Aug 3, 2009
Blues are biting on the North Drop
Good news! I'm sure you'll all be glad to hear that the blue marlin are still busting it up on the North Drop down in St. Thomas. I just returned from a Marlin U session down there, and our two boats experienced some pretty good fishing - even on the dark of the moon. Local wisdom says that the best bite for blues occurs during the week prior to and after the full moon. But after eight years of planning Marlin U trips down to St. Thomas, I can say with certainty that you can get plenty of bites on the dark periods as well.
On our last trip ending July 28, our two boats got 17 blue marlin bites and caught seven. Not the best catch ratio in the world, but one boat was using lures and had some pretty bad luck on the hookups, and even pulled the hooks on a nice 500-pounder about two feet away from the mate's outstretched hand. That boat got more bites but just didn't connect as well as the boat using lures/dead-bait combos with much smaller hooks.
We had a pretty small class this session, and two of our five guys didn't catch one. However, one of our anglers, Simon Arnsby, caught his first blue marlin ever and then proceeded to catch three more for a total of four! You can see Arnsby fighting one of his fish in the photo gallery on this newsletter (he's the little fellow sitting in front of the waterfall).
You should notice a few different things about this issue of the Marlin newsletter; we've had a total redesign and added a conservation blog by senior editor Charlie Levine and a "Where's Peter" blog by the most traveled man in big-game fishing, our own Peter B. Wright. We also plan to run an ongoing photo contest in the very near future to allow you, our readers, an opportunity to post your most exciting billfish photos for chance to win great prizes. Please let us know how you like it. We are always looking for ways to serve you better.
Right now I'm preparing to head off to fish in the White Marlin Open up in Ocean City, Maryland, on board a new Jarrett Bay 34. This marks my first turn at the helm in a major billfish tournament, so I have to say I'm a little excited about the opportunity. Look for an article in an upcoming issue on this one! Wish me luck, fellas.
POSTED BY MarlinEdit AT 10:57
