Releasing A Marlin

A lot has been written about angling for marlin, wiring marlin and the use of special boat-handling tactics when fighting one. A good analogy for this game, since every aspect of it is dependent on the behavior of the marlin itself, is that of a complex dance. But in this performance, the one who takes the lead can change in an instant.

Of course, the crew wishes to do as much of the leading as possible, constantly trying to pressure the fish into behaving in a way that allows a relatively frail human being to subdue a much bigger and stronger animal. So, now, the dance also becomes a sort of chess match, with one player’s move dictating the next move of the opposing player.

The crew’s biggest advantage is intelligence. Through experience, the captain and crew familiarize themselves with most, or all, of the numerous possible moves the fish could make. This allows them to try and encourage the fish to move in certain ways that increase their chances of a successful capture and release.

For a top-notch professional crew, especially those lucky enough to have either charter clients or private bosses who like to chase world-record-size billfish, the end of the chess match/dance is the most thrilling and fun part of the fight; it’s the part that ultimately determines the winner.

Here, then, are some of the finer points of close-quarters boat handling and pulling on the leader.

Physiology and Strategy
Any animal (including a fish) that makes a long, hard sprint at full speed goes into oxygen debt. After expending all of its oxygen supply during the sprint, the animal must slow down to try to regain the necessary levels of oxygen in the blood. It then attempts to take in oxygen faster than its muscles are burning it at the slower speed.

A skillful boat handler, angler or wire man can often coax a fish that has slowed down because of lack of oxygen into a behavior that would be categorized as panic. If the crew can induce this panic at the right time, the fish burns up even more energy instead of regaining it, further depleting its oxygen supply. And if the angler can exert a lot of drag right after the fish stops its initial run and tries to recover, the fish will continue to consume vast quantities of oxygen while fighting the heavy drag, which will slow it down even more.

All of the big pelagic marine predators need to swim forward in order to breathe. If you force a fish to move slowly by applying heavy drag pressure, it won’t get as much oxygen as it needs, and will usually give up the fight rather quickly.

To start the end game, the captain and the angler must get the fish close to the boat, or the boat close to the fish, so the wire man can grab the leader. In some extreme instances, however, and especially when you get on top of a green fish quickly, the captain must actually move away from a wildly leaping fish to keep it from jumping into the boat and hurting someone. In this case, the boat should not try to run away from the jumping fish, but should try to move over to one side and let the fish pass. After avoiding the possible collision, the skipper should then speed up and run alongside the fish, remaining alert for the possible need to turn away from the fish should it change its course back toward the boat.

In this situation, the captain is doing exactly what he should do when a hooked fish runs away from the boat. In both situations, once the fish slows or settles down, the captain should position the boat up-sea from the fish. He can then start backing down toward the fish, which will still be tired and low on oxygen from its initial hard run.

This is a much different tactic than what you normally see on most nonprofessional game boats. On most boats, when the team hooks a marlin weighing no more than three to five times the breaking strain of the line, the captain chases the fish in reverse while the angler applies only a modest amount of drag. This is a terrible way to fight a fish, especially if there is even a modest chop running. (You should only back a boat up going down-sea.)

Taking the Leader
As the fish slows down from its initial burst, the boat eventually overtakes it, all the while regaining the line lost in the strong run. When the deckhand grabs the leader, the fish will still be swimming away from the boat, on or near the surface.

A less skilled mate, trying to show how strong he is, may immediately start pulling on the fish as soon as he grabs the leader. This often causes the fish to try to speed up and get away from the boat. A fish that’s hooked in the mouth will pull hard against the wire, causing its head to rise up out of the water. Usually, this makes the fish try to jump. Since the mate has a fistful of double wraps when the fish starts to leave the water, the strain on the leader causes the fish to go mostly straight up. A small billfish may even somersault over and land on its back — with its bill facing the transom. This is a dangerous situation, since even a small billfish can cause serious injury if, on its next jump, it comes flying into the cockpit.

A larger fish may just break the leader, which results in a lost, not released, fish. Or, if the leader doesn’t break and the mate doesn’t let go, the fish may just yank the mate overboard. Mates have lost their lives this way.