The last time we were in Papeete, we picked up new line, leader and replaced (once again) the lure we lost on the last big fish that got away. Thank goodness Jim used some of the time we were in Port du Phaeton to break down all our fishing reels and make sure all were in good working order, were not worn and were greased.
On our trip over to Morea, Jim rigged up a pole and was trolling.
He stuck a fish and reeled it in a bit and then offered the pole to me.
I fought it for only 15 minutes or so and told Jimmy that I didn't think I'd be able to bring it in. It felt HUGE!
Rather than take it back himself he offered the pole to Lance, who of course took it. Lance held the rod and fought the fish for two hours! It was at the boat several times but regained it's energy and pulled line out again.
While Lance was fighting the fish, Jim and I took turns driving the boat. Jim used a gaff hook to keep the line from getting caught on the rudder and he kept the drag adjusted on the reel. The fish was so huge that Lance had all he could do to just reel in when he could. I sat with my back on Lance's and my knees up on the companionway to give him support whenever I could.
When the fish was close enough Jim stood on the side deck and held on to the fish with two gaff hooks (made me nervous) Lance kept pressure on the line and I leaned over the side with a lasso that Jim had ready and got it around the tail and secured it. We then let him drag backwards for a short time until he died. Jim hoisted the fish up on the deck of the boat with a halyard and away we went to Moorea.
It took another two hours for Jim to fillet the fish once we were anchored. Lance helped and I acted as gopher when they needed anything.
Lance took a couple of large fillets to the hotel when they were checking in and when Jim and I went back later we brought a piece for the nice guy who works on the dock there (and said we could use the dingy dock!).
The next day, we still had about 75 more pounds of fish in the refrigerator that wouldn't fit in our freezer, so Jim and I took it in our dingy and distributed it to anyone we met along the way who would take some. We made several native families happy and the last 30 pounds went to a small hotel up the coast.
We were told it was a White Marlin, and that it was a Blue Marlin. The natives called it an Espadon. We will have to try and look it up. Whatever it is, it is delicious. We weren't able to weigh the fish, but estimate it was 250 to 300 lbs. It was 8" by 14" by 8'/10" long (yes feet!).
We three will be talking about this for the rest of our lives!!