While being leadered at boatside, a beautiful blue marlin cooperates for a photo before being released
Curiously enough, the middle of summer, when there are plenty of fish around, was proving to be the most difficult time of the year to continue my quest to catch a blue marlin each month of 2008 from my home waters around Grand Cayman Island. My fishing time in July was so restricted by my busy work schedule that I felt very fortunate to catch my one and only blue marlin on a weekend excursion squeezed into the middle of the month. I feared that my prospects for success in August, given an already full schedule of commitments, would be no better, if not worse. That’s why I wasted little time getting out on the water as the new month arrived, and on August 3, I was able to catch-and-release a blue marlin. As was the case in July, this turned out to be my only fish of the month, but it extended my streak, and it allowed me the peace-of-mind to concentrate on my many other tasks at hand during the remainder of August.
As much as catching a blue marlin was my focus on that August day, I was abruptly reminded of all I love about the sea and her many creatures when I came upon a number of sea turtles on my return trip to the harbor. I slowed the boat to admire these magnificent creatures as they effortlessly glided just below the water’s surface, and caught myself mesmerized in the moment in much the same way as the old fisherman Santiago was when he encountered feeding turtles in Hemingway’s classic “The Old Man And The Sea.” As the sea turtles moved on toward the island’s coral reefs, I couldn’t help but ponder if what I had just witnessed was much the same as Christopher Columbus would have seen as the first to discover the Cayman Islands in 1503 on his fourth and final voyage to the New World. After all, Columbus named the territory “Las Tortugas” because of the abundance of sea turtles he found on and around the island archipelago.
The Caymans consist of three islands — Grand Cayman (by far the largest), Cayman Brac, and Little Cayman — and are located in the western Caribbean about 150 miles south of Cuba and 167 miles northwest of Jamaica. The islands are limestone outcroppings at the top of a submarine mountain range today known as the Cayman Ridge. Much of the islands are only a few feet above sea level, and surrounded by coral reefs and crystal clear waters, they have long served as ideal habitat for sea turtles, which in turn served as a primary food source for the first explorers and early settlers. Long after their discovery by Columbus, the islands came under British control when Oliver Cromwell captured Jamaica from the Spanish in 1655. The islands officially became a part of the British Empire under the Treaty of Madrid in 1670, and for the next 300 years, were administered as a dependency of Jamaica.
Guy Harvey's "Pirate Shark" is one of his most popular AFTCO Bluewater T-Shirt designs, and representative of a portion of the colorful history of the Cayman Islands
In 1668, an attempt was made to inhabit Little Cayman and Cayman Brac by early settlers, but they were forced to return to Jamaica because they could not be protected from ruthless Spanish pirates. In those early days, the Cayman Islands played a significant role in the piracy that gripped the Caribbean. The islands were remote, offered plenty of turtle meat, fresh water, and a safe haven for unscrupulous legendary characters like Henry Morgan and Edward “Blackbeard” Teach.
It wasn’t until the 1730′s that the first permanent settlements were established. Up to that point and for centuries thereafter, the islands continued to be known to mariners as “Las Tortugas,” and is where they came to harvest live turtles and their eggs as a source of protein for their long voyages. Couple that with a relentless commercial harvest, and the Cayman turtle population suffered greatly. It wasn’t until 1968 that the problem was addressed with the development of a turtle farm to replenish natural stocks and supply local demand for turtle products. By 1978, the farm had achieved its objective of having enough broodstock to be self-sufficient and economically viable. The Cayman Island government has owned and operated the Cayman Turtle Farm since 1983. Besides being a major tourist attraction, the farm is a well-respected research facility with a highly effective breeding program that has released tens of thousands of sea turtles into the sea, each tagged for research purposes.
It’s a happy ending for the sea turtles — and for my limited attempts at blue marlin fishing in August. I did release the one fish to perpetuate my quest of catching a blue marlin during each month of the year, and though the last part of August was unfishable due to powerful Hurricane “Gustav” passing by, I was hopeful that I would find more fishing time during September.
— Guy Harvey
Check this blog next month for my adventures in September, 2008, as I continue my quest to catch a blue marlin every month of the year.
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
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
Since I usually want to catch some other species in addition to billfish, color WILL matter on my smaller lures. I use blue, black or purple on big lures up close, in the wake, and like some red long lures because I can see that color easily. BUT, color does not matter for blue and black marlin—use your personal favorites!!!
I would strongly suggest NOT pulling a teaser, but would pull a Soft Head Magnum Super Chugger in a very short teaser position—with a single 12/0 hook located way back in the tail. I would use an 8 foot trace leader of 480 cable with a 20 foot wind on leader of 400 mono. Fish this lure right out of a rod holder in one corner—not in an outrigger. Change to a Wide Range in rough weather if the chugger jumps and flips over in rough weather. Have a fairly heavy strike drag, for example, 25 pounds and only back off when you get at least 200 yards off the reel. You won’t get a lot of bites on the very closest lure, but when you do, it will often be a really nice one!
Proper lure spread is key to gaining the fish's attention
If anything, EXCEPT a BIG blue or black marlin, tries to bite the large “Magnum” lure, I would take it away and pitch a smaller natural bait on a large spinning reel with lots of 50 pound Dacron backing and a 100 yard top shot of good mono. This is a perfect set up for striped marlin and all smaller species, as well as blues or blacks up to at least 200 pounds.
On the next short position, a flat line or a short rigger about 50 to 100 feet back, pull a Senior size wide range rigged the same way and also only let a big marlin eat it.
On the shorter of your long outriggers—say 100 to 150 foot back—pull a standard size chugger if it is calm. Pull a standard wide range if it is rough and the chugger style jumps out of the water too much. Have a single 11/0 well back in this lure on 400 mono.
Pull a standard wide range on the long rigger on at least 300 pound leader if using mono leader. Use two good 8/0 or 9/0 hooks, one well up into the head and other way back. (ALL the “way back” hooks on these lures should have the eye of the hook just barely covered by the strands of the skirts.) This is the first lure I would care about color. Use chocolate or pink, if there are any squid around, blue or blue and white if you see lots of flying fish, and green and yellow if there are mackerel or scads of this color. I also like 200 pound nylon coated cable as leader on this and other little lures. The long rigger can be up to 300 feet behind the boat.
I only ever use a single skirt on Mold Craft lures. When too many dingle dangles are cut off cut them all off and glue the inside skirt in place. You get twice the bang for your buck.
For the very long “shot gun” I would fish a small metal headed (3-5 inch) jet or bullet lure in a pink or chocolate color with a strong 8/0 or 9/0 SS hook on 300 mono. Pull the shot gun at least 50 yards back. The littlest lure will catch more fish than anything, except maybe the standard wide range, and do NOT be surprised if a 500 or even 800 pound marlin nails it!!! Again, I often use nylon coated cable for my trace leader. (Always use 2 sleeves when crimping this leader.)
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
His quick-dry Performance fishing shirt, new to the Guy Harvey Sportswear line, gets a good soaking from Guy's release of another blue marlin at boat-side
April through June is generally considered the best time of the year to catch blue marlin in the waters around Grand Cayman. This is tournament season, and April of 2008 offered a measure of added intrigue because new blue marlin records had been set early in the month at nearby Barbados (505 pounds) and Trinidad (824 pounds). That had me eager with anticipation that big fish might move through our area, and a feeling that this could prove to be the opportune time for someone to break the Cayman Island blue marlin record of 584 pounds set back in 1984. That fish serves as a benchmark for establishing the minimum qualifying weight for those who participate each April in the annual Cayman Islands International Tournament. During the competition, any marlin caught that’s under 584 pounds must be released. I’m proud to say that catch-and-release is alive and well in the Cayman Islands.
My opportunity to fish the four-day tournament, which took place from April 17 to 20, was at the invite of owner Fu Liem and Capt. David Carmichael aboard their 50-foot “sailboat” Java Knight. It was a bit of an unconventional approach, but nevertheless, on April 19, our team made history by becoming the first to catch a blue marlin from a sailboat while fishing in a Cayman Islands tournament. While under sail, we caught and released a 140-pound blue at the south end of Twelve Mile Bank, plus managed two other bites that day, one of which I estimated to be a marlin of about 350 pounds.
One of a number of Guy Harvey's paintings of a blue marlin intending to feed on dolphin fish, the same species Guy caught in April just prior to a marlin hookup
On the Thursday following the tournament, I boarded Makaira II after a day’s work to see if I could once again catch a marlin by myself. With just a couple hours of fishing time to work with, I trolled up a big dolphinfish off Papagallo, then after a few circles in the same area, had a fine blue marlin inhale my shotgun. The fish pulled hard then jumped where I could see it was bigger than the usual. It was a 45-minute battle of maneuvering the boat and fighting the fish before I could get the marlin close enough to grab the leader. As I tried to hold her close and reach for my camera, the 300-pound class fish made a quick move and broke the leader. Not bad, though, for a two-hour jaunt. I had left at 3 p.m. and returned home by 5 — and I had extended my streak of catching a blue marlin from my boat for each of the first four months of the year.
A couple of days later, the really big blues that I was hoping, if not expecting to see migrate through Cayman waters finally did arrive. During a charter trip aboard Hit ‘N’ Run, captained by Derrin Ebanks, the crew teamed up to catch a monster blue marlin that weighed 610 pounds, making it the largest fish of the species ever caught on rod and reel in the Cayman Islands. It was an epic five-hour battle to subdue the record-size blue, but because several anglers took turns fighting the fish, it did not qualify as an official Cayman Islands line-class record.
—Guy Harvey
Check this blog next month for my adventures in May, 2008, as I continue my quest to catch a blue marlin every month of the year
Anglers have known for some time that that broadbill swordfish do in fact use their bills to help them secure a meal. For example, Southern California anglers have watched firsthand as swordfish cut their mackerel in half with a quick flip of the bill.
While sailfish are best known for their above water antics, Guy Harvey also depicts them below the water
Marlin and sailfish, however, were a different story. There had long been a debate as to whether or not marlin and sailfish actually used their bills to stun and then eat a bait, or did they simply use their bills as a balancing mechanism to assist in their swimming motion?
When a marlin or sailfish rises in the spread and attempts to eat the trolled lure or rigged bait, the bill moves violently in that effort. Some have thought that the fish were attempting to hit the bait with their bill while others have speculated that the bill played no part in the effort and simply followed the movements and direction of the fish’s excited and hungry mouth. Even slow motion video of surface feeding billfish could not conclude this long standing debate.
Feeding sailfish as witnessed firsthand by Guy Harvey
This long standing debate ended during an underwater filming expedition where I was able to not only witness firsthand, but also film on different occasions both marlin and sailfish using their bill’s to stun and catch meal. It was a real thrill to witness off of Isla Mujeres using their extended dorsal fins to corral the bait into a tight school. It was an even bigger thrill to then watch the sailfish make a distinct motion with their bill to hit and stun the sardines and then circle back to eat them as they sank away from the school.
The ocean is full of exciting scenes such as the one described above. I feel so fortunate to have been able to witness firsthand so many awesome moments underwater, and even more fortunate be able to make my living bringing those scenes to you through both art and film. My painting Two Sails was created by taking what I witnessed firsthand, putting that to canvas, and then on to fishing t-shirts and other items.
Winter turned to early spring as March arrived at the Cayman Islands. I had chosen my fishing days wisely in February, avoiding winter rough water conditions and being rewarded with the catch of a blue marlin on each trip. With the weather now improving, I was excited over the prospects of continuing my quest to catch at least one blue marlin each month of the year from my home waters. Even more exciting, as a proud dad, was having my two children Jessica and Alexander — my best fishing and dive buddies — as mates to help in my endeavor. Both attend school out of the country, and it is in March when they eagerly return home for spring vacation.
For Jessica and Alex, style and comfort describe not only dad's new boat, but the new junior's T-shirts they're wearing, part of the Guy Harvey Sportswear line
My children are now teenagers, but both have been fishing and diving — and traveling — with me since a very early age. In fact, Jessica caught her first blue marlin at the age of 5 on the first of many trips we’ve all made together to Tropic Star Lodge in Panama. It was only the week before, while I was completing one of my paintings in my Cayman studio, that she had told me how much she wanted to catch a marlin. Days later, we were on a Tropic Star sportfisher with old friend Stewart Campbell when a nice blue marlin ate the left rigger lure and began a wild dance across the surface behind the boat. Jessica made straight for the chair. “Daddy, daddy, that’s my marlin — please give me the rod!” With the fish going ballistic, she insisted again, so as the big blue calmed down, we got her in the chair. Stewart helped her get set with the rod, and with the skipper performing some exotic maneuvers, Jessica fought her prize for 55 minutes before the mate could finally grab the leader. Following a spectacular series of leaps at the boat, we tagged and released the 400-pound blue marlin. Jessica was thrilled and proceeded to finish off the day by catching and releasing four sailfish.
Guy's many close encounters with blue marlin, above and below the surface, reflect in the accuracy of his illustrations as featured on Guy Harvey T-shirts and sportswear
Alex, who at the age of 4 was catching salmon on our trip to Alaska, has some special memories of times spent in Panama, as well. Notable was his first grand slam in January, 2000, no doubt the first 7-year-old to catch a blue marlin, sailfish and black marlin on the same day in the new century. Alex bravely fought the black for 65 minutes before needing an assist to bring the belly-wrapped fish to the boat, where the 450-pounder was tagged and released. A year earlier, Alex and Jessica had a double hook-up on sailfish in the same waters, and the 108-pound and 75-pound fish respectively were recorded as IGFA Junior Angler World Records, two of the 23 such records the kids have held over the years. Jessica’s 198-pound yellowfin tuna, caught on Panama’s Hannibal Bank when she was 11 years old, is still the junior angler record, as is her 79-pound almaco jack.
So it goes without saying, the three of us had experience on our side when we set out to catch blue marlin in March. With Grand Cayman’s easy accessibility to the ocean, we often plan our days on the water with two dives on the North Wall, but have the marlin gear on board so we can do some surface trolling between dives. That plan proved successful for all three of our trips in March, resulting in blue marlin catches on the 2nd, 15th, and 20th. On March 15, we managed two marlin hook-ups at the same time, and I saw a third blue come up on the teaser as I was slowing the boat so Alex could fight his fish. Jessica caught and released a blue marlin of her own on March 20 as we trolled our way back from Twelve Mile Bank. My new 28-foot Scout center console was proving to be a hot boat, and I now had caught blue marlin during each of the first three months of the year.
— Guy Harvey
Check this blog next month for my adventures in April, 2008, as I continue my quest to catch a blue marlin every month of the year.
The action in this amazing video includes not only a giant blue marlin taking the bait right up close in the prop wash, but also International World Record Holder Stewart Campbell being pulled out of the fighting chair, over the transom and into the drink. Stewart and his team consisting of captain Bark Garnsey and wireman Charles Perry are far and away the best blue marlin team in the world. This awesome footage shows that the unexpected can happen even to the best.
The “bait and switch” technique they perfected where the rigged bait and hook are slid back to the fish as the teaser (lure with no hook) is retrieved, makes not only for fishing success, but also for a visual thrill as the marlin takes the bait on the surface. The technique is explained in this video and Stewart’s Atlantic Blue Marlin World Records of 336 lbs. on 6lb test, 562 lbs 8 lb test, 820 lbs on 16 lb, 714 lbs on 20 lb test and 872 lbs on 30 lb test are proof of just how successful this style of fishing can be when you have the right team in place to take advantage of it.
This video is presented by GuyHarveySportswear.com with permission from Stewart Campbell and from Charles Perry of Nautical Dreams.
Fresh from my success in catching a blue marlin during the last week of January, I was anxious to continue my quest to catch at least one of these magnificent creatures each month from my home waters around Grand Cayman. As February arrived, also “fresh” was my memory of last month’s dual hookups on blues at Twelve Mile Bank. It should be no surprise then that I chose the bank as our destination when I fished with my brother-in-law Jonathan Collier, who made a February visit from Australia. The day was relatively uneventful up until we finally hooked up with a blue marlin while trolling back from the bank. During the lengthy battle, the jumping fish got wrapped up in the leader, but we were able to successfully release the 140-pounder at boat-side.
Guy finds the Performance fishing shirt and visor, recent additions to his line of Guy Harvey Sportswear, to be boat-worthy while trolling for marlin
Next to visit, was friend and renowned English wildlife artist Ian Coleman. Ian dives a lot but he had never caught a blue marlin. On February 25, after enjoying a fantastic morning dive at Tarpon Alley, we boarded my 26-foot center console, and once again I headed for the Twelve Mile Bank. Our fishing activities were delayed when we encountered a broken-down boat that we towed back to West Bay, so we didn’t make it out to the bank until about noon. Even at that, we were pleasantly greeted with an abundance of surface activity as frigatebirds worked over schools of feeding skipjack tunas.
It wasn’t long before we trolled up a marlin in our spread, but this first one embarrassed me — inspecting our offerings but then passing up all four lures! Feeling the frustration, I continued to circle the area until the left short rigger went down hard — blue marlin! As Coleman was settling in his harness to prepare for his first-ever battle with a blue, the right rigger got bit — two on! I left that rod in the holder while scrambling to retrieve the left flat when yet another blue marlin pounced on that lure. Wow! This was starting to feel like familiar territory.
The triple hook-up was short-lived, as the first marlin shook off quickly. After another 10 minutes or so, the second fish came off, so Coleman was left to fight the third fish while I steered the boat. It was a tough battle, but Ian got his first blue marlin, a fish I judged to be 170-plus pounds. After a successful release, out went the lures again, and within 15 minutes, another marlin crashed the right long rigger and jumped going away. Coleman was cooked, so I grabbed the rod and worked the fish to the boat, a blue that was smaller then our first at about 125 pounds. That concluded 90 minutes of seemingly non-stop action where we scored five blue marlin bites and released two.
BLUE TANGO: Guy's painting portrays a blue marlin feeding on skipjack tunas, which was the case when he fished Twelve Mile Bank in February
Two days later, on February 27, I snuck in my last blue marlin of the month while fishing with visiting angler Jim Armour. We hooked up just off the area known as Papagallo on North West Point. I was particularly excited because this was the first fish and the first marlin caught from my new 28-foot Scout Makaira II. With a cold front approaching, we decide to squeeze the trip in before what would almost certainly be several days of rough seas. Around Grand Cayman, the trick to fishing during the winter months is to carefully choose good weather days, as it does get very rough on the water with fronts bringing strong northwest then northeast winds.
— Guy Harvey
Check this blog next month for my adventures in March, 2008, as I continue my quest to catch a blue marlin every month of the year.
The month of January marked the beginning of my quest to catch a blue marlin each month from the waters around Grand Cayman, the tiny Caribbean island that has been my home for the last decade. However, this is typically a busy time for me, and it wasn’t until the last week of January, in 2008, that I was finally able to break away for a day of fishing aboard my 26-foot Dusky Makaira. A last minute decision meant that I would be fishing alone, and any hope I might have had of catching a marlin every month of the year was fading. Still, I wasn’t going to let January slip by without at least giving it a try.
Guy Harvey examining trolling lures during his 12 month pursuit
The day’s adventure began as I was trolling three miles west of North West Point, at a spot known as the pinnacle. Surveying the boat’s wake where I had four lines out, I spotted a high dorsal fin streaking in behind the lure I had on the right short rigger. The strike popped the rubber band with a satisfying slap and line started pouring off the reel. I continued to throttle ahead at trolling speed to keep pressure on the marlin while I quickly cleared the three other lines and slipped into my fighting belt and harness. This would be a challenge, as I was on my own — captain, mate and angler all rolled into one.
I braced myself against the console and spun my 26-footer to chase the marlin as it headed downsea, jumping magnificently in a series of head-shaking leaps. Maneuvering the boat by using my left hand to both operate the throttle and steer the wheel, I faced the big fish off the starboard bow and was able to keep up with it until the marlin decided to sound. After a spell, the fish changed tactics and popped to the surface ahead of the boat, where it started wildly jumping again. Then it suddenly turned and charged the boat, which put me in a bad spot. I cranked hard on the reel in an attempt to keep the line tight as I was running around the bow to keep my line clear of the outrigger halyards as the fish sped on by.
Prior to its release, Guy Harvey leaders and photographs his first Blue Marlin of 2008
It was an exciting 20 minutes of fast-paced action before I finally got the blue to the boat. For me, the first order of business was to grab the leader and wrap it around a cleat so I could free up my hands to take a photo of the beautifully lit-up 150-pounder. I then quickly removed the hook from the marlin’s upper jaw, revived the fish for a minute, and after releasing my grip from the bill, watched it swim off like a rocket. That was quite a milestone for me — my first blue marlin caught on the water alone.
After pausing a bit to savor the moment, I throttled the boat forward, methodically reset my lines, and trolled west to Twelve Mile Bank. My day of fishing excitement wasn’t done. Reaching the southwestern corner of the bank, I suddenly found myself hooked up with two jumping blues at one time. I’ve never felt so shorthanded in my life, and proceeded to lose one of the marlin after just five minutes. The other jumped all over the ocean before it finally broke the leader. My body was shaking with exertion and excitement. Fishing alone, I had hooked and fought three of these great fish, managing one — my first solo blue — to the boat for release.
And so, it was this remarkable day of fishing at the end of January that served as a starting point for the pursuit of my lofty goal of catching a blue marlin from Grand Cayman waters during each month of the year. In quite an exhilarating fashion, my quest had begun.
— Guy Harvey
Check this blog next month for my adventures in February, as I continue my quest to catch a blue marlin every month of the year.
Mark O’Brien and I were talking about the skills we looked for when hiring a new deckhand after a young man had walked down the dock and asked us if we knew any captains who might be looking for help.
“If I could only ask one question of a prospective mate on my boat it would be, ‘Can you throw a cast net?’ “ O’Brien said. Any young man who could throw a net probably also knew how to rig baits, tie knots, gaff fish, handle dock lines, check engines etc. On top of all the other necessary skills he would be able to supply bait, especially live bait and live chum. It was unlikely a good net man lacked the other skills and the net skills alone were a major addition if all else were equal.
When I hire a new mate I have several criteria that must be met. First and foremost are social skills. It is not necessary that a candidate meet Emily Post or Martha Stewart standards. An occasional swear word is not grounds for termination. There are, however, a number of excellent fishermen and boat men who I simply can not hire because their language is not acceptable to my clients, or the client’s wives. (I have to struggle with this after a long season in the company of rough, tough fishermen but try not to use foul language around ladies.)
Of equal importance is cleanliness, which is definitely “next to godliness” on boats. Fine finish work and fancy bright work are not essential on a hard working charter boat but a clean looking and smelling boat, especially the head, is paramount. No negotiation! I will clean a head if necessary, but a deckhand who leaves it to me soon leaves!
Intelligence is a must. Formal education can be minimal but innate intelligence is a needed to learn and understand the many tasks a mate has to perform under extreme pressure and ever changing conditions. I can honestly say I do not remember ever having a mate for any length of time who was not above average intelligence and capable of quickly learning complicated tasks.
If a mate is to become a seaman, not just a bait rigger, reading skills are essential along with enough mathematics to learn to navigate and handle basic business and engineering problems.
So far we have described a smart, clean, personable man (or woman) who can get along with a diverse range of clientele but have not considered any fishing experience or physical traits.
The right crew member will help insure that this Blue Marlin will be tagged and released quickly and easily
Fishing skills tend to transfer readily. It really does not matter what kind of fishing a new employee may have done in the past. From snook to trout, and albacore to tarpon most of the rudiments of finding and attracting fish have strong similarities. The prey and predator relationships of the target species and the bait (natural or artificial) used to entice them have enough similarities to enable a good fisherman for any species to rapidly learn how and where to catch another.
Even with no fishing experience, athleticism is more important than sheer brute strength. I would prefer a gymnast to a weight lifter, and quick reflexes are perhaps the greatest gift of all. (I have had clumsy deck hands who overcame their lack of agility through concentration, practice, and dedication but it was never easy for them.)
Many of my best wire men have not been exceptionally strong but have been able to competently and confidently take the leader on marlin and tuna running up to 1,000 pounds. They were able to release the leader cleanly when needed and instantly grab it again with only a small loss of distance if I was able to maneuver the boat toward the fish quickly enough. (A muscle bound lummox breaks leaders and/or gets himself in danger!)
An average sized man who can do a series of chin ups has enough strength to pull up even a large bluefin or black marlin. A small man or average woman would need to build up their upper body strength to become a world class leader person. The ability to react with quick, agile movements is a universal trait in all top deck hands.
Vision is a highly prized attribute for most fisherman but concentration and dedication are even more important. Polarized glasses are a must and corrective lenses can make many persons with poor vision well above average. What is often (incorrectly) taken as visual acuity is more often the ability to comprehend, through experience, the visual stimulus available to anyone bothering to look for it .
A cut off bait, the color of a fish under a bait, or the glint of a tail or fin at a distance, are only seen by the knowledgeable fisherman who has been trained to recognize them. (Doctors instantly recognize things in an X-Ray that we miss not because they can see better, but because they are trained to see and recognize things not recognized by the rest us.)
A good captain can train a novice to become a great mate.
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.
