A big bonito was splashing along from the left outrigger leaving a hefty wake. A small mackerel-like scad trailed from the right outrigger and was swimming beautifully below the surface of the Coral Sea. We were trolling at 5 knots. These are my two favorite baits for the giant black marlin that roam Australia’s Great Barrier Reef during the southern hemisphere’s Spring spawning aggregation of these mighty marine predators. I consider this combination the “marlin equivalent” of the steak and lobster dinner humans call “surf and turf”.
Australia's Great Barrier Reef is the spawning ground for giant black marlin which arrive in the fall each year
When the strike came, it was an attack upon neither of my favorite natural baits, but because of what I had previously derided as such a poorly performing artificial lure, I had refused to use it. Moldcraft’s “Spooler” does not perform well at the high speeds at which I normally troll artificial lures. It is prone to leap out of waves and tumble over, often tangling the hooks and skirts, especially on rough days when the boat would surf and change speed and wake patterns, especially on down sea tacks. I didn’t like the look of the thing out of water and hated the way it ran. It sat, unrigged, in the tackle drawer for over a year.
“You’re missing out Peter B.” John Phillips told me. “You won’t believe how good it works at slow speeds. I call it the ‘scad’. You really ought to try it.” “That’s because you can’t catch scad.” I needled him. “And I’ve told you where to go and on what tide.” “No it’s not. Even when I do I have scad, the “spooler” really works. Try it, I promise you— it works great at low speed. I even use it with live bait sometimes, and just the other day, it got bit instead of the livey!” Phillips replied.
A few days later we were fishing together with a group of friends from the Canary Islands sharing our two boats. It was calm and I had plenty of big baits. Late in the afternoon I wanted to look over a sunken patch of reef in shallow water that held enough toothy critters like wahoo, sharks, barracuda, and large mackerel, to make fishing live bait out of the question. In short, there was no need for the small bait lure I usually pull down the center. I might as well give the spooler another try. Minutes later we were releasing a 200 pound black marlin that passed up the surf and turf combo for a handful of junk food!
Moldcraft’s “spooler” is a soft plastic lure modeled after earlier, homemade, lures that were constructed from discarded wooden spools that had been filled with sewing thread. The “spooler” had a nifty action at the five to six knot speeds that I use for dead bait. But the hydrodynamic instability that worked against it at high speed became an asset. The lure head wiggled and wobbled violently leaving a stream of bubbles (or “smoke” as fanatical fishheads call it) combined with a lively swimming action.
The next day we had three strikes. We caught one marlin on a natural dead bait and caught one and lost one on the lure. “A couple of more days like this and I’ll be a believer!” I told Phillips on the VHF radio. I became a “Spooler” fan! Dead bait anglers, or even live bait anglers, for any species of billfish, should try adding a spooler approximating the size of their natural bait to their spread. You will be pleasantly surprised!
Peter B
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When the staff of the Tropic Star Lodge tells you it is a fairly hard 35 minute walk/climb from the lodge, across the peninsula, to the white sand beach, believe it! And that is each way, NOT over and back! And if it has rained earlier in the day, which turns the clay soil into grease, it is even more difficult!
We all made it but found out we were not as fit as we would have liked! If one of us had slipped and been hurt, getting someone with even a minor injury like a twisted ankle or busted leg up, and then down ( down was even worse in the mud), would have been a real challenge. Our clothes were wringing wet with sweat from 100% humidity, hot weather and exertion, when we got back down to safety a drink of water and then a cold beer!
Tropic Star is a spot I have been recommending for decades after I had visited a few times several years ago. I first met Terri Kitteredge and her dad Conway when they visited Australia in 1982. Terri and her husband Mike run a great operation.
Before this trip, I had fished Piñas Bay on big U.S. boats owned by Jerry Dunaway and Jean Paul Richard, but had seen the lodge’s fleet of 31 Bertrams in action. I was also lucky enough to have stayed in the original owner’s private home, now part of the accommodation for guests, and referred to by one and all as “The Palace”.
There is a little cable car up the hill to the palace which we used for what we called a cocktail cruise as we had for a much needed shower at day’s end. Mostly, I walked it as it is just enough of a climb to make you breathe heavily, but always glad you did it —good cardio exercise and not TOO hard.
The efficiency of the crews, mechanics, and support staff, make this arguably the best run and most successful, charter fishing fleet anywhere. With over a dozen identical boats (31 Bertrams, a long established gold standard) fishing daily, there are always extras available and every essential spare part is on site.
Black Marlin are the main species of marling encountered off Tropic Star Lodge on the famous Zane Grey — Photo by Richard Gibson
The boat I was on caught a blue and a sail and lost another blue in 4 days fishing, reasonable action, but not great. Some of our boats had quite a bit more action and had multiple marlin days. The sun does not shine on the same dog’s back every day.
There were good luck and bad luck tales every night over a choice of tasty Piña Coladas, rum drinks or beer before we retired to our luxurious accommodations to shower and get ready for dinner.
It seemed to me that communications between crew and anglers, in both English and Spanish, were not as good as they could have been due to a reluctance of both the local crews and our team to TRY to speak in an unfamiliar language. The better Spanish speaking students translated when necessary and after a couple of days both sides found out the reluctance to attempt to speak together were not necessary and basic communications improved.
When traveling, do not be embarrassed, go ahead and try to communicate. Often, both sides know some words, enough to communicate. Things like “weight “ for more drag, and is NOT “wait”, and let him eat it, got resolved over time.
We came home and I retrieved the computer I had left in the TSA screening area in Miami. What a relief that was!! I had failed to back up files on my new computer and the idea of losing all those magazine articles made me decide to get a new flash drive ASAP!
When I got home, I helped coach some brand new members of the “Young Guns at Quail Creek”, the local scholastic shooting team. Some of the youngsters who started shooting less than a couple of years ago are already winning, not only in junior class, but even winning state championships as High Over All – beating everyone including all the adults and the instructors who got them started.
My hat is off to the entire crew of kids, instructors, parents, owners and staff of Quail Creek Plantation. GREAT JOB!! I really enjoy teaching young people to both fish and to shoot. It is very gratifying to give back some of what I was given when I was a kid! Also, ethical fishing and hunting are the strongest forces for real conservation of our game fish and game animals.
Good fishing wherever you are.
—Peter B
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
There are twenty species of barracuda in tropical waters around the planet, of which, the great barracuda is the largest. The IGFA all tackle world record is 85 pounds, but the largest recorded specimen was 106 pounds. Can you imagine meeting that guy on a dive! Large specimens are rare, and most of those caught in the Caribbean do not reach 40 pounds. The majority of barracudas that we see on dives here in the Cayman Islands are in the 5 to 15 pound size range.
The great barracuda is long, slim-bodied and has a pointed head, with a jutting lower jaw, full of canine teeth that give it a ferocious look. Their second dorsal fin and anal fin are set far back on their body, effectively giving them another tail, enabling them to accelerate very rapidly.
Barracuda have a jutting lower jaw, full of canine teeth that give them a ferocious look — Photo by Bill Boyce
They are tremendous fish to paint. They play the part of the reef bully, but are handsome at the same time, with gorgeous metallic hues, punctuated by irregular black blotches, that are striking from a distance. They can change colour by adopting a mottled or banded colour scheme when waiting motionless near the bottom or beside structure. Their large eye and menacing look tell the story of a successful reef predator.
Young individuals up to about 3 pounds usually live close to shore in the shallow water, and are found in coastal lagoons, harbours and mangroves flats. Growth rates are fast, but little is known about reproduction in this species. Large adults may occur farther offshore along the reef edges and even out in the open ocean. They are aggressive carnivorous fish, and are an underrated game fish. Larger barracudas are usually caught by anglers trolling along reef drop-offs on heavy tackle targeting other species such as wahoo and tuna. However, when specifically sought on the inshore flats by anglers in shallow water, also looking for bonefish and permit, the great barracuda can be a spectacular game fish making swift runs and frequent jumps.
People who eat barracuda and other large reef fish do run the risk of ciguatera poisoning. The symptoms are varied usually include gastrointestinal and neurological disorders, which can last for weeks and sometimes years. There is no effective treatment for ciguatera poisoning.
However, there is a very low incidence of fish poisoning from eating barracuda in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. Part of the reason is that they are regularly consumed, so big ones, over 15 # are rare (compared to the Bahamas for example).
Ciguatera toxins are produced by dinoflagellates which herbivorous fish consume. These fish are then eaten by large predatory reef fish, such as grouper, amberjack and barracuda, which appear to be unharmed by the toxin. Because the toxins are lipid-soluble, they accumulate through the food chain. The toxin may be more concentrated in the head, viscera and roe.
Ciguatoxin-containing fish may be highly localized and islands may have some reefs where the fish are inedible, and other reefs where the fish are unaffected. No open ocean fish, such as wahoo, tuna and dolphin have been found to carry ciguatoxin.
Ciguatoxins are odourless, colourless, tasteless, and unaffected by cooking or freezing, therefore persons living or traveling to areas where ciguatera toxin is endemic should follow these general precautions:
1) Avoid consuming large predatory reef fish, especially barracuda.
2) Avoid eating the head, viscera or roe of any reef fish.
3) Avoid eating fish from areas with known ciguatera toxins.
In the Caribbean there are many beliefs about how a poisonous barracuda can be identified, by its size, the colour of its teeth, rigidity of its scales, or by putting some of its meat on an ant’s nest, or its flesh turning a silver coin black. My grandfather used to give the head to his cook to make “fish tea”, and if she was around the following day, he would have the barracuda steamed for lunch! Very brave of him!
The dubious food value of the barracuda in no way detracts from its game qualities. The message of this story is that if you are in doubt, then release the barracuda alive. Nowadays, there are dehooking devices available that enable you to release a barracuda or any fish, without taking it out of the water or risking injury to one self.
As an ardent diver, I look forward to the next barracuda encounter. I put their predictable curiosity towards swimmers and divers to good use by capturing head shots and close-ups as they come by to check you out. Frequently, they are accompanied by a group of bar jacks, or as we experience at Tarpon Alley in Grand Cayman, they hang out around the tarpon and schools of horse-eye jacks.
It is our collective responsibility to conserve the marine environment and maintain the biodiversity of the planet.
Fish responsibly, dive safely.
—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
I recently found an old story I wrote while looking up some information about tagging and its benefits. When “Migratory Movements, Depth Preferences, and Thermal Biology of Atlantic Bluefin Tuna” was published in the 17 August 2001 issue of Science there were some great stories to tell. Stories that had to be kept as secrets until the paper was published in Science.
The data presented, and conclusions drawn from them by a team headed by Dr. Barbara Block from Stanford University (and including scientists, anglers and crew making up a who’s who of tuna angling , research and management) created shocks waves across the Atlantic.
National Public Radio, National Geographic News as well local, regional and national newspapers, had already discussed the ramifications of having tuna tagged off Hatteras, cross the Atlantic Ocean, and even enter the Mediterranean Sea in larger numbers than any previous estimates could imagine. This threw a monkey wrench into all management plans and conservation attempts, based on earlier theories, that eastern and western populations of bluefin tuna were separate and need to be managed separately.
Giant Atlantic Bluefin Tuna, each weighing over a quarter-ton — Photo by Guy Harvey
Two types of tags were used in the study, surgically applied internal “archival” tags and pop-up satellite archival tags (PSAT tags in the article’s jargon). Both showed that fish from the west cross over into the eastern Atlantic. These tags, plus captured fish with conventional spaghetti tags, raised the thorny issue of North American fishermen (commercial and recreational) accepting low catch quotas in order to allow the overfished tuna populations to recover, only to have the fish massacred in huge numbers in the Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic. (East of longitude 45 degrees West twenty metric tonnes of bluefin tuna were being caught for every tonne caught in the west!)
The Science paper is fascinating but takes some serious reading! It is not something you can glance at and retain. Some highlights, with some input from me from information gleaned during the tagging process, include:
There were 377 electronic tags in this study. Electronic tags were recovered from a few days to 3.6 years later, AND the TAG program continues to produce amazing results. Internal archival tags totaled 279 with 49 tuna being recaptured. This 18% return rate is extremely high and by itself suggests overfishing.
The 90% data acquisition rate from pop-up tags is a marvel of both technology and tuna survival rates. The return rate is higher since the fish does not have to be recaptured and the data is downloaded through the Argos satellite system. Although, the percentage of recovery is higher less information per tag can be retrieved, because of the high energy needed to send a radio signal, not just burn data onto a chip.
There were 7065 conventional spaghetti tags applied by Carolina tuna fishermen between the years 1994 and 2000. There were 292 recoveries (4.1%). This is a high rate in itself and valuable information was added, but it is obvious that trained scientific teams with top anglers and crews are more successful than the general public in properly applying tags. (One reason for non-return is probably mortality where a dead fish sinks or is eaten by sharks and the tag cannot be recovered.)
Some tags could record depth (through pressure) and location (by measuring the levels of light). Sunrise and sunset were the “most significant light events” and with an accurate electronic clock allow extremely precise east/west location and reasonable north/south estimates. It became apparent that Western tuna breed later in their lives than originally thought- another huge consideration in conservation and management.
Deep dives to over 500 fathoms (1000 meters) sometimes resulted in lowered internal body temperatures that experiments at the tuna lab showed to probably be the result of feeding on cold squid or fish living at those depths (Block fed captive yellowfins cold bait and measured cold internal temperatures.)
My question is “HOW DO THEY KNOW?” You can dive half a mile in most parts of the ocean and NOT find a meal!
In the field, the emotional highs and lows were enormous! The successful signal reception of the first pop-up tag started a major round of toasts and celebrations. Shortly after, on a rough and stormy night when the second pop-up tag failed to report in on its scheduled time, long faces abounded- until the weather eased and in calm water the tag sang like a bird to the overhead satellite. This alone allowed an adjustment, low tech but important, in additional buoyancy for subsequent tags.
Dr. Block was reduced to tears on the flying bridge one rough day when a large sea lifted the boat and one rudder hit and killed a tuna we were trying to tag. “I’m trying to save them- not kill them!” she sobbed.
The cooperation of anglers and crews, and their donations of time and money were an extremely important factor in the amazing success of this study and along with dozens of scientists and technicians all involved are to be highly congratulated! For more information get a copy of Science (17 August 2001). .
Recently, Paxson Offield was initiated into the IGFA Hall of Fame and a high light of his career and work in conservation was an ongoing program of PSAT tags in marlin. Currently, the internationally noted artist Dr. Guy Harvey is also a leader in not only tagging but other conservation initiatives.
We need people like Dr. Block, Dr. Harvey and Mr. Offield to help conserve our precious stocks of “Marine Megafauna”. AND we all need to do our part to help out.
See my next column in Marlin Magazine for a story of a Sportfishing CLUB gone BAD and becoming a detrimental group of swordfish killing amateur professionals.
Peter B Wright
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
Giant Bluefin tuna are the largest tuna species in the oceans and can attain weights over 1500lbs. Photo by Bill Boyce
The cold clear green water got my heart started as I turned to face the oncoming fish. I saw the first one rise out of the green abyss, gliding, silent and purposeful, eyes wide, mouth slightly agape, the dorsal fin suddenly raised, pelvics lowered and the gills flared as the fish inhaled a slowing sinking herring. It turned sharply and the afternoon sun caught its bronze flanks and the water around the fish was momentarily lit in a golden glow. The fins and tail cut the surface and the bubble stream followed the fish down into the green depths. Then another one rose up and another and then several came in a rush to suck down the drifting herring…..one came so close I could see the scale detail on its cheek and it popped its gills the size of trash can lid. Then a blur of bright yellow finlets as the huge fish passes. The average size of these giant bluefin tuna is 800 pounds. Giants… is the correct terminology. These fish are up to 12 feet long with a 7 foot girth and several that swept by me were in the 1,200 pound range. I panned my video camera on them as they swam past me gobbling up the chum that kept them close to the boat.
In the late summer and fall these remnants of a once larger population of bluefin tuna take advantage of large schools of herring spawning in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and around Nova Scotia, Canada. They put on weight prior to undertaking lengthy migrations south to the Gulf of Mexico or swim across the Atlantic to the Mediterranean.
I was on board the “Fin Seeker”, a 50 foot lobster boat from Wedgeport, owned by Erik Jaquard and crewed by sons Joel and Camil who had a permit to take 5,000 pounds of bluefin this season. Erik was very selective about what tunas were taken (only five in six days of fishing) and the rest were all tagged and released for science. Those fish that were harvested were meticulously cleaned and iced down before being shipped by air to waiting markets in Japan.
There are two research efforts currently under way in Nova Scotia, one being conducted by Dr. Barbara Block of the Tuna Research and Conservation Centre, based at the Stanford University’s Hopkins Marine Station, please visit: http://tunaresearch.org/. The GHOF gives this research organization a small grant to assist with this effort which is based at Port Hood in the northern district of Cape Breton.
The other research effort is being conducted by Dr. Molly Lutcavage of the Large Pelagics Research Centre based at the Natural Resources Conservation Dept , University of Massachusetts Amherst, please visit: http://tunalab.org/. Dr. Lutcavage’s team were based in Wedgeport in the southwest. The plan was to visit both operations and conduct interviews with respective scientists and crew. Both teams have spent the last decade in the field tagging and tracking the migrations of the bluefin tuna along the eastern seaboard of North America and across the Atlantic to Europe.
Their results have indicated main feeding areas, spawning areas, trans-Atlantic migrations and have assisted in the sometimes controversial management of this species by ICCAT, the international organization that allocates quotas and attempts to regulate commercial fishing for this valuable nomad of the ocean.
This is not my first brush with giants. In January 2003, I did a shoot with Barbara Block off Cape Lookout, North Carolina while she was tagging medium sized and giant bluefin tuna, for my TV series “Portraits from the Deep”. “Giants” are individual tuna that are over 315 pounds and this species grows to at least 1,500 pounds. The previous year I had visited the tuna traps or “almadraba” in Tarifa and in Barbate on the southern coast of Spain. Here I dived with the captive tunas caught in land based traps and witnessed the harvest of 300 giants in a 2000 year old ritual that began with the Phoenecians and then the Romans.
Guy Harvey is working on a Bluefin Tuna Documentary
Long before the species became desirable food, the bluefin tuna was fished by recreational anglers out of Wedgeport, Nova Scotia from 1935 until 1975 in a famous tournament called the Sharp Cup which attracted international teams from many countries. Of these large, powerful animals Charles F. Holder said “Weight for weight, they have double the fighting power of a tarpon. They are living meteors that strike like whirlwind and play like a storm”. Some say the recreational fishery, catch and release only, should be revived in Nova Scotia.
In the early years this species was fished sparingly by harpoon, some were caught on line for canning as they were more of a “nuisance fish” damaging gear set for herring and mackerel. In the mid 1970s demand in Japan for the fresh tuna grew exponentially and so fishing effort for bluefin tuna was greatly increased. Industrial scale long lining and purse seining were added to the traps and harpoon fishery so the populations of bluefin tuna declined to the present day levels where some authorities consider the species close to commercial extinction. However, the researchers are of the opinion that if the quota system is properly regulated (as it certainly appears to be in Canada) then this fishery has the potential to be sustainable in spite of the huge worldwide demand for bluefin tuna sushi.
Along with my documentary producer and camera man, George Schellenger, I spent three days with the crew of the “Fin Seeker” as willing anglers using ultra heavy tackle caught, tagged and released some two dozen giants. Pop-up archival tags were deployed on many fish following capture. The hook was removed using a de-hooking device and the tunas swam free. The PATs record the migration of the tunas as well as depth and temperature data along their routes. A special physiological adaptation called a counter current heat exchanger allows metabolic heat to be kept in the body and not lost through the gills thus maintaining the body temperature well above ambient temperatures, allowing faster swimming speeds in areas rich in prey species. Being “warm blooded” these giant tuna, often called “super fish”, can penetrate the cold northern latitudes and dive to great depths in search of fish and squid.
The winter is coming soon and bad weather arrived so I was unable to visit the Tag–a-Giant research team in Cape Breton. They will be back next year and I will complete the documentary shoot with them at that time. Meanwhile, I will be completing the story of the life cycle of the bluefin tuna including interviews with other research efforts to study aspects of the early life history of this long lived super fish.
What a thrill to spend an hour in the water with these magnificent creatures and to capture their brilliant colours and movement for my next work. These are big fish and I will need to prepare a big canvas. The adventure continues….
It is our collective responsibility to conserve the marine environment and maintain the biodiversity of the planet.
—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
All of us, who have spent any amount of time on the water, have seen or at least heard some awesome fishing stories. One of the features we will now add to this blogsite is to utilize it in sharing some of our stories with you and to provide a forum for you to share your stories with us and the many readers of this blogsite.
My best fishing story is one that I was lucky enough to be a part of. It took place in Panama in 2009 when Guy swam down with my line and connected it to an already hooked up 1200 plus pound black marlin so we could get the fish tagged with a satellite tag. To read about this “Ultimate Fish Story” click here , and to see it on video click here. While this adventure with Guy will likely remain my most memorable fishing story, prior to this amazing event, the best fishing story I had ever heard was told to me by my father.
The story was about longtime family friend, Bobby Tidwell, catching his first marlin in Cabo San Lucas Mexico in 1956. Herb Bell of Packard Bell fame, owned the 100 foot Five Bells, named after the five Bell brothers, including the boat’s captain/ brother, Willard. As one of the very first boats to fish the waters of Cabo, the Five Bells played an important role in discovering this fishing paradise. Herb would invite friends to join him on fishing trips to waters of the East Cape and Cabo San Lucas. He needed talent on the boat to help ensure fishing success for his friends, and invited my dad Milt Shedd to join him in that role. During the trip to Cabo in 1956, Bobby Tidwell joined the group. An accomplished diver and expert angler, Bobby had yet to catch a marlin and was determined to do so. While trolling, Bobby hooked up to a striped marlin and when a second rod went off, dad grabbed the rod thinking they had a double. As both lines quickly came together, dad realized it was not a double hookup, but that one hungry marlin had eaten both baits. With the Five Bells now stopped, the fish ran towards the bow. Both dad and Bobby followed the fish and, when about the middle of the boat, the fish turned and ran directly under the boat and came up jumping on the other side.
Knowing there was no way to get to the bow to clear the line to the other side, dad tightened down the drag to break the fish off. To his amazement, he turned to Bobby just as he was diving overboard shouting “I am going to catch this fish.” Bobby is one of the most determined men I have ever known, but this was crazy. He dove overboard with rod and reel in hand, swam down to clear the considerable draft of the large boat and came up on the other side. Luckily, the marlin did not sound and was jumping toward the horizon. Bobby was being pulled behind the marlin, much like a water skier as the ski boat slowly moves away before accelerating to pop the skier out of the water. The other guys on deck looked down in amazement as Bobby yelled back to launch the skiff, which dad was already in the process of doing. The skiff was launched and Bobby Tidwell caught his first marlin. When asked later why he did it, Bobby simply replied “It was the only thing I could do to make sure I caught that fish.”
Bobby Tidwell passed away last year. While many people in Orange County, CA will remember him as the guy who gave the Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) $30 million dollars in his will, I will remember him for the amazing fishing story witnessed and told to me by my dad when I was just a young kid.
If you have an unusual fishing story send it to me, Bill Shedd, at laura@guyharveysportswear.com so we can share it here on this blogsite for others to enjoy.
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
In 1986 we were fishing one of the last Giant Tuna tournaments to be held in the Bahamas. Fishing was ok that week but we wound up winning with one fish. Ralph Mongeau caught a 615 pound tuna aboard “Raptor” on a classic day with a stiff southeast breeze. The tuna were pouring but not biting, well and ours was the biggest fish caught that week.
One evening, we watched movies from the International Game Fishing Association’s (IGFA) film library. Hundreds of anglers had donated their old fishing films and many of them had been copied onto video tape. The first film was shot in the early 1950’s and had wonderful action shots including footage taken from a small airplane that showed huge schools of tuna crossing the shallow flats south of Cat Cay. We could see fish peel off from the school and strike the bait trolled behind boats that were the state of the art “fishing cruisers” of that time, according to the announcer.
The film that really got us excited showed one of the greatest fishing guides of all time, Tommy Gifford. I met Gifford several times when I was a teenager and was most impressed with what a crusty old so and so he was, yet, he never paid me too much attention – I wish I had seen the movie before I met him. One way or another, I would have pestered him into letting me hang around, ride along, or something.
Marlin were already being caught in the Pacific by pioneering Australians, New Zealanders and Hawaiians. The Avalon Tuna Club was already a going concern with many striped marlin catches and Zane Grey was making expeditions to the South Pacific islands that have not been matched even with today’s motherships.
Ernest Hemingway advised Gifford of commercial marlin fishing techniques used in Cuba (later immortalized in his novel “The Old Man and the Sea”). Mike Lerner (proprietor and a founder of the Lerner Stores as well as the major financial contributor for the fledgling IGFA) chartered Gifford in 1934 to try for a blue marlin off Bimini. Gifford and Lerner decided to give these big cousins of sailfish a try. The movie footage is superb by any standards, doubly so considering when it was taken. Greyhounding marlin with a recognizable but unspoilt Bimini in the background, drew applause from the watching anglers and crew.
When Gifford put on a life jacket as he prepared to wire a good sized blue marlin, Lerner had, alongside the boat, cries of surprise and comments of sarcasm coming from the salty viewers. Then, Gifford billed the marlin like a sailfish. Cheers of surprise and approval echoed through the warm Bahamian night as Gifford billed a series of marlin ranging up to almost 500 pounds!
There were no gaffs -just a short nuggety young man who never let go once he had hold of a bill! “What a stud! I don’t believe it and I’m seeing it!” were two of the many shouted comments as Gifford was shaken like a rag doll. Never once did he relinquish a grip. It is still one of the most awesome fishing movies I have ever seen.
The IGFA museum in Dania, FL is the ultimate destination for angling enthusiasts and those interested in the complete historical record of the sport. It is open to the public 7 days a week
I had been impressed by the IGFA Hall of Fame and Museum when I attended its opening but hadn’t had a chance to check out the library with its video viewing and reading rooms. “Mike, I used to come and hang out once in a while and look at the old books when the office was in Pompano. Is the library open to the public?” I asked the then IGFA president Mike Leech at a chance meeting. “You mean you haven’t been in yet?” was his astonished reply. Two days later, I drove down and was floored by what I found. Leech introduced me to head librarian Gail Morchower, who showed me through a state of the art facility that has since seen a fair bit of me. (A few years ago I was inducted into the Hall Of Fame and some of my log books are now included.)
First, we entered a rare book room containing first editions (all of Zane Grey for starters) and original albums and logs donated by pioneering anglers. The humidity and temperature controlled room is a fishing history researcher’s nirvana. The books can be viewed and read but not removed from the library.
There are two video viewing rooms with comfortable seating to view the more than 1500 videos, including copies of the early movies mentioned above (and hundreds more!) You would have trouble reading just the current magazines as fast as they come in and there is a huge library of older periodicals as well as over 12,000 books. You can find books, videos and magazines from a computer list of titles, authors, and subjects. (It took Morchower about 30 seconds to tell me the year of the video I had seen in Bimini 15 years earlier.)
The IGFA Hall of Fame and Museum is open 10 to 6 daily and admission is free for IGFA members. The airy and spacious reading rooms offer superb views of four wetland ecological zones. Library, museum and ecological classroom, the only thing you won’t have enough of is time.
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
A fully-clothed and SCUBA-equipped Dr. Guy Harvey dives down 40 feet to PSAT tag a blue marlin
Dr. Guy Harvey recently placed a Pop-Up Satellite Archival Tag (PSAT) in a blue marlin by diving in the water with scuba gear, and placing the PSAT in the hooked fish as it swam 50 feet underwater. This was an impromptu move by Guy in an effort to tag the fish before it could escape or be fatigued on the light tackle on which it was being fought. When the fish was close to the boat, Guy quickly donned his scuba equipment and dove in fully clothed with tag stick and PSAT in hand!
This was similar to the episode back in January of 2005 in Panama, where Guy was able to dive in and attach a second leader to the swivel of the estimated 1200lb female black marlin being fought by Neil Patrick and me. This allowed us to leader the fish quickly and place a PSAT in the huge black. The photos and video of this monster marlin were later seen by millions on Discovery, National Geographic, You Tube and in every major saltwater magazine and website around the world. She was tracked by PSAT for 8 weeks as she traveled over 1200 miles in her journey out into the Pacific and back to the tagging location just south of Tropic Star Lodge in Pinas Bay, Panama
The estimated 175lb blue marlin in the photos below was hooked while fishing off the 12-Mile Bank in Grand Cayman back in April of 2011. The fish bit a tuna chunk fished on 80lb leader with a light-wire size 7/0 circle hook. Guy was afraid the leader would break or the hook would straighten if they tried to leader the fish in close for the shot with the PSAT. Rather than risk losing the opportunity to place one of the valuable PSATs in the blue marlin, Guy thought the best tag placement could be made with the marlin still swimming on the leader. This would also prevent the marlin from possibly sustaining an injury while being leadered alongside the boat. The marlin was still very active, and was rapidly swimming 40 feet below the surface after being fought on 80lb tackle for 50 minutes by angler Alex Harvey. Remarkably, Guy was able to swim far enough and fast enough to catch up with the still very-alive blue marlin, and perfectly place the PSAT in the dorsal area of the fish.
Dr. Guy Harvey inspects the PSAT before taking the plunge
Well known film maker George Schellenger was aboard with his underwater camera gear and took these phenomenal photos of Guy tagging the blue with the PSAT. This may be the only time a hooked marlin has ever been PSAT tagged by a diver while still swimming on the line!
This is a classic example of Dr. Guy Harvey’s intense desire to do all he can to place these PSATs in billfish so that information can be gathered at a later date for the benefit of billfish research. To date, Guy has placed 60 of the $4000 PSATs in pelagic gamefish, in cooperation with the Pfleger Institute of Environmental Research (PIER) in Oceanside, CA and other research institutions such as The Billfish Foundation, The Offield Center, Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) and others .Designed for use in learning more about the movements of pelagic gamefish in the world’s oceans, the PSAT’s sophisticated transmitter records data on depth, water temperature and location. Following a programmed length of time, the tag pops to the surface and uploads the data to a satellite, and then down to the scientists at PIER.
Day 3 had calmer weather and we went out wide of the island and soon found a circling frigate bird. Under this was a big female dolphin, but she looked at a couple of lures and went away. Shortly afterwards, the first blue for day showed up and took a couple of bites on the long right before fading off.
We trolled west to the 12 mile bank and as we got to the NE corner, Derrin spotted a pair of fins stationary at the surface. I raced up the ladder to have a look…swordfish! No doubt. It was sunning in the middle of the day on the flat calm surface. As we trolled closer, the fish stirred, swam and then went under. We circled the area, and not three minutes later, the sword came up on the long right lure, bill out and took a slash at the lure, before going about its business. Derrin nearly fell off the flybridge in his excitement.
A little later, Derrin got a radio call from a local fisherman, Ferris Ebanks Cayman’s “old man”. He was drifting chunks for yellowfin and had just hooked a marlin so was going to pass it over to us to catch and tag. In Cayman, the local fishermen generally release the marlin they hook while fishing for tuna.
Alex Harvey waiting for the bite
Alex took the rod, and settled down for a fight. The local anglers use 80# line straight to the hook so there was no leader, and Alex had to use a light drag. After ten minutes the marlin jumped about three hundred yards away and we backed down on the belly in the line recovering it all and got over the marlin. It was beautiful swimming about thirty feet down, face and bill lit up neon blue as was its tail. I used my underwater video on the swim platform to get shots. The surface was so calm you could see the fish clearly. Time to go in!
I did a couple of passes on the marlin and realized I could overtake the fish and deploy the PSAT underwater without ever having to wire the fish and risk breaking the light leader. So said…so done. George got the necessary footage and just then the thin leader broke at the circle hook and the 175# blue marlin swam off carrying a PSAT. I had not more tags on board.
We headed east again up the north side of the bank, saw a marlin free jumping and headed over to the spot…kaboom! An agitated 150# blue took to the air, and it was Andi’s turn again on the 30# tackle. The marlin made some awesome jumps coming at the boat, and going across the stern before sounding. George was excited. All good, Andi pumped the marlin to the boat, and I went for the usual swim to get the release on film. Glenn and Alex did the honors and the marlin swam off hastily.
We immediately started trolling again and as Andi was letting out his line, a marlin ate the lure and started thrashing around behind the boat. We all looked at each other in amazement. How often does that happen? Alex was up and fought the fish to a standstill without any jumps in short order, and we called the marlin 300# and cut her off quickly, a very green fish.
This was the first time George had been marlin fishing. He certainly was thrown in at the deep end and was able to shoot a lot of great footage. No more bites for the day, and we ended up 3 for 4 on marlin for the day, 4 for 7 on the shoot. I was very proud of the crew, Captain Derrin and Glenn, who did a great job and I would recommend them to anyone visiting Grand Cayman who wants to do some big game fishing, or charter them for a tournament.
On day 4 George and I went to the sandbar early before any of the tour boats arrived and we had the stingrays to ourselves. They exhibit schooling behavior which is unusual for a typically solitary predator, and I wanted to capture some of this behavior on film. We then had another great wall dive accompanied by eagle rays and turtles, jacks and groupers, as well as the odd lionfish.
Next on the agenda were interviews with the Director of the Department of Environment Gina Ebanks-Petri and the Deputy Director Timothy Austin. Each gave solid interviews about the value of the scientific work being done by REEF and collaborating scientists and how valuable this last remaining Nassau grouper SPAG(Spawning Aggregation) site was to the Cayman Islands and the Caribbean as a whole.
It’s a wrap. We did more shooting around town and in the Guy Harvey Gallery and Shoppe and across the road at the original Guy Harvey Island Grill. George Town is a popular destination for cruise ship visitors and stay –over visitors and they enjoy the tranquility and cleanliness of these islands while browsing the shops, restaurants and beaches.
I am confident that this documentary will tell the success story of how the research effort and conservation of the last remaining Nassau grouper spawning site in the central and western Caribbean may see the beginning of a recovery of this overexploited species. Indeed, it is a success story with which the people and government of the Cayman Island should be very proud.
The Marine Conservation Board will meet within the next month to determine whether protection for the spawning sites should be extended. It seems to be common sense to protect any species at times of spawning but, particularly the Nassau grouper, which has been brought to the very edge of extinction throughout its geographic range by lack of proper management and just sheer human greed.
Enough already! Let’s get this done.
Dive safely fish responsibly.
—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
Blackfin tuna have torpedo shaped bodies, big bold black eyes, and a glowing bronze band along their flank, highlighting the black back and wide-spread pectoral fins
My most memorable encounters with blackfins were off Belize while filming whale sharks. The mixed schools of blackfins, skipjack tuna and bonitos were corralling small sardines, which in turn attracted the attention of young whale sharks. Snorkeling was the way to go. With video camera in hand, I got some superb footage of the combined effect of the tunas corralling the prey and the whale shark taking advantage of the bonanza. The sardines would swim into the open mouth of the whale shark at the surface to escape the bombardment by tunas. The ever-present silky sharks also joined in the food fest.
Blackfins are the most common small tuna around the Cayman Islands and can be caught year round along the deep drop off, but tend to aggregate around the ends of the islands where the current hits the wall. They are plentiful at 12 Mile Bank, and are targeted by commercial and sports fishermen for use as bait. Anglers use a small feather lure, pink works well, trolled at 4 – 8 knots to catch these scrappy fighters. They are used for live bait to catch bigger yellowfin tuna, wahoos or blue marlin. They are good food fare in their own right but hardly ever reach eight pounds in our waters.
The best way to see blackfins here is to snorkel off the end of 12 Mile bank, either the NE corner or the SW corner in the deep water close to the edge. You can drift and get picked up by your boat to repeat the drift and see these speedsters cruising by. You are likely to encounter other blue water species like rainbow runners, flying fish, wahoos and even the odd blue marlin.
For some reason, the full grown blackfins of 20-40 pounds do not frequent the waters of the central Caribbean. In Florida, the Gulf of Mexico and further south to Central America, they come jumbo-sized averaging 25 pounds. In Jamaica and Cayman, I have caught many in the half pound size range, which are less than a year old. This suggests that these juveniles migrate to the western and northern Caribbean as adults in search of better feeding opportunities. When and how they complete the cycle is not known as little migratory research has been done on this species. The known range for blackfins is from the NE of the USA as far south as Brazil and they are limited to the western Atlantic, unlike many of their relatives like the yellowfin tuna and skipjack tuna that are cosmopolitan species.
If you see black fin tuna on a menu in a local restaurant as sushi, seared or sautéed, give it a try, you will be happy with your choice
In Florida, blackfin tuna have an extended spawning season from April to October and from May to September in the Gulf of Mexico. It is likely they spawn year round in the Caribbean, as I have seen active gonads in blackfins caught here in every month.
Blackfins feed largely on pelagic crustaceans, larvae and juvenile crabs, shrimp, squid as well as small fish and fish larvae. I have often seen them plunder schools of juvenile puffer fish and sardines frequently clearing the surface in high jumps as they come speeding from below onto the prey at the surface. They also feed on any juvenile fish that shelter beneath flotsam. In this situation, if frigate birds are around, they will swoop down and pick the sargassum weed up in their bill, fly several feet, then drop the weed so as to expose the small fish hiding beneath the weed to the tunas. I have yet to see how this benefits the frigate bird!
In turn, blackfin tuna are consumed by larger tunas, king mackerel, barracudas, wahoo and blue marlin, plus a variety of fast ocean-going sharks. The sight of a blue marlin chasing blackfins is amazing— the ocean drama of predator-prey interaction at its best.
If you see black fin tuna on a menu in a local restaurant as sushi, seared or sautéed, give it a try, you will be happy with your choice. They are fished sustainably here in Cayman and elsewhere in their range. It is our collective responsibility to conserve the marine environment and maintain the biodiversity of the planet.
Dive safely, fish responsibly.
—Guy Harvey
For a complete list of our other featured blog posts and to see the full line of Guy Harvey Sportswear with a vast selection of shirts with fish, please visit:www.guyharveysportswear.com
I would like to welcome you to the Guy Harvey Sportswear web site. Here we will feature my blog where I will report on expeditions, adventures, and various marine conservation efforts. We will also include various guest bloggers, videos and photos that I believe you will find interesting, whether you are a serious fishing or diving enthusiast, or simply someone who cares about the marine resource, loves living the coastal lifestyle, or just wants to learn more about Guy Harvey sportswear.
I would like to welcome you to the Guy Harvey Sportswear web site. Here we will feature my blog where I will report on expeditions, adventures, and various marine conservation efforts. We will also include various guest bloggers, videos and photos that I believe you will find interesting, whether you are a serious fishing or diving enthusiast, or simply someone who cares about the marine resource, loves living the coastal lifestyle, or just wants to learn more about Guy Harvey sportswear.
