The year 2008 was a good one to be fishing, especially if you were fishing next to Cahill Marlowe of Bay St. Louis. Not only did the 8 year old angler catch a potential world record triple tail, but he also qualified for the billfish world championship. If fishing is 90 percent luck and 10 percent skill, this young man is one lucky charm.
The Sonny Johnson Tournament in Biloxi is a great tournament for the Mississippi Gulf Coast Big Game Club. Cahill’s father Jim Marlowe had been invited to fish on Captain Rimmer Covington’s 39 Sea Vee for the tournament. The forecast was for 6 to 8 foot seas and he was supposed to be watching Cahill that day. Jim explains, “I was nervous for Cahill, he had never been out is seas that rough.” A quick call to Captain Rimmer was all it took, as Jim tells, “Rimmer said to bring him, we always do well if Cahill is on the boat.”
They needed all the luck they could get, as the seas were a solid 6 foot or better. They trolled ballyhoo in area called the “nipple” on the edge of Desoto Caynon. The plan was simple, let Cahill reel in the fish and the small fry division would be all his. Small fry pertains to anglers 12 and under. That day Cahill boated two wahoo, a blackfin tuna, a shark and one sail fish. With the horrible weather conditions, and the lack of young anglers, team Marlowe swept the tournament. Cahill’s catch not only earned him Junior angler of the year for the club, but the billfish qualified them for a trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. The tournament was delayed due to swine flu, but is scheduled for some time in November.
July 9, 2008 was a day that Cahill will remember as the day the one didn’t get away. Jim and Cahill Marlowe were looking for triple tail with good friend Captain Alex Murray. Just cruising around in the family Boston Whaler they were seeing and catching fish. Just off the coast in Hancock County they boated 5 nice triple tail in just a few hours. The big fish came at the very end of the trip. They decided to check one more spot close to Half Moon island when they saw the fish. “He did it all by himself, from casting, to hooking to landing”, Jim tells, about the behemoth triple tail. “We got back to the dock and called Captain Rimmer to bust his chops about not being able to go with us, and tell him about the big fish.” Rimmer hung up and made a call to check small fry records for triple tail. It did not take long to find out that the record was only 14lbs. Cahills triple tail tipped the scale at 26.1 lbs! Sad to say the fish was cleaned but there is still a plaque hanging in Jim Marlowes office. The plaque is framed around a picture of Cahill and his massive triple tail, it has the date, his name and the words “world record triple tail.”
As of this writing, he is a student at Coast Episcopal and Cahill has his sights on bigger things. As for Cahills next big catch, his dad informed me “he got that sailfish, but he wants a marlin, a big marlin.” Having big goals off the water as well, “He wants to go to Yale, because that where a lot of presidents go.”
Captain Sonny Schindler
Shore Thing Fishing Charters
Bay St Louis, MS
228-342-2295
www.shorethingcharters.com