Big Bend Sportsman Guide Fishing Stories

"Stories from the Caribbean"
From a Series of Short Stories

“Stand Up Fishing for Billfish 25 years ago”

by  Capt. Tato Reyes

Stand up fishing has become a very popular sport in recent years. Equipment has been modified to fit the purpose and maximize the energy. Well, I need to say that 25 years ago in Puerto Rico, we were already doing some stand up fishing, even when we did not have the mechanical advantage of dual transmission reels and the appropriate harness and gimbals. 

The truth is that we were limited mostly to light tackle and smaller species like Sailfish,  White marlins,  Dorado and the like. I almost said tuna but the truth is that I never finished fighting a tuna standing up and they all wore me out and I had to jump into the chair to finish the job. 

When it comes to the North coast of Puerto Rico, you are talking mainly, Blue Marlin.  They are present, year round, with a hot season from mid June to mid October. Whites will be more abundant in March and April and Sailfish the last two weeks of October and the first two weeks of November. I know that I caught at least one Blue Marlin in every month of the year but White Marlin were Spring fish and Sails were Fall visitors. 

One day in March I left the dock with my fishing partner, Don Jimmy, to try our luck with some late season Dorados and great hopes for a White Marlin. Since they are both light tackle species, I armed myself with 30 and 20 pound test outfits and some nice ballyhoos.  We headed north out of our inlet to the fishing grounds. This time, we had to go far from shore, since the water was murky because of the recent rains.  I found clean water at a distance when all you see are the mountains.  I would guess close to 10 miles offshore. In those days, we had no GPS or bottom machines. Navigation was strictly by sight and nobody cared, how deep it was… it was just very deep! 

I felt courageous that day and Don Jimmy was getting better and better. He even ventured to fight some Dorados. He never had the stomach to fight a billfish, he said, he could not tolerate it, if he lost the fish during the battle.  

The Dorados did not kept us waiting long, they came in packs of five to ten with a dominant male hitting first and females hitting everything that was in the water. This time of the year we usually catch nice size fish, the males being in the 20-30 pounds range and the females in the 15 – 25 pounds range.  

We had two packs attack our baits catching five out of the first group and four out of the second. As we kept on trolling we were hoping for the billfish but all we heard on the radio was that Dorados were biting but no one had a billfish strike yet. 

At 2:00 PM, I told Don Jimmy, we had a load of fish to clean so we should get closer to shore and head home. So we did and for another 30 minutes it was just the sea breeze, the engines noise and an occasional joke by Don Jimmy, who was bored to death by the lack of activity.

Suddenly the silence was broken by Don Jimmy’s voice, yelling out loud, “Marlin, Marlin, Marlin!!!”  I looked back and saw the silhouette of the small billfish under the teaser with the typical bright blue color of the white lateral marlins fins, as seen from above, when they are excited. It was a “white” and he was hungry. He was infatuated with the teasers.   He kept on looking at them but would not hit them.  He just would not look back to the baits either. Then I decided to bring a flat line in, just next to the teaser on the port side, where he has been looking for a few minutes. As soon as the bait came within his lateral vision, he turned his head, opened his mouth and gulped the ballyhoo like he had not eaten for days. I gave him a count of three and then set the hook.

I took me 20 minutes on 20 pound test line to bring him to the gaff.  With the help of Don Jimmy, who by now, was a great Captain. The boat was maneuvered with a master’s touch, greatly facilitating my capture by minimizing the distance between the fish and myself.  It weighed 62 pounds on the scale.  I fought him standing up, with the help of a Sampro belt and a Sampro leather shoulder harness. 

This story is at least 25 years old… so don’t you ever think that stand up fishing is a new thing…

 From a series of fishing stories submitted by Capt Tato Reyes

copyright Capt Tato Reyes