Our Blue Marlin From the WMO

[swkicknfishn]

I believe I was wrong when I stated it was an IGFA rule. It is only a tournament rule. Sorry for the confusion. Thanks for clearing that up. And yes it is one of those rules in which the wording needs to be cleaned up a bit.

I fished in a SC Governors cup tournament which is all IGFA rules and the gaff thing was always brought up because we had to take pictures of the fish while holding a ribbon so people were tying them to the end of the gaff. So therefore I thought it was an IGFA rule until I just read through the rules.

[frankypettolina]

the rules in these tourneys really are something- i swear we are going to need to a rule liason on the boats just to go fishing in a few years.

I have never fished a billfish tourney where you need to have a card or ribbon or any of that yet- I did fish in some shark tourneys that require a card, the mate, the fish and all that jazz in the pic- a real pain in the plums it was.

I look forward to the day when cameras are cheap enough that we all have surveillance stuff mounted on the boat and supply copiesof the tapes to the judges and they can take their precious time reviewing every last minute of the footage- it will look like CSI, SVU and cold case in the tourney headquarters

[LongRigger]

Nice job on the leader, thats a tough spot to be in, holding onto a large fish while others are trying to decide whether to kill it or not.
Id say she was a hair under 400. A solid decision on your part, and oyu did get thekarma for the next day so congrats!

[Wireman]

That fish doesn't look to be any more then 350 tops. You definitely made the right decision.

One suggestion in the future may be to make a "snooter" for your crew to slip over her bill. You can control her much better and it will allow for much more accurate measuring. Just a thought.

Nice job in the tournament!

[LONGFIN2]

Thanks guys, will remember for next time. It was only a 2 inch dolphin gaff, I'm crazy but not stupid.

[chumslicker27]

Nice video.... Good call on the release.....

[brokensheer]

I was wondering when someone was going to notice the size of the gaff!. , great video,, thanks for sharring it Nice one on your fish !

[reel fool]

...It was only a 2 inch dolphin gaff...

not the best choice, but had the fish been the right size, and that's all I had, I would have stuck it. wrong tools, but you can only use what you have

[marlinrojo]

to me not doubt that fish is 500 probably a little more

[Captain Fred Archer]

I'd guess about four hundred on that fish, but since we C&R'd all of our marlin, I don't pretend to be good at guessing actual weights. It sure was a nice fish, though. Congrats and kudos on the release.

One thing I do agree on is the use of a snooter. Those things are great for controlling a billfish alongside - great for the fish and great for crew!

Website, www.fredarchersworldoffishing.com