By: Capt. Joel Brandenburg
Most anglers don’t connect Blue Marlin with Marathon Florida Keys, but lately they’ve been showing up frequently and they’ve been big. I’ve been getting reports of 300 to 500 lb. blue Marlin free jumping in the distance, but mostly showing up in anglers spreads. The last few weeks mahi quantity has increased, but the quality seems to have decreased which is an annual occurrence. I feel like this is directly connected to the Marlin encounters. I think the Marlin are coming in from way offshore and feeding on small Mahi in 1000 foot of water and less. Anglers have even reported seeing giant blue marlin in as shallow as 100 to 200 feet deep lately.
I’ve also been getting reports and have witnessed it personally reeling in mahi with slash marks on them from billfish strikes. Lately it seems that 1 out of 10 mahi we land has at least one slash mark on it. One recent report came from a young upcoming Capt. Jared Dieguez of Superior Sport Fishing Charters in Marathon Florida Keys and is no stranger to winning several offshore and inshore tournaments the last few years.
Jared and his first mate Austin Hall chartered a family from the Midwest last week. They were in 900 feet of water between Marathon and Big Pine reeling in a mahi they hooked under a flock of sea birds. The mahi was 15 foot from the boat just about to be landed and out of nowhere an estimated 400 lb. blue marlin struck the mahi as fast as lightning.
Everybody in the boat saw this happen including the angler who is reeling in the mahi. The angler kept his rod tip up and stayed connected to the blue marlin as Capt. Jared threw the boat in gear and began to chase him down. To make a long story short, a fight pursued for an hour and 45 minutes. They hook the blue marlin on a 5000 series spinning reel with a 7-foot light action spinning rod with 25 lb. test braided line.
I compare this to hunting elk with a BB gun. During the hour and 45 minute fight, there were many pictures of the blue marlin, jumping and greyhounding. Captain Jared and First Mate Austin landed the blue marlin boat side with a leader touch and a second later, the blue marlin snapped the line with no time to take a picture of the blue marlin boat side.
Captain Jared said during the fight, the blue marlin constantly jumped and greyhounded never going more than 15-foot-deep until the leader touch. Captain Jared’s uncle and personal friend of mine is Capt. Jamie Platt who’s an old timer captain and long long-time resident of Marathon. In fact, Capt. Jamie Platt was the co-captain on the Andrea Gail prior to Capt. Billy Tyne Jr. who was played by actor George Clooney in the movie, The Perfect Storm out of Gloucester, Massachusetts, where the Platt family is originally from.
Both Capt. Jamie and his son Capt. Bucko Platt say they’ve have had many blue marlin encounters and landings over the years here in Marathon. They both claim that mahi is by far a blue marlins number one choice of food off the coast of Marathon Florida Keys. If you Google the question, is it illegal to use game fish to catch game fish in the Florida Keys and really drill down into that question the answer is a little fuzzy. Some say as long as the fish or lobster you catch is legal, you can legally use it for bait. If you use an undersized fish or lobster to catch a game fish it’s illegal and some claim that whether it’s a legal game fish or undersized game fish it’s illegal to use game fish to catch game fish.
This question seems to be under interpretation. Of course, if you’re reeling in a game fish and another game fish attacks the game fish you’re reeling in all opinions on the law get thrown out the window because mother nature just happened. It’s just the food chain cycle. It’s questionable if you could troll with a mahi instead of for a mahi.
According to many marine biologists, the mahi population in the Florida Keys is flourishing in both quantity and quality. Marine biologists also state that mahi is not only the fastest growing fish in the ocean, but also breeds more often than any other fish in the ocean. As of today, the Gulf of America doesn’t have a size limit on mahi, but does have a bag limit of ten per person up to a boat limit of 60 mahi per boat per day. Atlantic rules on mahi in state waters are five per person up to 30 mahi per boat per day measuring 20 inches or larger from the bottom lip of the mahi to the fork of the tail down the lateral line of the fish. In federal Atlantic Waters, mahi measures the same way at 20 inches or above, but you can keep up to 10 per person per day and up to 54 by her boat per day. Rumor has it in a month or two the size limit on mahi will be increased by 2 inches to a 24-inch size limit.
Changes in bag limits are also being discussed. As of now there’s only one annual blue marlin tournament in the Florida Keys, which is called the Key West Marlin Tournament celebrating 44 years every July targeting blue marlin, white marlin and spearfish with prizes exceeding $25,000. It is legal to kill and harvest a blue marlin in the Florida Keys, but only under strict circumstances. They must measure 99 inches or above from the lower jaw to the fork of the fish and you must hold an HMS permit which stands for a highly migratory species. All harvest must be reported to NOAA. I’ve tasted blue marlin meat and it is very tasty, however, a blue marlin is such a majestic fish. I personally would not kill one unless it was a tournament contender. Nowadays, if you want to mount a fish, you measure the lengths and girth and send your measurements with a picture to the Taxidermist and your fish can be mounted without harvesting it.
— For a charter with Captain Joel Brandenburg of Ana Banana Fishing Company Marathon Florida Keys call 305– 395–4212 office# or 813–267–4401 Cell #. Or visit us in person at ponchos fuel dock a half block away from Cast Away restaurant at 1280 Oceanview Ave. Marathon Florida Keys.