Sailboat Fishing
02 December 2015 | 90 mi N Mag Bay
Rick Longpre
Sailboat fishing is an oxymoron. I know you can do it, but there is a reason fishing boats are power boats...they just do it better. All is fine if you're fishing for a 10-20 lb fish under power and you may even be able to improvise under sail. The story changes when you get a 150 lb +/- marlin strike while sailing downwind at 7 knots. Since we were planning on ceviche or Dorado fillets and had not even considered the possibility of a billfish strike, we were not prepared...to say the least. I grabbed the rod with line singing off the reel as the marlin headed out to the Pacific yonder, jumping in classic marlin style. The rod had been on the leeward side without thought about what would happen in the event of a strike. As Bob started to turn into the wind, there was no way for me to get the rod to the windward side and I was having trouble keeping the line away from the dinghy. The fish's initial run continued unabaited notwithstanding my cranking down on drag. Now getting spooled looked like a very real possibility and quickly turned into reality with a twang as the final knot popped. It was a thrilling 60 second adventure, but as I said, sailboat fishing is an oxymoron. No ceviche tonight!