Guy Harvey and wife Gillian were rewarded on Father's Day with a double hookup. With lure in tow, this blue marlin takes into the air
Besides being perhaps the best month of the year for blue marlin fishing around Grand Cayman, June holds some special memories for me of times past. With all of the years I spent fishing around my home island of Jamaica, both as a youth and during adulthood, it was ironic that, while participating in a Cayman Islands Angling Club event in June of 1984, I recorded my first ever blue marlin release. Back in 1983, the newly-formed Cayman club, under the leadership of the late James Bodden, began to promote a month-long fishing extravaganza, offering $1 million in prize money to the angler breaking the Cayman blue marlin record of 584 pounds. Club organizer Bill Rewalt ran the event through all of June each year and attracted participation from anglers worldwide, putting the Cayman Islands on the Caribbean sportfishing map. In the years to come, only two blues over 500 pounds were taken during the June contests, but none matched the record, so no one ever collected the $1 million prize. The event was replaced in 1998 by the Cayman Islands International Tournament, a five-day catch-and release competition that’s held annually in late April. (See my April blog about the first blue marlin caught from a sailboat during a Cayman Islands tournament.)
The highlight for me in June of 2008 was being joined on the boat by my wife Gillian on Father’s Day. Supporting me before and during our 21 years of marriage, Gillian has provided much encouragement, guidance and assistance with all of my endeavors. She enables me to spend long hours in my art studio, helping with all of the administration, has put up with weeks of separation while I am on expeditions or attending art exhibitions, boat shows, and making public appearances — and she has been the wonderful mother of our two children. She’s also my dearest of part-time fishing partners. For the two of us, this was to be a memorable Father’s Day that began with a planned hour of trolling for marlin before joining a group of friends for a beach party at Rum Point.
Guy Harvey completes a painting of a blue marlin in his studio, just one of many such dynamic illustrations featured on Guy Harvey T-shirts and sportswear
With perfect June weather, I worked close to the drop-off near Rum Point, and after 45 minutes of trolling, the right short lure blew up with a big strike. Immediately, the blue marlin started smoothly peeling line as I slowed the boat and helped Gillian bring in the other lines. Just then, the short left rigger was slammed by another marlin, this fish using a different tact by jumping toward the horizon. Gillian grabbed that rod and kept the second fish tight while I stayed busy working on the first one. From that point on, it got a little crazy with a lot of running around the boat and switching rods each time either of the fish would change directions. At last, we brought both marlin to the boat, where Gillian photographed the blues as I prepared to unbutton them. Five minutes later, we were tying up to the other boats at Rum Point with two marlin release flags flying. Moral of the story — take the wife fishing more often! On the following day, fishing with friend and angler John Dinan, I released another blue marlin following a hookup off Northwest Point.
With the end of June, I had successfully completed “half” of my mission of catching a blue marlin from Grand Cayman waters during each month of the year. Throughout the first six months, the challenges had been many, and though overcoming them gave me a great deal of satisfaction, I was mindful that completing my goal during the second half of the year could prove to be an even more daunting task. Summer on into fall can offer some of the year’s best fishing conditions in the Caribbean, but this is also a time of severe summer storms, even hurricanes. Then, of course, comes early winter with windy and rough water periods. Factor in my busy work and travel schedule, and the last six months of the year could prove to be very interesting.
— Guy Harvey
For a complete list of our other featured blog posts and to see the full line of Guy Harvey Sportswear, please visit; www.guyharveysportswear.com
Related posts:
- Guy Harvey’s Marlin a Month | April 2010
- Guy Harvey Marlin a Month | December
- Guy Harvey’s Marlin a Month | January 2010
- Guy Harvey’s Marlin a Month | February 2010
- Guy Harvey’s Marlin a Month| May 2010
Tags: Big Game Fishing, Guy Harvey, Marlin a Month
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