It's time to step up to the plate, or maybe the transom !! you've caught all the 'slot' stripers you can, all the 'specs' you can stand, (not that they're not fun too!!), but now you want to head south and get in on a wild time, teasing in Pacific Sailfish over 100 lbs., so close that you have to 'loop cast around the motor because they have their bills almost stuck into the other side !!

MARLIN ?? You want Marlin?! We got yore stinkin' Marleen, Gringo !!

Yes, you can land them on a 12 wt. In April 2000, I legally caught what would have been the new 20 lb. tippet world record right outside here, but we didn't want to kill the fish.(Had one die on us just days before, and we were up to our ears in smoked, sliced, and frozen marlin meat--476 lbs. of it)

That fish almost spooled a Bauer rell with 350 yds. of 30#spectra backing, and actually caused so much heat on the fly line covering that it MELTED!!!

So, gowith a 12? Or jump up to a 13/14 wt. Why not both , if your pocket can handle it! Or if you're just plain serious.

Circle hook flies--These really work. No more yanking on your fly line , trying to set the hook. Just wait(hard to do until you get used to it) until the fish takes the fly and TURNS AWAY from you, then palm the reel , adding increasing pressure, until the fish realizes it's hooked in the corner of the mouth, and then HANG ON !!!! This is NOT the time to try and stop them. Light drag settings for a while. Until the first series of wild jumps is over on sails, or when that long run my a marlin puts a lot of line in the water. My big one struck about 30 ft. off the stern, a great sideways take(more like a CRUSH!) went straight away for only maybe 40 yards, then turned underwater and sped past the boat, not 2 ft. from the hull. My captain at that time, Ian Mc Allister, thought the fish was still out back and almost backed over the line. Next time we saw the fish, iIwas REALLY low on the backing, but we kept her tight and just idled to her, gaining all the time as she swam around . Then , when we were close , she went ape again, time after time, ran deep, came up, we were changing angles and tactics constantly to keep her confused, and then we had the fly line through the first two guides , a legal catch( this was repeated 13 times), but could not lift her straight up on the 20 lb. tippet. When we let her out and she wallowed on the surface, we tried again and again to "rush" her and grab her bill, but missed time after time. She was only that far down, the length of the leader, in that crystal clear blue water that we're FORCED to fish in year after year, but she wouldn't give it up. But we matched her length beside the boat, and later figured her to be 300-320 lbs. The record at that time was 260, but we weren't sure of that , that day.

The lesson...BE PREPARED !!
If you want to experience the breathless feeling of being pinned to one of these wild beasts, give me a jingle at my e-mail, capnbob_2001@yahoo.com, or fishpanama.com. Check out www.costaricafishing.com for more info.

Good Fishing, Wherever You Are ! Capn Bob