2008 MABT: Never Too Old to Learn

Every year we put our best team forward to fish in the MABT (Master Angler Billfish Tournament) which is the most prestigious marlin tournament on the West Coast.
Our annual team includes Jock Albright, Charlie Albright, Dave Elm, and myself on Jock's 44 Pacifica the "Kea Kai" and this year we had a guest from New Zealand, Jocks brother in law Ross.
The tournament was a 2 day tournament Friday and Saturday. The guys had prefished while I was in Alaska and found some honey holes around the islands holding fish. With marlin fishing, "What was good today" doesn't hold true for tomorrow and we found ourselves making changes to the game plan dependent on the conditions which change hourly.
We had good dope (information) that there was a group of fish on the beach in front of San Onfre and checked that first thing Friday morning for sleepers. After looking through the first tide we ended up heading up towards the fleet on the backside of Catalina. We ended up getting up there around 8:50 or so and we started fishing. It didn't take long at all to find out there were a couple fish around Salta Verde. I had put the flat line rod out and was working on getting the right rigger rod out while I was holding the line to put it into the rigger clip I had a fish pull the line out of my hands and it was game on. The fish was very aerial for the first few runs with plenty of jumping and head shakes but on 20 lb nothing that gave us a scare.
While I was fighting the fish on the bow Dave Elm had put the drop back in because we I had seen a couple fish in the jigs and while clearing the lines he got a bite on 12 lb which ended in getting the bait back. The fish continued its hot run with plenty of air action and after 27 minutes we landed the stripe marlin for our first fish on the board. All scoring is done by the line class you catch the fish on which could be 12, 16, 20, or 30 monofilament and all fish are released to fight another day.
The rest of the day we saw a few fish but opted to stay out of the fleet which was like being in a bar during the Super Bowl with many big yachts crusing the zone up west.
We ended the day with two bites, two fish hooked, and one landed.
Saturday started with us having some numbers in front of Northwest Harbor on San Clemente Island and we got up and rolling around 4 am and were on the numbers by 6:15 am and by God's luck we found some sleepers ten minutes before lines in and "hatched them" which in lay mans terms means waited till lines in. All three of us, Charlie, Dave, and myself had our twelve pound rods ready for action and it turned out that the last cast, mine, ended up getting bit at 6:32 am to start off the second day of the tournament. I have caught a lot of stripe marlin in Southern California as well as Mexico and Hawaii but never have I seen a tougher fish in my entire fishing time. With 12 lb test you are unable to pull very hard due to the possiblility of breaking the fish off. There are a lot of variables that come to play while fighting fish on light line. Having the right tackle, a reel with a smooth drag (B270XC), the right rod (Anglers Center 12 lb caster, good line(Momoi IGFA 12 lb), and most importantly a experienced crew. The captain is the most integral part of the team with boat positioning being key and communication with the angler vital. The wireman has to be on his game able to read the conditions on the water and knowing exactly what the fish is doing and able to pounce on the leader at a seconds notice. And the rest of the crew needs to be able to hand out the support and encouragement neccessary while the angler battles these light line opponents with the percentages in the stripe marlin's favor.
Honestly, I have battled a lot of gamefish many of them for several hours including a 291 lb swordfish in front of Dana for 3 hours and five minutes, a 300 lb Thresher on 30 lb for 3 hours 40 minutes, but this fish took the cake. I thought I had seen it all but as they say if you pay attention you can learn something new everday which I did on Saturday.
After fighting this fish for over 5 hours I realized that it was going to come down to who made the first mistake, me or the fish. Hour after hour went by with my focus on several key variables, where is the fish in comparison to the boat, keep the rod bent, and watch how much drag is being put on the fish at all times. It only takes a small mistake to end hours of focused, hard work and you end up empty handed. The importance of the drag on the reel can never be stressed enough especially in 3 to 4 foot seas with the fish traveling up hill. I had between 5 to 8 pounds of drag on the fish the entire fight knowing that if he had too much line out and ran hard I could break him off in the belly of the line between the rod tip and his mouth. I kept him within 50 to 100 yards of the boat the entire battle.
It's amazing how when you are in situations like that your mind plays tricks on you, throwing you vsions of the fish breaking off, thoughts of work or family come in, but the key is to keep your focus on the matter at hand, keeping your rod bent and making sure the line is coming off the reel smoothly and evenly. The whole process might sound simple but effectively keeping the rod bent through smooth, even pumps and regulating the drag dependent on how much line is off the reel, knowing that more line off the reel increases the drag resulting in the angler backing off the drag, and as line is gained putting the drag lever back up to strike. The focus and ability to hold your attention to these variables gives you the stamina to wait out a light line fish with the results being in your favor, if all goes your way.
Well with 7 hours and 50 minutes on the fish, guess what, he made the mistake and came to the surface to show us a flurry of jumps and run around on top. With Jock's excellent boat handling, and wireman Dave's experience, we got the leader and ended up with a release on 12 lb that helped us secure 4th Place High Angler in the tournament but most importantly taught us all something about light line fishing and giving us informtion for our memory banks for future fish with bad attitudes.
This fish swam away from us like with started, fresh and ready to do battle with whover is in his path.
I learned a lot about myself and how important a good drag is on a reel. Without my crew, the light line fish of my lifetime would not have been possible.
Till next time. Have a great time on the water with tight lines. Ben