour of fishing, a monster fish took the long corner for Rabbit’s turn in the rotation. He had a bit of weight on the rod, unfortunately, the big girl spat the bait after 5 minutes. The bad luck continued when the next two hits were sharks.
There’s a saying in Cairns, “Watch out for the 5:00 O’Clock Freight Train” and sure enough, it came in with a wallop. A really - really big girl, perhaps the same one dropped earlier, took the long corner bait. Rabbit set the hook and buckled in. The marlin bolted out of the water, about 200 meters away, and Garry witnessed the massive hole in the water from the splash. She screamed off all of the reel’s top shot and half the backing within a few seconds.
Rabbit’s shoulder was on fire after 5 minutes of winding back on to the nylon while Garry backed down on the belly in the line. Then, the long stalemate started. At 20 kgs of drag, Rabbit was standing on his haunches in the air, but the fish was still stealing a few inches of line ever minute or so. Each crank of the reel came with a prayer and a swear. The sun was sinking fast, and Garry resorted to some fancy boat manoeuvring, giving Rabbit a chance to gain back wee bits line. There’s no shame in Granny Gear when you have a monster on the line.
After two hours, he was gaining and losing the same 20 meters of line, right at the join where the top shot met the backing. At 30 kg of drag, the fish was a ton of dead weight. Garry starting thinking it was tail wrapped, she wasn’t coming up, despite the constant heavy pressure. After several attempts to plane up the fish using the boat, and a lot of muscle, Billy finally managed to get heaps of line back. Suddenly, there was a bit of a jerk, as if the line had slipped off a pectoral or the tail, and more line came in quickly. The pressure was still on, then suddenly, it was over. After two and a half hours of sweat and torture, the line suddenly went slack, almost throwing Rabbit backwards out of the chair.
With the intensity of a forensic’s team on a high profile murder case, Garry and Kale examined the end of the line break.The 700 pound leader had been cut off at an angle, they theorised, by wear from the corner of the fish’s jaw. I’ve decided Billy isn’t so lucky after all and have retired his nickname. A rabbit’s foot isn’t lucky for the rabbit who lost it.
Garry crawled back into the anchorage behind the reef in the pitch dark, cautiously following his previously laid track down to the letter, the crew on the foredeck, scanning the darkness with spotlights, avoiding boat sinking balmies. They stayed up late, drowning their sorrows, commiserating over the enormous loss and hoping for a better days to come.
The next afternoon, a big fish came up and tailed a bait, but didn’t touch it. Two hours later, another one took the bait, swam off but dropped it before we could set the hook. Kale reeled in the stale bait, replaced it with a fresh one, and as he was setting the bait, it was snatched from his hands and screamed off! We were on again!
It was my turn on the rod, Billy was still nursing wounds from last night’s loss. With 16 kgs of drag on, Kale had the leader in 15 minutes, it’s a caught fish! The fish leaped up and took off again and Kale had to drop the leader. Once the fish stopped running, I put the hurt on both me and the fish by cranking up the drag to 20kgs. It went deep and sulked for a bit but after another 10 minutes of fight, we had the leader a second time. Garry estimated this one at 180 kgs or 400 lbs and was exactly hooked at the spot we had marked one a couple days ago.
Time for Billy to take his concrete pill and harden up. He’s back in the rotation just in time for the 5 O’Clock Freight Train. And right on schedule, another big girl was on the hook! This time, Billie’s luck held out and Kale had a wrap on the leader within 20 minutes of hook-up. There were some really impressive jumps right at the boat and we were able to judge weight to be around 750 lbs! Kale wired the fish beside the boat and pulled the hook for the short-distance release. Rabbit was absolutely over the moon. What a day!
A pair of fish came in the gear and took the baits, but neither hooked up, ending our day with 5-2-2 and our week with 6 from 13 hits. Tomorrow is a travel day, we’ve got 90 miles to travel back to Cairns for a crew change. Garry swears he won’t be putting a bait in the water. I highly doubt that he has that kind of discipline.
Good to see the 'Biggins' are around and as usual the photography is great.
Congratulations to Kale for his 1st and commiserations with the big ones lost.
Cheers to all and safe fishing.
Greg.