You may remember my milkfish troubles over the years.  I simply couldn’t catch one.  I had the disastrous day for them when I arrived in Providence last April.  But then on the second to last day at Providence, I finally caught one, ending a war with my second most nemesis fish species.  But my number one fly rod adversary is and has been for a very long time, the striped marlin (Kajikia audax).

 

As far as billfish go, it seems to only be the striped marlin.  I’ve taken a Pacific blue marlin on fly and they should be harder.  And I’ve caught plenty of sailfish.  But I have more than 30 days chasing striped marlin on the fly, and nada.  Most of these days have been with my pals Sammy and Grant down here in Baja and Sammy has in fact caught a couple with me on board.

 

It’s not like catching a striped marlin is extra tough.  Yeah, it’s a huge game fish, but usually, if a guide teases one up for you, you got him.  But over the years for me, this hard luck species either doesn’t show up, or they won’t eat, or I can’t hook the fish.  Bottomline, something always goes wrong.

 

Grant booked Sammy, he and I with a friend of his that owns a few guide boats up here in Magdalena Bay.  We did this trip for estuary species back in 2018.  Our boatman/guide today was someone we hadn’t met, Norberto. Norberto has no fly fishing guide experience but let’s just say, he knows were the marlin are and was totally into learning the fly gig.

 

We left promptly at 7 AM.  Here you literally board Norberto’s panga at his house and ride in it to the water.  A friend of his launches the four of us and off we go.

 

Magdalena Bay is a massive expanse of water and our first move was a 40 minute ride to its mouth.  There Grant and Norberto slow trolled up six Pacific chub mackerel to use as teasers to bring the marlin close enough for fly casting.  Catching the mackerel took about 20 minutes.

 

We left Mag Bay and headed for the open ocean.  Today was relatively calm with slightly overcast skies.  It was an excellent day to be on the blue water for marlin.  I’ve seen plenty of rough seas in my day and the older I get the less fun they are.  It didn’t take long for us to find some diving sealions and leaping baitfish.  We made an abrupt stop and launched some blind casts into the action.

 

I went tight almost immediately.  The guys hoped I had a marlin but I recognized this tug and the smoking run that comes with.  I had a beautiful skipjack tuna.  He tore about 75 yards into my backing before I was able to hoist back.  On the size 13/14-weight marlin fly rod it took less than five minutes for me to land the beautiful fish.  Unfortunately for the tuna, Norberto thought his belly strips would be another good teasing bait that we should have on board to excite a striped marlin.

 

We ran into more tuna action however during the first two hours the marlin were nowhere to be found.  Once we were exactly 26 miles south of Magdalena Bay, we noticed quite a few boats gathered close together.  Diving birds were going wild.  These boats and birds were on bait balls – huge tournedos like funnels of baitfish tightly gathered as they gradually get picked off by a variety of gamefish.  We found the striped marlin!

 

The other boats were a mix of three types.  First there were some multi-million dollar yachts trolling and live baiting for marlin.  These large boats come up for weeks at a time from Cabo following the marlin schools.  Next were our friends from Los Locos.  But most peculiar were snorkeling boats. There are actually companies around Mag Bay that take people out to snorkel and dive overboard with bait balls.  It sounds pretty cool but man would these diving boats be a nuisance today when we were trying to cast for marlin!

 

When we arrived we could see marlin slashing bait.  Then they would dive out of sight.  Sometimes they would come right back up in nearly the same spot, other times it may take 20 minutes and they would bust a half mile away.  There were more than one bait balls out here too – lucky for us.  For the next four hours we would run towards diving birds and cast.  It was a nail-biting thrill having your fly in the frenzy but no luck getting a marlin to eat.

 

Sammy and I got our flies on top of feeding marlin several times without interest.  You wouldn’t suspect one of the big boss fish of the ocean to be so selective but they obviously were.  Several frustrating hours went by.  It seemed every time we saw the live baiting boats they had a marlin on.  Sammy and I as well as the Los Locos fly guys continued not to hook a marlin on the fly.

 

At 3 PM neither Sammy or I had hooked a marlin.  It was a good two hour boat ride back to San Carlos.  Calling it a day was just beginning to cross our minds when suddenly a school of furiously feeding marlin popped up by the boat.  Sammy and I both made our casts.  I felt as though at any second on my next strip I would go tight.  But it wasn’t the guy with the striped marlin curse, it was Sammy that hooked up.

 

I probably don’t need to tell you about the battle that ensued.  Sammy’s marlin screamed off about 50 yards past his fly line length then jumped eight times.  After the last near the boat jump the marlin took off another 200 yards of backing.  Then the true tug-o-war began.

 

Sammy is a pro with these marlin and in fighting big fish.  He reefed on his striped marlin as if he was trying to break his leader.  But we fish straight 60lb and its hard to break.

 

 

 

 

Sammy had his marlin to the boat in exactly 35 minutes.  Not bad.  And what an amazing fish!

 

 

 

 

It’s not every marlin that gets brought in the boat for a photo.  In fact very few are.  But this one was manageable and it was Sammy’s first in years.  I rattled off a few photos then Grant and Sammy slid the beautiful billfish over the side.  Then Sam held the bill as Norberto drove the panga slowly forward.  Its how you resuscitate billfish and once they start kicking to go free you let them.  It’s an awesome experience.

 

It was nearly 4 PM by the time we released Sam’s striped marlin.  It was time to head back.  Sammy got it done in the end.  For me, the striped marlin curse continues.

 

The drive took every minute of the next two hours.  Sammy and I saved a couple beers each for the ride and we celebrated Sammy’s success.  Its very cool that Sammy treats me to these trips and honestly, I wanted him to get the first marlin of the trip.  Tomorrow I’ll get my chance.

 

It was another amazing feast back in San Carlos.  It turns out our hotel has a killer restaurant and bar on its roof.  The Los Locos gang came down for dinner and invited us to join them. These are some generous guys and they obviously run a great business.  While none of their guest caught a marlin on the fly today, they had a blast with a bunch of dorado on the fly.  Good times.  We’ll get back after it tomorrow.  I need a striped marlin on the fly!

 

Despite being 2022, internet is sparse in remote parts of Baja.  Furthermore, after a 10-12hr fishing day on the salt, it’s hard to get the blogs out on time.  They will be delayed but they will come in full.  Stay tuned! 

In the meantime, please visit my webstore for “Christmas Gifts for the Angler that has Everything” and stuff those stockings with my fish decals from “Pescador on the Fly”.

Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing