Tuna, Sailfish and Blue Marlin on the Fly
Dr. Craig Stemmer came to the lodge carrying his medicine bag full of the tools of the trade, that is for a fly fisherman. Filled with all the best fly fishing gear, he and Capt Javier had plans to head out the Golfo Dulce on his first day of his 4 day fishing vacation. Having met the good Doc last year, I had looked forward to his return and now enjoyed our conversations at the bar which were filled with his excited anticipation.
His travel bag consisted of a 12 wt, 2-14 wts, and a 16 wt. For those not in the know yet, these are fly rods with the 16 wt being the strongest of the set. At the bar he went over and over the possible scenarios; “what if a big sail comes up, which rod should I use?”, “what if a Dorado comes up, What should I use?”, and of course the ultimate day dream: “what if a Blue Marlin comes up?”. The answer to the latter would be easy, the toughest setup you have and then expect the Blue Marlin to blow it up, snap it in two, or watch the fish take all the line you have.
Leaving the dock at 6 am I was right behind Javier both boats pulling out of our private river marina, up on plane making 25 knots. Not needing live bait as they were on the fly, Javier headed out the gulf, 3 miles from the beach, to where the big bait balls were, while we stopped at the river mouth to catch a tank full of live bait. Making bait came easy and we charged out to the grounds now only 20 minutes behind Javier and the Doc. As we came up on them, their boat was stopped drifting in the current, and we saw it, Doc’s rod bent over all the way. The hook up of a lifetime, sought after by many but accomplished by few, a Blue Marlin on the fly.
Two and a half hours later the whole fleet watched Javier’s boat step up on plane and head for the Lodge. The 250 lb Blue Marlin had been brought alongside the boat and released clean and healthy. It was only later in the afternoon at the bar with the sun setting that the doc told me how it went. Even after all his years of dreaming, “what if” planning, and mental preparation, when his Old Man and the Sea Blue Marlin first came up behind the boat it all turned out for naught as he grabbed the lightest rod in the rack, the 12 wt. Well, all the more to relish in as he landed this great trophy on super light tackle, his dream and by his account it was the angling challenge of his life with much pain and muscle cramping during the battle.
Congratulations to the good Doc, well deserved. Check out the photos.
With an act like that hard to follow, John Reeves came down from Long Island and he and I had a good bite as he landed/released two nice Sailfish and two more big bull Dorados. Jody and his band of brothers, it’s a band for sure with a group of eight, put a beating on the Yellow Fin Tuna. Jody’s weighed in at 110 lbs and the total count was ten, none under 50 lbs. What a day! Honorable mention goes to Seth for his Yellow Fin which luckily didn’t top Jody’s as we would have never heard the end of it.
Enjoy the Photos
Capt Sloan
