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Which parts of catching a grander are managed with great skill and which parts are due to Lady Luck? On the morning of December 9, 2024, the crew of Sea Baby III hosted visiting angler Jacob Franch, and were blessed with both.
Skipper, Nate Carey, brought aboard high skills, having trained under Kona fishing grand master, Marlin Parker. Capt. Carey meticulously checks every knot, swivel and crimp. With lines and leaders running through his calloused hands, he searches for anything that might prove a possible weakness under maximum strain.
Lady Luck paid a visit early that day with a tip from Capt. Dan Holt to head south to the famous “Grandma’s Kitchen” 20 miles south of Kailua-Kona, where big marlin had been appearing on sonar over the weekend. Capt. Carey plotted their course south and then east toward Red Hill. As they crossed the 700-fathom line, Lady Luck winked, and they were noticed by a giant.
Their long rigger trailed a jetted 6-inch Marlin Magic Infant bullet designed to run just under the silky surface, producing a wake of ripples known as “black smoke.” Those ripples are powerfully attractive to blue marlin, and the slick waters of Kailua-Kona may be the only big game fishing location where black smoke can be produced nearly every day of the year.
The line slapped down and the Shimano barked off a few yards of Amilan 130-pound monofilament…then nothing. Crewman, David Aegler, very accomplished for his 21 years, slowly reeled the bullet back into position, letting it run for a minute before clipping it back up onto the outrigger. Before he could reach for the line an immense marlin bent the blue skin of the sea like a nuclear submarine. Without breaking the surface, she raised the water so high that everyone could see her slurp in the bullet and its 9-0 Tantrum single hook before leaving a car-size crater where she had been just seconds before.
Lady Luck then blew them a kiss, and the little 9-0 hook sank deep into the fish’s lower jaw instead of the boney base of her great bill. This may have been the best luck of the day, but it took a while to figure that out.
Almost immediately, 250 yards of topshot disappeared, and the backing was screeching off the spool. Jacob Franch, a burly Colorado mountain man who recently moved to North Carolina, hung on to the bucking rod for dear life, while Aegler hooked him into the fighting harness. Sea Baby III roared back through the pattern, not wasting precious seconds on retrieving the lines. The battle was on!
Capt. Carey’s experience and great skill pushed him hard to stay within 300 yards of the fish and prevent her from sounding. He also did his best to avoid the dangerous big belly in the line often responsible for breaking off big fish.
Then Lady Luck’s gift became apparent. Each time the powerful marlin sounded, she soon returned to the surface. Up and down, and up and down went the battle, with Capt. Carey gaining precious line, as Franch quickly learned to use his weight in the harness to spare his right arm.
The little Tantrum 9-0 hook was forcing the great fish’s lower jaw shut as she dived, making it hard for her to breath and forcing her back up to the surface. Capt. Carey used a dead-fish planing technique to back down when she rose, while resting his angler at sunset drag when she dove. Several times the line would slack, as though she had slipped the hook or was initiating an attack on the boat. However, it was simply that she had to relieve pressure on her lower jaw to breath.
In just 59 minutes she was at the back of the boat, and Aegler took a wrap of the 400# Momoi Xtra Hard leader, steering the giant fish to starboard. Capt. Carey was ready with a magic trick of his own, rolling the fish boatside and securing the flying gaff to put a swift and merciful end to the fight.
She looked 1,000 pounds on deck, but you never know until the certified scales render their heartless judgement at Honokohau Harbor. On this fateful day, not just luck, but very impressive skills rolled the scales’ numbers out for the Sea Baby III team at 1,124 pounds!
