Marlin April/May 2019

Fisheries management, especially for pelagic species that roam the vast oceans of the world without regard for territorial and geopolitical boundaries, has always been a contentious issue, especially among those nations with skin in the game. And it’s not getting any better. During this year’s meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, better known simply as ICCAT, the chief U.S. negotiator as well as the recreational fishing representative had strong messages calling for the international reduction in Atlantic blue marlin landings — which are measured in tons, not pounds. Even the Europeans called for a 250-metric-ton reduction. Our representatives also called for action on bigeye tuna, a species which is reaching the precipice of being overfished. Unfortunately, no consensus was reached on either issue. The deeply…

RELEASE! The 2018 black marlin season off Australia’s Great Barrier Reef was one of the strongest in recent memory, with many extra-large blacks taken and scores more released to fight another day. Kelly Dalling Fallon captured the exact moment this black marlin gained its freedom after a brief but intense battle. LOCATION Fallon was fishing off the Middle Ribbons aboard the 56-foot O’Brien, Kekoa, with her husband, Capt. Luke Fallon. TECH SPECS CAMERA: Canon EOS-1D X Mark II LENS: EF100-400mm ISO: 200 APERTURE: f/4.5 SPEED: 1/2,000 sec…

Despite having released more than 35,000 billfish in his lengthy career — more than any other sport-fishing captain, past or present — Capt. Brad Philipps is just as excited about the next bite as any neophyte angler. He has received The Billfish Foundation’s Top Overall Release Captain award 16 times, with an equal number of Top Pacific Sailfish Captain honors. His best days include: 91 sailfish releases on conventional tackle; 73 releases for an individual angler; 51 releases for a single angler on fly; and 3,671 billfish releases in one season. He operates Guatemalan Billfishing Adventures with his wife Cindy, kids Darren and Lyndsey and a Staffordshire bull terrier named Rigby at his side. Philipps is just as comfortable at the helm of his 40-foot Gamefisherman, Decisive, in the vast…

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The first Ladies Only Tournament was held at Los Sueños Resort and Marina in Playa Herradura, Costa Rica, with a total of 17 teams and 49 lady anglers to kick off the sixth annual Signature Triple Crown Series. In a one-day shootout, it seemed that the battle between D.A. Sea and Family and Friends would be fought to the end, because the two teams were tied in points and on time. But just a half-hour before lines out, the team of Laura Jessen and Michelle Keeney, fishing aboard Fish Tank, hooked the marlin that ultimately won them the tournament, finishing with eight sailfish and one marlin for a total of 1,300 points. D.A. Sea ended up placing second with a total of 1,100 points for their six sails and one…

BUCCANEER CUP Singer Island, Florida January 23-26, 2019 Capt. KJ Zeher and his team aboard the 60-foot Viking, De-Bait-Able, placed first overall and in the live-bait division with 21 sailfish releases and 4,200 points; Old No. 7, which also was live-baiting, placed second overall with 15 sails and 3,000 points, and Sandman placed third overall, releasing 14 live-baited sails for 2,800 points. In the dead-bait division, Polarizer beat out Wrapped Up on time, each with six sailfish releases for 1,800 points, and Floridian finished third with 1,500 points for their five sailfish releases. SPICE ISLAND BILLFISH TOURNAMENT St. George’s, Grenada January 21-26, 2019 Hard Play III, with Capt. Gerard “Frothy” DeSilva leading the charge, won with a total of 3,300 release points — seven sailfish, one white and one blue…