Unfortunately for me, this Marlin Fishing expedition did not result in a personal encounter with a Billfish. But the chance to fish such waters is not offered often.

In fact we had committed to this trip over a year before hand. As usual the days dragged out, but the 20th of August did finally arrive.

We left home, some things did happen. In the end we arrived at the Tiliva Resort on Kadavu Island. We were met by the owners Kim and Barbara, who offered a much needed welcome and refreshment. After fruit juice, designation of Burees and baggage, we where now but one sleep from Marlin Fishing.

The Wai Tadra (Ocean Dream) is an apt name. It was a dream fishing in its salubrious surrounds. We were introduced to Brad (skipper), Rob (crew & part owner) and Johnnie (crew).

A detailed report of the fishing action will be forthcoming. But basically we had it all, from boat rides to Marlin Fishing. Glenn hogged the strike for a whole day. That day would have been a boat ride except we saw a large Humpback whale splashing and jumping around. So we will call that one a Whale Watching Tour.

We tried the drop offs, trenches and sea mounts. The drop offs being most successful for the marlin.

Chris, the stand-up master, was on strike when the first marlin hit. He tackled the est. 280lb blue with skill. Brad’s boat handling was excellent; Johnnie leadered the fish while Rob tagged it. After some photos and a bit of a swim, the fish was released in good condition. Text book stuff by all concerned.

This was on the third day. The difference between zero marlin and one marlin is quite huge. The buzz amongst the fisherman was moving to fever pitch, but no more marlin strikes that day.

Jeff was on his first ever marlin tour. He was pretty excited after witnessing a marlin capture first hand, but the Dawn of Marlin Fishing was soon to rise.

His was hooked at around 8:30am, a very short time since the spread had gone in, and less than three miles from shore. These blue marlin certainly do get out of bed early, and are on the job earlier than I turn up for work!

This fish was a bit bigger, as Chris said “a good bigger...”, estimated at 500lbs. Madness and mayhem where there with bells on.

The fight took about one hour. We chased the fish around for a while; it was still taking line with the boat going backwards after it. Till the end it refused to come up and just sat there, being the sulking blue that it was. They do not like it when they lose.

Unfortunately for the fish, Johnnie is an expert leader man. It eventually succumbed and was tagged, photos taken, then released in good condition.

Once again, text book stuff by all concerned.

Chris got his first completed capture on a Blue Marlin. Few are hooked, but fewer are landed.

Jeff got his first and the biggest Marlin of the trip. At the time of writing, this is the biggest Blue Marlin ever sighted by any of our group.

Ged got biggest and most regular Mahi Mahi of the trip. Also the Best Feed of the Trip for his cooking of the same.

Glenn got the biggest Wahoo of the trip. He also qualified for Strike Hog of the Trip award, with seventeen hours and thirty-one minutes on strike for a Mahi Mahi. It was strike so foul that it could not be given away.

I got the Stratospheric Wahoo award for a small Wahoo caught in 2500m of water, on a day that we did not even attempt the species. I also claimed the largest Kadavu Frog ever released.

Thanks to Brado, Robo and Johno for a great charter. It’s great to see a good boat done well. We completed the capture on all fish raised, can’t ask much more than that.

Thanks to Chris for organizing the charter, the VB lasted till the very end.

We know this about Marlin:

They are an elusive and powerful beast.

And that…..

Their elusiveness is exceeded only by their power.

Win or lose, the Fever just gets stronger.

On mission we do not have any time to be bothered with repeating ourselves. Therefore a simple set of hand signals is being designed to handle communications of a Marlin Fishing nature.

You are trying to get above the noise of the wind, motors, and sea. Not to mention the Offspring blaring in the background. Our voice is not designed to carry against this tide.

The concepts to be communicated are; current, birds, bait, marlin, and F All. Addition of a plural (really a many, as just two of the above is hardly worth the extra effort) is required.

In addition, any of the above can be noticed on a sounder, so a modified signal is required to differentiate this from what you saw with your own eyes.

Plain and simple signals to indicate actions of birds are included. For example; diving into the water, mulling about, or flying out of your rear.

Single handed dialects for the can of beer impaired are under development.

Never seen;

Sometimes heard

Often felt;

Always smelt

Not amphibian;

Body emission