Spearfishing Marlin

[siegfried]

I dont know if this is the right place for this post but here I go anyway. On f^&%net there is apost about a bloke who got dragged several km after spearing a blue marlin, it seems to have provoked the typical responses one has come to expect from that mob but I thought I might raise the issue here in the hope that a more balanced sensible debate about the rights/wrongs that some people have about this form of game fishing. For my part I dont and never have speared and basically all my game fishing consists of fishing wxclusively for blue marlin as IMHO no other fish provokes the exitement and challenge that they are capable of. However I reckon spearfishing for them would possibly represent the ultimate challenge and those willing to put in the time and effort to not only find but get in and spear (no mean feat and totally legal) should not be condemned out of hand. Sh*t it isnt like spearos present a threat to the worlds blue marlin stocks and it isnt like belting stripes around baitballs or little blacks of bait inshore ,which is still quite an achievement.....wot youse reckon

[1lastcast]

I reckon it is the least sporting way to catch a fish .

and does not involve a lot of skill .

The underlying spirit of angling is that the skill of the angler is pitted against the instinct and strength of the fish and that the latter is entitled to an even chance for its life .

spearfishing does not give the fish a chance to win its life or its freedom does it ? .

My opinion anyway

MONOSTRETCHO

[siegfried]

Fair enough but believe me a 120kg blue on 37 is about as sporting as throwing hand grenades at carp

[Horse]

and does not involve a lot of skill .

I did a fair bit of spearing in my younger days and have always thought it takes a huge amount of skill, fitness and preparation to score big fish.

This form of extreme bluewater spearing would not be a sport for the faint hearted and would have minimal impact on Blue Marlin biomass. As long as the fish was put to good use then it is a damn sight better than the 10-15% of C&R Marlin that just go to feed the local Shark population.

[kokomo]

spearfishing is way way harder than you think..

Big game fish are not taken every day and would have very little impact on population etc etc...

[Pistol_P]

I did a fair bit of spearing in my younger days and have always thought it takes a huge amount of skill, fitness and preparation to score big fish.

This form of extreme bluewater spearing would not be a sport for the faint hearted and would have minimal impact on Blue Marlin biomass. As long as the fish was put to good use then it is a damn sight better than the 10-15% of C&R Marlin that just go to feed the local Shark population.

Agree with Horse 100%.

Spearing does take a huge amount of fitness and skill and I dont think the spearos place any pressure on blue marlin stocks.

Pete

[Just_chips]

spearfishing is way way harder than you think..

Big game fish are not taken every day and would have very little impact on population etc etc...

I agree, there is alot more to sprearing than slipping on a mask and flippers and jumping over the side and shooting a quality fish. If it were that simple every meat hunting, fish for the kill cretin would be doing it. There is as much knowledge, skill, fitness and endurance required to shot a blue marlin as there is to catch one on line. Hopefully the fish was not wasted simply as a trophy is all I can say.

Kev

[1lastcast]

i dont doubt it takes a lot of fitness but skill / point , shoot , hold on till the fish dies , hardly the same as tricking the fish into believing your chunk of plastic and rubber is a fish getting it to strike and keeping it conected positioning the boat keeping the line tight when fish charge the boat etc etc removing the hooks and releasing the fish after reviving it , is it ?

It takes years to learn enough about fishing for marlin to be sucessful at it !

[Nofishtoobig]

The question is why do you fish / why do you spear ? Its hardly a sport fishing with 80lb braid and its hardly a sport shooting a gun / harpoon.
Sport is game where either side could win.
I have a stratergy, from the moment the marlin thrill is on the line keep the fish in mind, as i want to release him, If its under 30kg i'll keep if its over what can ya do with 150kg of fish.

The odds are - any big marlin restled for more than an hour has a slim chance to be shark bait, but the hook, if its gill or gut bleed its most likely XXXX.
Where as a fish with a harpoon attched no chance, its shoot to kill, i think the bookies will be paying $1.01.

I prefere to snorkle / dive, I call it my recon mission gathering intelegence on were the big snaps are hiding. As for those who go catchin with guns ?? What do they really catch. Hence why Black rock cod and other cod / groper are protected, they were nearly wiped out in the 70's.

As for the marlin populations i don't think either type will wipe em out in aussie waters, its got more to do with La' nina and El nino that controls there numbers.

[finding_time]

I reckon if a spearo goes out to the shelf and jumps in at the drop and swims around till he sees, stalks , and spears a blue he's a bloody legend , and deserves heaps of credit!

Unfortuately this isn't what happens! They are bassed on a large boat that trolls teasers up and down until a fish is raised , once raised it's kept there with baits whilst the spearo jumps in , gun loaded! Baits are usually still being presented to the fish until BANG!!! The fish is hit for the first time then it becomes a waiting game hitting the fish with more spears when the oppertunity presents it's self!

Not really spearfishing as i know it, no great breath holds ( unless the marlin pulls you deep) No real stalking ( The skipper and boat do that )

Line fishermen are not without guilt in this area also! Take the ultra light attemps to catch blues for world records! Now catching a blue marlin on 2 and 3 kg line may sound impressive but is it really? Again the boat teasers in a fish a bait is presented and as the rules state once the leader leaves the rod tip the fish is deamed hooked and can be gaffed. Now the fish may not even realize its hook and may swim back up to the boat or the skipper may go back on the fish hard and the guy with the flying gaff has his shot! Not real sporting , very difficult to achieve mind you but not real sporting for the fish. Btw it's the skipper and the guy throwing the gaff that have the real skill in the operation all the angler is doing is holding the rod!

Fly fishing for marlin is abit the same , it's not really fly fishing the boat and crew are really doing the work !

ian

[finding_time]

Fair enough but believe me a 120kg blue on 37 is about as sporting as throwing hand grenades at carp

Yes but when a 250kg jumps on it's a differant matter But the main reason many up this way use 37 kg to chase blues is that the blue marlin has a better chance of swimming away after being tagged on 37kg than it does on 24 kg! Plenty of fish come up dead on 24kg, it just not enough drag to stop them diving deep and many believe this causes the fish to have a heart attack when it hits the thermocline. Also more fish end up being tail wrapped on 24 than 37 again less drag allows them to swim away from the angler more easily which can cause tail wraps! These were both reasons i considered heavily when i was deciding on what outfits to buy for my boat , I went with 37kgs

ian

[Nofishtoobig]

well said FT your right the skip and crew make survival and fair chance of the whole thing. You would be legend to jump out off the shelf and stalk a marlin bwhahaha. Have you ever seen a 6 mtre shark 10 fathoms under the surface ? if you do it will be too late, you'd be sharked before you even saw a marlin.

[1lastcast]

I hooked an astimated 400kg big female blue last year of the goldie on 130 chair tackle its first run stripped of 600 meters with 55lbs of drag and after 45 minutes of sledgeing it out it turned and the hook just fell out with less than 50 - 60 meters to go heart breaking stuff and let me tell you i was stuffed so 37kg standup when theres blues around is definately not overkill !

[TimiBoy]

At one extreme we have people saying we should not catch any fish because it is cruel/wildlife preservation/God knows what other reasons.

At the other we have folks who say we should be able to take whatever we want, whenever we want, regardless of size/species/location.

Everyone else takes a place somewhere in between, and justifies it with various arguments, all of which make sense to some degree.

So who's actually correct? Well, first, is it legal? Yup, OK, you can do it, and regardless of whether I think it's right or wrong, you have the right to do it.

If I do not like it, I have the obligation to organise the resources required to prove it's harmful, then act, otherwise I'm just a whinging pain in the ar$e!

Cheers,

Tim

[michael_mad_fisho]

"spearfishing does not give the fish a chance to win its life or its freedom does it ? ."

gday guys
there have been plenty of times my old man has been spearfishing in new zealand off the three kings and has alomost drowned to death. scary shit being pulled 50mph through the water with a 40 kg king hanging off the end heading for caves and so on. gotta have some big lungs on ya.