On the first fishing day of the tournament, Bad Co was the only boat to catch, measure, and release a marlin. Matthew Paulsen tells the story.

There’s always an overwhelming sense of excitement at this time of year, knowing that we’ll all be heading down to Struisbaai for the annual TOMT event. The anticipation of possibly catching a marlin keeps our group of friend returning year after year.

After a good catch-up with the crew on Sunday evening and a good night’s rest, it was down to the harbour on Monday morning at around 06:00. Marlin Control confirmed that the comp was on, and we set our course for the 12-mile bank. The weather forecast was a SW swell of 2.1m and a westerly wind of about 15-18 knots. For us on BAD COMANY, that means putting on the waterproof jackets and holding on tight. The plan was to run out to the 100m contour line, put lines out, and plod our way into the weather towards the back of the bank.

 About a mile from the 100m contour line, we started having coms issues and couldn’t seem to figure out why. Mike fiddled with almost every setting known to man on the radio and still couldn’t sort it out. After about an hour and a half of scratching our heads, Stuart came up with the idea that it could possibly be a loose connection between the antenna and the radio, and managed to find the problem. The fitting behind the radio had not been screwed in all the way, and that earned Mike a sniff of snuff and a strafdop at the club that evening. 

Problem solved, we steamed west towards the 12-mile bank staring at the water for any signs of birds working or bait fish splashing. Eventually, we came across a huge flock of birds working some bait fish on the surface, but could not catch up with them. Just then, Jaques (MOJO) came over the radio to say that he, too had just been behind the birds and could not catch them. It is incredible to see how quickly the fish move in the water. After losing sight of them, we decided to stay in that area for a while. An hour went by and nothing….. another hour, nothing…… 

We decided to turn the boat and head with the wind, giving us a bit of a breather from clenching onto the rails. Once we had turned east and managed to dry off a bit, we started seeing some signs of life in the water again. We started seeing more and more birds diving and bait fish splashing. A big patch of bait fish popped up about 100m in front of us, and we headed straight for it. Once we were in the middle of the feeding frenzy, we heard one of the outriggers pop, and a reel started screaming. We were ON!!! That’s when the chaos began.

We weren’t prepared for it at all! Luckily, the crew made quick work of clearing the lines, and we could start fighting the fish. I only realized that it was me to fight the fish once I had cleared the first line. I pulled the rod out of the gunwale only to find that I had not yet put a harness on. In fact, we didn’t even know where they were on the boat. Scratching around frantically, Mike found one and made his way towards me. Getting the harness adjusted to fit me was yet another 10-minute fiasco. By then, all I was able to do was hang onto the rod for dear life. The fish was incredibly strong and took about 500m of line off the reel on its first run. 

Harness on and I was able to start the fight. Trying to follow the line in the water and figure out where the fish is, is very difficult but I needed to see it jump. I saw a huge slash in the distance and was almost sure it was a marlin. Once I put sufficient tension on the fish I was able to turn it and start bringing it in towards the boat. The crew and I waited for it to jump again but it didnt causing us to second guess whether it was actually a marlin and not maybe a mako marlin. It felt like it took forever to gain a bit of line but slowly it started getting closer. I couldn’t take my eyes off the line waiting to see what it was. Eventually I saw the dark shape coming towards the boat and its distinct colors lit up. It was beautiful!!!! A first for me. Up until this day I had not yet had the opportunity to be up close with one of these magnificent fish. The amount of adrenaline running through my body was incredible causing my mouth to dry out, my arm muscles to cramp up and my hands to shake tremendously. A huge sip of cool drink managed to help and I was back into it. Up until this point we had forgotten to radio in and ask Marlin Control for a designated color. Andrew gave us a color and we could start landing the fish. Stuart was the trusty leader man and once he touched the leader it was all up to him. The fish came in up to the boat easily but once Richie grabbed the bill it was a different story. The fish went absolutely crazy but Richie was able to hang on. Stuart got the hooks out and we put the tape measure on it. After that it was time for the release. 

Boat in gear and the fish looking great it was time to send it back. What an amazing feeling being able to watch the fish swim away strongly!! Its colors still lit up,it took off to the depths to fight another day.