Fishandhunt101

By Ed Kunze

The boat was the “Intruza”, a 34 foot Radon with a wide beam and an experienced crew. We were 16 miles out of Zihuatanejo Bay and trolling a teaser spread at 6 knots. Everyone was alert and ready for action, but Ruben the captain, was quicker. From his higher vantage point, he yelled out “rigger, rigger” and in the next instant, pitched his voice to a scream level with "marlin, marlin".

I was stationed by the underwater teaser and Antonio "Pez Vela" was next to the spreader bar teaser. Ruben slowed the boat and started winding in the outrigger rod from his station on the fly bridge and at the same time I brought in the hookless underwater teaser made out of a blue boat bumper with a string of plastic squid. Pez Vela, waiting till the outrigger bait was even with the spreader bar, hand lined the spreader bar in as the lit up blue marlin charged the baits and the boat.  The big blue actually ate one of the baits on the spreader bar and from my position in the center of the cockpit, I told P.J. Cunningham "now!" The fifteen foot cast laid the 8 inch dorado pattern fly next to the blue marlin's beak and was instantly engulfed. A lot of things go through one's mind during these critical moments. Probably foremost, was the fact that this was a huge fish and I wondered "how in the world is a fly outfit set up for sailfish, going to hold up on this 300 pound plus blue?"

The problem with bill fishing, and especially on the fly, Mr. Murphy is always looking over your shoulder. What can go wrong, will go wrong and that was becoming very obvious when the marlin was not content to just eat one of the teaser baits and the fly. It seemed he wanted the whole boat.  Pez Vela, reaching out, lifted the spreader bar up on the swim step. The marlin finally came to its senses and made its turn from less than 3 feet away. P.J. was stripping line, in short 14 to 18 inch power pulls, as fast as he could to get a hook set. But, he could not catch up with the fish until it turned. A quick left hand strip and the forward number 8/0 hook was firmly in the corner of the mouth.

My original question was quickly resolved. The rod tip was actually beyond the marlin’s head at the hook set, and in trying to catch up to the fish, Mr. Murphy had wrapped the line around the outside of the reel.  When the big blue felt the bite of the hook, the explosion that followed snapped the 20 pound leader as if it was thread.

On the Pacific Ocean side of Mexico, the twin cities of Ixtapa / Zihuatanejo are a premier sail fishing destination for serious fishermen. Not only is the area known for it's popular resorts in Ixtapa, and the old world charm of Zihuatanejo, but the sailfish fishing can only be duplicated in a couple of other areas in the world.

Supported by an international airport, good roads, great hotel and restaurant accommodations and an adequate fishing fleet, the towns are one of the best bargains for the fisherman who wants to get a billfish on a fly rod.

Fly fishing for a billfish is best described as the ultimate adrenaline rush. To have a blue marlin or sailfish rise up in the trolled spread of hookless teasers, watch him charge the boat and take the fly; this is sight casting at its best.

Blue marlin are not as abundant as the sailfish, but as P. J. will contest, he had a second chance on another blue two days later. We had already released a sailfish and kept a nice thirty pound dorado. P.J.'s fishing partner, Alan Van Duyne had taken those and it was P.J.'s turn again. Rubin screamed "marlin, marlin" and we went into action again. I could see it was only about 180 pounds of fury this time, and I honestly thought we had a chance for this one.

The twenty foot cast with the hot pink fly was eaten and the hook set made. The marlin did not jump. It headed straight for Hawaii. The speed and power of the run was awesome. The fly rod was bent to maximum resistance, the line was screaming off the reel, and we all stared in awe. A veteran fly fisherman, P.J. had a satisfying smile on his face that reflected past fly fishing battles with 27 pound steelhead from Idaho and 50 pound salmon in Alaska. Seconds later, for some unexplainable reason, a brand new 12-13 weight fly reel, from a reputable manufacture, froze up. End of second chance in two days.

Most of the billfish taken here in Ixtapa / Zihuatanejo are the large aerobatic Pacific sailfish, however, the methods we use for sailfish are the same for the marlin and dorado. We generally use two to three hookless teasers, which are trolled to locate the fish and entice them to bite. The teaser man brings the fish close to the boat, and the fly angler then makes the cast. This method also works, and was derived from, using a light line conventional gear rod and reel for bait and switch fishing.

Sailfish caught on light line outfits such as a fly rod or 20 pound gear outfits fight better, and leap more often, than when being dragged down by a heavy 60 or 80 pound conventional gear rig. This adds to the excitement of the fight, and the ability to appreciate why the sailfish is one of the most targeted exotic game fish in the world.

As proven by PJ, the light line outfits and fly fishing rigs are not really made for the ultra heavy weights of the billfish world, but they sure are fun on the sailfish.