Article by Capt. Franky Pettolina
I was looking at the top two hundred feet of the water column on my Garmin CHIRP color sounder when I heard the Zzzzzzziiiiinnnnnggggggg!!! of the drag on my right teaser reel. At the same time my trusty mate, Mr. Evans, hollered out about the bite. Reaching up to grab the two hundred pound test monofilament line on the reel, I redirected my attention to the spot where the red Squidnation teaser chain should have been. There was a fair amount of white froth on the surface and the telltale “hole in the water” that I have come to know over the years when a big fish has decided to pay me a visit. The Squidnation chain was nowhere in sight as the yet to be seen predator had drug it considerably below the surface.
Line was still peeling off of the teaser reel as I attempted to reclaim control of my red squids. Then, just as quickly as it had disappeared, my teaser was back on the surface. I rapidly began hand lining the teaser towards the boat so Mr. Evans could pitch a hooked bait out in its place. My eyes were scanning the area surrounding the teaser, wondering what type of sea monster I was about to encounter. I wouldn’t have to wait long to get my answer.
The squids were skipping along the surface reflecting red in the prop wash, but the water below and slightly behind them was lighting up neon blue. Another “hole” started to open up at the tail end of the squid chain. The water was being sucked out from under the teaser.
I quickened my pace and got the teaser as close to the boat as possible while shouting directions to Mr. Evans.
“Blue Marlin! Blue Marlin! Get the big bait to ‘em!”
All but the last squid and the ballyhoo chase bait were safely out of the water. Mr. Evans had a large skirted ballyhoo right in the clean water outside of the prop wash. All eyes were on his bait, waiting for the big bite!
Then the teaser line was ripped from my hands. The Brobdingnagian Blue was not going to be denied its meal. I snatched the line back and a tug of war had begun. Mr. Evans was dipping the tip of his rod and jigging the bait trying to lure the blue away from the teaser, but the fish was having none of that. The monofilament line was burning my hands.
Right about the time I was preparing to give up and let go, something else caught the fish’s attention. The teaser was dropped and the marlin made a sideways move into our prop wash. The churned up white water was glowing blue and I could see the broad tail of the Blue making wide sweeps. The fish was agitated. My best guess is that the creature caught a glimpse of our red Squidnation dredge pulling off of the left corner.
Or it was playing a sneaky game of trying to catch its original snack off guard. Like a flash the fish was back on my right teaser chain. I had a solid wrap of the line, however, and the sneak attack led to nothing more than my hands getting more line burn and the teaser launching into the air like a squid rocket. And the marlin was gone!
Or was it?
In an aquatic burst that would shame Maryland’s own Michael Phelps, the marlin had made its way to my left teaser. A blue Squidnation chain. And just like the Baltimore Bullet, this big blue had won the race and beat me to the teaser. There was nothing I could do but watch the line scream off of my teaser reel. Well, I did make two futile attempts to grab the line to slow its departure, but to no avail. In one final leap the marlin cleared the water and the tail end of my teaser parted from the chain and the fish was gone. This time for good.
The whole crew was a little dejected that we didn’t get a chance to catch the marlin, but man what a show! I looked at Mr. Evans and said, “You know, I really don’t mind not catching them when we get to see something as cool as that…” I am not sure he believed me though.
As an interesting side note, right about this time last year I wrote a Fish Story about a blue marlin performing an awesome aerial display around the boat without ever striking a bait or teaser. My long time friend and client, Brooke Duvall, was fishing with me that day along with his grandson Andrew and some of Andrew’s buddies. Well, you guessed it, Brooke was with me again on this trip. Only this time it was his younger grandson Zachary, along with some friends, that had joined him on the trip. Hopefully the third time is the charm and I have a Catch Story to share with you when Brooke and his grandson Andrew head out with me again in a few weeks… Either way I am sure I will get to see something cool!
