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dragged 3km by marlin

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
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213 kg of pure predator and all that time and sheer hard work to land it,wow you gotta be fit for it,the rush must have been amazing, his friends should have given him a pair of waterskis,i bet that slashing bill put the fear factor up a bit,you would be 45 pence a slice in a supermarket
 
Interesting story. Not sure how I feel about about shooting these big game fish but w.hatever it is a huge achievement.

On a slightly aside issue isn't the picture of a marlin accompanying the article actually a sail fish?

Dave
 
Sailfish are cuter! I know what you mean, big fish, esp. billfish are somehow special. Heard a similar story before, possibly from Miles. I guess that's why they use those huge Tommy Botha float boards. 4 shots sounds a lot to me but Georgio Daparin used 3 to get big fish (AJ?) near the end of the DVD I have. I think he tied off the first spear lines to his boat/anchor and end up cutting the tangled spear lines after he boated the fish.
 
Old Man Dave said:
Interesting story. Not sure how I feel about about shooting these big game fish but w.hatever it is a huge achievement.

On a slightly aside issue isn't the picture of a marlin accompanying the article actually a sail fish?

Dave
Click to expand...
That's the first ever blue marlin taken on the spear in the country. Compared with what the commercial guys take in the open ocean, I don't consider it undue fishing pressure. I probably wouldn't pull the trigger, but that's because I wouldn't be able to use all the meat.

And yes, that's a sailie. This is the marlin in question.
 
Agree strongly with chrismar, wouldn't bother shooting, enough of a blast just to see it! Personally, why shoot what you won't eat?
Then again, perhaps he has a lot of hungry friends................
And yeah, either way, certainly no comparison with either commercial or recreational fishing total catch numbers.
Cheers.
 
He does have hungry mates, luckily. Most of the fish was smoked and I don't think much will go to waste.
 
That's definately a sailfish. I guess they couldn't find a picture of a marlin. It blew it for me.LOL
 
I just competed in the New Zealand Spearo nationals and (being from Canada) I was a bit out of my league as there was ast least 6 guys there who had speared Marlin. I didn't lose tho :blackeye There's a bluewater comp coming up where billfish and tuna are the main targets...not sure I'm rigged for that kinda work, my gun is big enough but all the breakaway rigs and stuff ain't cheap.
 
Hi All,

I personally do not see what the difference is between killing a marlin or killing a bass! Marlin are not endangered so there should be no issue about taking one. The sentimental comments are the reason why parrot fish were banned in South Africa for many years - just because the look good they should be preserved - what nonsense. Sure if the population is threatened then protect otherwise control catches for all (including longliners who take the vast majority of billfish).

I personally say well done on taking a magnificent fish (by the way, at 200 odd kg that fish is only about 3.5 years old probably the same age as a 500g sargo!).

Also, from reports, bluemarlin are the best eating of all the bill fish.
 
I was under the impression that all top of the food chain predators were under threat & in decline? A quick search on Google will show you plenty of sites claiming just that.
http://www.savethefish.org/PDF_files/fish_file_3_bluemarlin_042506.pdf
Of course so are bass & many other prime food fish so you do have a point there.
This type of catch will always have supporters & objectors, personally I agree with most of the comments here about it being a magnificent fish & one hell of an achievement but I would of been more than contented to watch it swim by.
 
Spadefish- I personally dont think there is anything long with taking any fish that is legal to take and of the appropriate size. I think there is a HUGE issue here about taking a fish vs shooting one.
I know I would never shoot a marlin with my current setup because I would not land him and I would probably just waste beautiful and scarse fish, I could not live with that

I bet that most people who comment are more against the irresponsible shooting of such fish than they are against the killing of such a beauty for food.

I generally respect the spearing ban on billfish here in FL because I think it keeps the many many moron divers with guns from jumping in and hurting themselves of a magestic fish
 
it comes down to ethics.Can you hunt and shoot and kill a living creature quickly and as painlessly as possible .shooting a marlin is a tricky one.
 
The issue of billfish will always be contentious as they are magnificent fish. I still do not see the difference between taking a 200kg marlin and a 200kg tuna! Actually the tuna is probably going to fight (suffer) longer!

I do not think marlin are as uncommon as people think - we as spearos do not see them often as they occur in areas where we do not hunt (open pelagic areas even at great deapths). Commercial longline fishing catch thousands of tonnes (no lie here) of bill fish annually - you cannot tell me that is a small quantitiy! They tend not to shoal as tuna do, so it is practically impossible to target them actively (except possibly localised areas of the world eg off New Zealand and the Sea of Cortez). I have seen a statistic which shows that annually Japanese longliners catch about 2800 black marlin in Australian waters alone! It is suspected that similar numbers of striped marlin are caught of NZ annually as well. This is what they land - I am sure just as many get chomped by sharks while they are hanging in midwater! If you look at the rest of the world, the number of marlin caught is possibly about 50000 - even if all are released mortality (especially with longliners where bait is used) probably 25% will die - thats 12500 which would be shark food. This just shows that they are not uncommon. Stocks may appear to be under threat, but what is the difference with all fish stocks worldwide? How about a total ban on tuna then or salmon or sardines (after all they feed everything!)

Sure, to take a marlin you need to be equipped or you will probaby lose the fish (which will ultimately die) and all your equipment. A number of +150kg marlin have been taken with standard 120cm guns with single 20mm rubbers and of course a decent float. The choice of whether to shoot or not lies in the hands of the individual (free choice thank goodness!!). If one decides to take the shot and you are fairly confident of landing the fish, what's the problem?
 
i dont disagree with you i am afraid that there are to many people that cant understand why we hunt and you will never convince them. I just feel that advertising shooting a billfish is probably not the best idea.
 
Reactions: foxfish
Hi Wildranger,

Unfortunatey this is the bane we have to live with! So many people will go out and buy a box containing unknown frozen fish fillets and not associate this with the actual fish. They do not think about how that fish was caught, the wastage etc - they only see a box. This myopic consumerism is the problem. Many city dwellers (of which I am one) would not know what to do with a fish if it were whole.....but these are the same individuals who will stand on their soap box and criticise us for shooting a fish of two. These are the same people who will buy tuna because it is good for them but will never think about trying to catch one themselves....

It is lost cause as there are more of them than thee are of us....we lose!
 
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