Lenny and his mates joined Capt. Luke and Ross Martin on deck for a day out in search of the blue marlin. It was another glamour Gold Coast day and conditions looked great on the edge. Just before the lunch, the action started with a bite on the long rigger. Capt. Luke originally thought the fish was a big wahoo but as we were pulling the teasers in, a second fish came up, definitely a billfish (although too small for a blue!) The second one missed, but confirmed what we had hooked – a spearfish which was successfully brought alongside. A bit of a novelty here on the coast, and usually signaling an absence of the blues, but that wasn’t the case when the boys hooked up to another double header after lunch – this time blue marlin. Once again, the second fish dropped off and a small 60kg blue was brought along side for our junior angler, his first billfish, before being released to grow up big and strong! Capt. Luke says that another boat nearby released an even smaller blue they put at 40kg which is quite unusual as well. But Luke put the fish they missed at a more respectable 200lb.
As we gear up now for KEKOA to leave the Gold Coast next week, and head north once again to Townsville, Cairns and then around to the gulf, this marks our final trip of the season. We’re already geared up for the barra and can’t wait to get into them!
On another note, big congrats to Ross and Shelly who welcomed baby Jett into the world overnight. Ross went from a day of excitement on the water, to a night of excitement at the hospital as Jet was born at around 2am!