Saturday, December 06, 2008

Marlin Derby At Cabo San Lucas, 1986 (by Peter Chan)

Cabo San Lucas is often described as the "Marlin Capital of the World ". Cabo lies in Baja California Sur, Mexico. This would be my first fishing trip and the second the following year in the Gold Coast, Australia.

Plate 1: In a clockwise direction. Blood dripping from a striped marlin and the fish bait used, marlin struggles in the sea, marlin reeled to the side of the boat, and seagulls hovering close to the boat.

After two days of sales meetings, we traded that for the fishing trip. My initial thoughts were about white sandy beaches, sipping pineapple juice and Latinas in thongs. I must have read too much about the Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro. It was the start of the Seagate Marlin Derby.
The fishing trip demanded patience. One could sit for hours cruising aimlessly in the deep Pacific Ocean off Baja California. Most times, the boat went on cruise mode but on some occasions, it went “high speed,” breaking over every wave like a fast patrol craft. The ocean had 2 colors, the green color indicated shallow waters but a dark blue indicated the end of the Continental Shelf, which meant we were in 6,000 feet of water.

Plate 2: Left Photo – Minstrels singing in Spanish “South of the Border”. Right Photo -The dinner buffet-table spread

The epic battle was over when the marlin was reeled to the side of the boat and clobbered on its head with a club filled with rusty nails. After tying up the marlin, the boatman washed away the blood on the deck with buckets of seawater. I later found out the smell of blood attracts sharks.

That ended the day’s fishing trip and we adjourned to our rooms for a good bath before heading out for tonight’s dinner. You guess it right; the main course was stripped marlin steak. Next year it would be blue marlin steak and entertainment at the Conrad Jupiter Casino on the Gold Coast.

Plate 3: In a clockwise direction. Photo-shoot at the Weighing Station, seated at the rear of the boat, and the battle with the marlins.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Peter,
Wow! this is what I called he-man fishing where a lot of strength is required to bring in such a big catch. Matured marlins usually weigh not less than 200 kilos. An angler who lands such a big catch would find himself completely exhausted becasue marlins are fighters and they don't give up easily.

Victor said...

Peter,
Wow! So bloody, large and muscular. (And I am not only talking about the marlins.)

Victor said...

Peter, any nice cabo (Hokkien for "girls") there? Post some pictures leh, especially those in bikinis. :p

Anonymous said...

U said it right Stanley. My 2 marlins were considered "baby stuff". On that trip, the largest catch was 615 lbs by the company's SVP Finance. Even "baby stuff" cost me my left arm - plenty of muscle aches for a few days.

Victor - Cabo has no white beaches, only cliffs. For that you must go to Cancun. Nearer home is in the Philippines's Subic Bay area if u want to do a "Bat Watch" but the beach not good quality.

Anonymous said...

"Bay Watch" I mean.

yg said...

wow! peter. you mean the two marlins were landed by you, and not there for people to pose for pic. 'baby stuff' or not, they are much bigger than any fish or cabo i have seen caught or hooked.
really envy you, leh.

Victor said...

No bikini never mind. But if they were stripped like the marlins, also can. :p

Lam Chun See said...

I have an elder brother, (not Chun Chew) who used to be an avid angler. He once joined the Spore Anglers Club for a fishing trip to Mauritius and caught a huge marlin whose head alone was as big as Peter's 2 'babies'. He got someone to stuff the head and send back to Spore and put it up in his living room. That alone cost as much as the original fare of his fishing trip.

Later he gave up fishing saying it was cruel and against his Buddhist belief.

Icemoon said...

Is that a bird beside the marlin, on the right side of the picture?! Such long beak.

The statistics pretty interesting. It says Peter from Singapore caught 120 LBS striped marlin in 25 minutes.

But I don't know what's the tackle - 50# Test.

Anonymous said...

Each marlin was 125lbs +-. That is the reason why I call it "baby stuff". Mine got no standard.

The birds walking near the marlin are seagulls.

NO 50 Test, I am not sure but maybe indicates the weight of the bait or the tackle strength?