At Last

At Last

At last. I came to live in Pohnpei in January (staying for 2 years before coming back to WA) to work and fish. I had dreams of catching big fish. I haven't had a lot of large quality fish come into the boat just yet but I'm still working on it. To get around my lack of marlin in Pohnpei I flew to the Marshall Islands on the weekend to compete in the annual All Mike Tournament with a mate from here. We fished the Sat/Sun and did okay. Shotgun start at 0700 Saturday, boated my first marlin ever at 0758. 8 months of fishing in Pohnpei, no marlin. 58 minutes in the Marshalls and I've got a marlin. It wasn't a big one by any stretch but I enjoyed the absolute bag out of it and learnt a lot. We didn't catch any more marlin, but caught some yellowfin and took out the tournament prize for the biggest barracuda. $500 thank you very much. I have now got a better idea on lure spreads and types on different days and I'll actively target marlin a lot more than what I have been. A great weekend.

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The best reason for doing what's right today is tomorrow.


Lucky Tim's picture

Posts: 2536

Date Joined: 28/11/07

what sort of marlin is that

Wed, 2010-09-08 07:21

what sort of marlin is that Soupy? I see it's not a black.
Either way, big congrats, it's a fish you'll never forget but watch out, the bug bites pretty bad. My magic 8 ball tells me there's going to be plenty of trolling for you in the future.

soupster51's picture

Posts: 2724

Date Joined: 29/11/06

Pacific Blue

Wed, 2010-09-08 07:32

Pacific Blue Marlin Tim. Mate the bug has bitten. It's only a matter of time before the boat is dragging four lures in search of Pohnpean billfish. Unfortunately it probably won't be until next weekend, only 10 days away (but who is counting).

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The best reason for doing what's right today is tomorrow.

woody's picture

Posts: 617

Date Joined: 27/02/08

Good work on your first

Wed, 2010-09-08 07:23

Good work on your first billie. Was there many caught in the comp?

soupster51's picture

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Date Joined: 29/11/06

Bills

Wed, 2010-09-08 07:34

Thanks Woody. 13 teams/boats fished both days. Each team had a different boat each day determined by a lucky draw at registration. There was 20 marlin caught over the two days with at least that many lost. There are some big fish there. The tournament record is 794 lb.

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The best reason for doing what's right today is tomorrow.

Posts: 9358

Date Joined: 21/02/08

Nice work Soupy! I'm sure

Wed, 2010-09-08 07:32

Nice work Soupy! I'm sure you will get a few more when you're back in Pohnpei now.

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alfred's picture

Posts: 3097

Date Joined: 12/01/07

Nice!  I am sure there will

Wed, 2010-09-08 07:38

Nice!  I am sure there will be more to come.

Colin Hay's picture

Posts: 10407

Date Joined: 23/10/07

Great stuff Soupy

Wed, 2010-09-08 10:18

Mate, catching your first marlin must have been a great buzz. Good on you.

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Pete D's picture

Posts: 1681

Date Joined: 07/06/07

Looking a bit wet there

Wed, 2010-09-08 10:21

Looking a bit wet there mate.  Big congrats.  You sure do learn alot with the first one on the board.

Did you fly it back for the locals to cook up?

Cheers Pete

soupster51's picture

Posts: 2724

Date Joined: 29/11/06

Charter Fee

Wed, 2010-09-08 10:37

Unfortunately not. Part of the boat's 'Charter Fee Agreement' is that the boat keeps the fish. There was enough free food at the functions to keep me full for a week. Plus free beer as it was sponsored by Budwiser. Free beer at the registration on Friday, a free carton on Saturday for the boat, same Sunday, and then free beer at the presentation function on Monday night. Then on the flight home Tuesday I had a mate passing me free beers back from business class. Don't need a beer until at least Friday for sure.

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The best reason for doing what's right today is tomorrow.

PilbaraBrad's picture

Posts: 3628

Date Joined: 16/05/07

nioce work soup, good to see

Wed, 2010-09-08 17:49

nioce work soup, good to see you getting amongst it mate

wish i had a posting like that in my time mate

Faulkner Family's picture

Posts: 18035

Date Joined: 11/03/08

well done soupy. i bet it

Wed, 2010-09-08 21:44

well done soupy. i bet it was a great feeling to get your first marlin. still waiting for mine. from the sounds of it you wouldnt have been too sober for the whole weekend. hopefully you will get into a few when you get the rig going out on the water again.

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RUSS and SANDY. A family that fishes together stays together

Posts: 912

Date Joined: 23/07/10

great fish mate, cant say im

Wed, 2010-09-08 21:46

great fish mate, cant say im a fan of sitting in a chair cranking in a marlin but i imagine watching the fish putting on a show would be awesome.

soupster51's picture

Posts: 2724

Date Joined: 29/11/06

Not just cranking

Thu, 2010-09-09 05:39

Cheers Dicey. You know thought along those sort of lines until I hooked one up. There is so much more to catching/landing a marlin than just chair cranking. Especially if you're in a boat without a chair like I was. Even leadering a fish of that size is like nothing I've ever done before. It is a definate fishing skill of which I am no where near mastering, comes with time and fish no doubt.

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The best reason for doing what's right today is tomorrow.

Leemo's picture

Posts: 3712

Date Joined: 22/02/07

thats right, you prefer to

Sat, 2010-10-02 09:08

thats right, you prefer to stand up and skull drag them don't you?

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bludgin' since 94'

STEVE231's picture

Posts: 1443

Date Joined: 05/01/10

Well done on your first

Thu, 2010-09-09 05:44

Well done on your first billfish, and I have to say $500 is a pretty good swap for a stink'in old barracuda!!

soupster51's picture

Posts: 2724

Date Joined: 29/11/06

Agree

Thu, 2010-09-09 06:09

Very much agree. Especially since it wasn't even allowed to go in the icebox with the yellowfin and rainbow runner we have caught. Dried out barracuda at about $50 a kilo, and we thought fish in Perth was expensive......

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The best reason for doing what's right today is tomorrow.