Grander Numbers

[fishvenezuela]

There has been two 1000lb+ blue marlin landed by rod and reel here in Venezuela. One in the 80's by Ron Hamlin and one in 1994 by Dr. Rueben Jean on the Mako(1020).

I know of two blue marlin weighed over 950 pounds here as well.

[dknott77]

don't forget Peter B. has weighed 77 of them on reef......three in one day!

[dknott77]

Clay has weighed 2 in Ghana, and Glenn "Johno" Johnston weighed one in Ghana as well. Check Darren"Biggles" hayden's webpage at down under marlin charthers as well I believe he has 10 or 11 under his belt. The aussie numbers of granders are thru the roof.

[AhiSlayer]

not yet mentioned is Bermudas largest that ate a Kwagga.

The article is worth a read. Exerpt// the boat, presumably the handiwork of a rival. Mr. Parker, whose brother's name is Marlin, says he doesn't trust the priests who make a living blessing vessels. He relies on a friend, who he says once successfully exorcized an evil spirit hiding in a boat's shower.

[Patudo]

Jim, from 1989 onwards (basically when Roddy Hays started fishing in Madeira) most Madeiran blue marlin up to and including fish estimated at 1000 lbs and over have been released so it's not going to be possible to be totally precise.

Re your other question about the fish that inspired Hemingway I recall from reading one of his biographies that the marlin that got chewed up was a Bimini blue caught by one of his friends and not actually all that big. There is a photo of EH standing with that fish in a pose that suggests he caught it, but he didn't. There's another well-known instance which I'm sure was part of the make-up of the book (following excerpt from an interview with EH's skipper Gregorio Fuentes):

From his humble home in Cojimar, a dozy fishing village east of Havana that was the setting for the novella, Fuentes receives a steady stream of visitors longing to connect with the Hemingway legend. His craggy, weather-lined face frames warm and lively eyes that light up at the mention of his old fishing buddy. "Blue like the sea and undefeated," wrote Hemingway of Santiago's eyes, though he could have been describing Gregorio's. "I was with Hemingway when he got the idea for The Old Man and the Sea," he recalls.

They were motoring along Cuba's north coast when they came across an old man in a skiff fighting a big fish. Sharks had surrounded him, and he was in a fierce battle. "We stopped and offered to help, but the old man shouted for us to get away," Fuentes says.

Kenya I believe has only one grander weighed thus far, but it's a whopper - 1247 lbs. It would actually be interesting to tote up a list of places where anglers have caught blue and black marlin of over 1000 lbs. It would be a long list but just how long?

Regards

P.

[fishvenezuela]

Mimi(1228.5) Oregon Inlet w/Capt Mike King

[Ultralite]

Fished with the now deceased Capt. Jo Franck in Faial, Azores. He had caught 21 granders, mostly blues in the Azores, but also a 1200 lb black off South Africa. He said that he had an estimated 1200 lb sword hooked up in the Azores. He wanted to catch every billfish that grew to over 1000 lbs and the swordy was the one that escaped him.

[Deep C]

Originally Posted by AhiSlayer

not yet mentioned is Bermudas largest that ate a Kwagga.

A little bit of trivia...
The Kwagga is also known as the Complat Angler Masher... Originally a Murray Brothers LNG...



With a bit of luck it will go back into production early next year...

[tim R]

Originally Posted by Deep C

A little bit of trivia...
The Kwagga is also known as the Complat Angler Masher... Originally a Murray Brothers LNG...



With a bit of luck it will go back into production early next year...

Shape looks more like a Marlin Magic Ruckus than the MB version, except the insert is definitely not Marlin Magic and it's a single pour.

What are you putting in the insert (lead?)

Can you keel weight them?

Can you show us what the skirt ridges look like (vinyl friendly)?

What sizes will they come in?

See Ruckus in this thread (at the end), although this is a Large Ruckus not the regular.

Originally Posted by tim R

The common expression here in Kona, HI is Vinyl is FINAL, which mean it lasts and it works. Vinyl is a great alternative when skirting lures and it most definitely makes lures run differently, especially lures like tubes and plungers. When you keep messing around with a head you are convinced is a winner, but just can't seem to get the action you want, try vinyl. Less resistance makes the action much more pronounced and our hookup ratio's here have been as good or better than on rubber.

Below are the basics to skirting a lure head with vinyl.


First, we like to cut the vinyl all at once. This piece is made for 1/4' wide legs.


This shows you the front and back of the vinyl.


Rolling the outside of the head on the sheet determines where you cut the sheet to fit the circumference of the head, skirt ridges come into play here, better to cut a little long than short. (you can always trim)


Secure the newells to the second (last) skirt ridge, with the most weight of them on the belly. Newels can be cut from one strand to 3, any more and they stiffen the lures action. It's better to have two sets of of two strands tight together than one of four. They must be secured tightly with floss.



Now that you have the newells secured correctly and the vinyl cut to size, lay it out as shown above and wrap the vinyl around the skirt ridge.



Wrap the vinyl so the seam is on top, it should not over lap and then secure it with multiple wraps of floss on the top skirt ridge. The idea is to have the seam meet evenly with putting pressure on the vinyl, this is not easy. Once you flip the vinyl over the top so it's now in the "running" direction (see below pic), you will still have the seam to contend with. (This is not shown) You should then cut out a small tab of vinyl and slide it underneath the seam (tab should touch each side of the seam). Once you have it in place lift the seam flaps and apply super glue between the tab and the seam and hold until the top seam is secured to the small tab. This is probably the most difficult part to illustrate and explain, it also requires practice, but it is well worth it!!!


In the end this is how is should look. This is a mirrored Large Henry by Marlin Magic and it works great short and long corner. We typically rig it with tandem closed 12/0 hooks. A Single hook won't run very well. The leader size would be 530 Marlin Hard (2.33 thick). Then just add water!!



Here's an array of big lures with Vinyl that are very popular in our calm waters of Kona, HI. Top to bottom: large Ruckus by Marlin Magic, Magilla Gorilla by Bomboy, Otado by Coggins, Large Henry by Marlin Magic, Super Dog by Marlin Magic and vertically The Mangler by Kona Custom Lures Kerwin Masunaga...

By the way Vinyl Skirting was by Weston Leslie his hands are so big it made the large Henry look like a Baby Ruckus... Weston is our master rigger in the Kona shop and also handles Complaints and Security....Funny since he joined our Melton Pro staff we haven't had a complaint or a security issue...SIZE MATTERS...

Let the questions fly...Glueing the Seam is the hard part, stick with it!!!

Mahalo from the Kona Pro Staff

[Deep C]

At MB we had two in that shape the lng1 and lng 2. Actually designed in part by Bart, Ed Muraqy, Tim Davis and myself. For a while Sadu was doing our pouring and mixing the pigments. When I left Murrays I took the designs I had worked on. The Masher was actually an lng 1 that shrunk from molding off a head. The murray neck was straight line to accomodate the trawlite and moldcraft flat shirting we used on them. The masher and kwagga are identical with a twin tapered neck. Though we did some tying for a while most of our run was a glued St1 or U2 skirt. St1 was an octopus style skirt with taper at the neck while U2 was more of a straight line skirt that didn't bush out much.
The Kwagga name came from the company we partnered with to increase our production. To add even more history, our own Roddy Hayes, was instrumental in getting that company, to go with African names for their product. That company based in south Africa had and still has superior workmanship. Nothing set in stone yet but I may rekindle our working relationship to some degree and do some very limited production if for no other reason, just to supply my own tourney team...
Inserts were both leaded and just plastic with art work depending on application.
The Crusher lure in our line up is just slightly smaller and comparable to the lng 2 in size... My african partner did another one with a shorter pull but bigger diameter we marketed as grander grabber and he as African Queen...