Oh it's nice to be in my new office but I never did call it a job !

You can see the hook and small section of the leader in front of the dorsal. Good on you Nuutti, job well done.

Nuutti is from Helsinki,  Finland.  After the the most horrendous strike out of nowhere we were hooked to a fish that I had no control over.  It was over two hours before I could get its attention.  I realised that there was something wrong right from the start by the way this thing was acting. It was a big fish, no doubt — we all saw the strike.  What we did not know was where it was hooked.   This fish had crashed the lure but missed it and been nailed by the hook in the top of the head in front of the dorsal.  The leader was then wrapped around the head under the gill plates and then came out from under a pectoral fin.  In this situation we could not lead the fish so it had a mind of its own. It headed directly South as if it had a compass to steer by.   I had to stop the boat and repeatedly let it burn off the drag until we were getting low on line. The speed of the fish was steady and unfaltering.   Fortunately it was calm so I could back up and retrieve all back on the reel; then stop and repeat the process.   If I got close to the fish and grabbed the leader it was out of control and would dive under the boat. We did that 10 times without success.   I did not want to kill the fish by running it over so kept my distance.  We literally had to stop the fish to the point where it could swim no longer.  Young Nuutti had never been in the chair in his life.  He was about to become an expert and do that – he did.  The fish was still swimming 3 1/2 hours later when he pulled it along side.  Norb grabbed it by the bill and held on.  I had to cut the leader to retrieve the lure that was strapped on to the side of the head.  I left the hook and a small piece of leader behind.  That will be gone in no time as I use OWNER – JOBU steel hooks.

Chris Parkin hooked up right outside town with his family watching from the balcony.

Chris is becoming a veteran angler in Madeira.  Here he is hooked up right outside of town and that was the strike below.  His wife and family were in their hotel when son John said Hey Mum that boat out there is going backwards.  She looked out and recognised the “Katherine B”.  Well thats your Dad you are watching there !!   The fight went on and crewman Norberto got the leader.  I tagged the fish and put the snooter on.  That was it; the fish went ballistic.  Norb got a whack in the face almost knocked his eye out.  Most times these Blues are pussycats at the boat and give up for a quiet release with a minimum of fuss.  Not this one.  I had to cut the thing loose immediately before any further mayhem.

Big fish on the long Right

Dr Eduardo Teixeira and Augusto Figueira, President of the Big Game Club of Portugal.

presenting me with an award for service to Sportfishing.

I was surprised and sincerely grateful to receive this honor.

When they are very fat like this thing was they can look short and fool the socks off you.

I might add here that I had a call from Wayne Whippin about that time.  His voice was noticeably shaken. He said, Peter I have just seen the biggest Marlin I have ever seen in my entire life.  He was about one mile away from us.  He said the thing just lay on the surface, fins out and did absolutely nothing.  He took the boat right up to it and had it almost under the rigger.  Still it would do nothing.  From being so close he was able to get a very good idea of length and girth.  His estimate was 15 to 1800.  Wayne is a very experienced fisherman who I have known since the early 70’s.  He knows what big fish look like and BS is not part of his persona.   Apparently nothing could entice the fish to bite and it just sank out of sight.   The Stuff that Dreams are made of.   There are several stories like this from Madeira and I can vouch for one myself.

Benjamin Cart from the USA with a 999 - well done Ben.