WE were recently joined on board by clients Joe Golias and Austin Dishman from Texas USA, and we quickly headed for No 10 Ribbon Reef.
While underway the boys were watching the wide screen in the saloon and got to spot a marlin via the tow cam. I could hear the screaming from the saloon as the marlin struck but after a few short jumps it fell off.
After another 30 minutes trolling the short ‘rigger went off. The bite was amazing and after an hour and 20 minutes, Joe had managed to get the “big tough guy” in close to the boat, and it was getting tired. Unfortunately, due to the heavy drag we were using trying to get a result, the 650lb leader finally gave up. It was truly a great fish that had won its freedom and Joe was more than happy just for the encounter.
Ten minutes later we caught Austin his first black marlin of 300lb – not bad for our first day.
Day 2 of our Texan charter produced a bunch of fish around 500lb.
Day 3 began and within 10 minutes of putting the baits in the water Austin was hooked up to a fish close to 1000lb. After 30 minutes we’d released Austin’s largest ever marlin!
Soon after we were trolling “Hollies” mid way down No 10 Ribbon; it is one of my favourite locations and well known by marlin boat skippers that have been around Cairns for a while.
Well it produced for me again when another big one jumping on a bait and proceeding to perform some spectacular jumps that showed her true beauty. The fish was released as Joe gave a “Yippee yi ay!”
After three days the boys from Texas were blown away with the marlin fishing on offer on the Great Barrier Reef – they’re already organising next season’s trip.
