Follow pro kayak and paddleboard angler Bri Andrassy as she fishes for striped marlin out of Mag Bay Lodge in San Carlos, Mexico. The charter group begins by catching their bait before heading out to the marlin fishing grounds. They find themselves in favorable conditions, surrounded by diving seabirds and multiple marlin breaking the waves all around.
Hooking up a marlin is just the beginning
Andrassy drops bait at the 2:30 mark and hooks up a marlin within seconds, commencing a struggle that threatens to exhaust both parties. The fish’s first jump at 3:15 is something to behold. Several times the marlin comes up and dances along the water’s surface, displaying its prodigious power by dragging the kayak along. Then back down into the deeps it goes.
Andrassy leaders the marlin after 1.5 hours as it appears to be losing strength, but the fish is playing possum as it dives back down again. After 3.5 hours she coaxes it back up to the surface, finally displaying some serious signs of fatigue. At 11:15, after another hour of reel-time, Andrassy whoops as she succeeds in billing the striped marlin. “I made eye contact with the fish and I saw how beautiful the colours were, the electric purples and the blues, and it’s just a moment I will never forget.”
Revive billfish the right way to fight again another day
Holding the bill carefully, Andrassy removes the hook and revives the marlin, reminding viewers to keep billfish in the water prior to release. “If you lift them out of the water and they have air exposure they have a higher mortality rate, so keep them wet and keep them in the water so they can fight another day.”
Visit the BA Fishing YouTube channel for more of Bri Andrassy’s fishing adventures, or check out her expert tips on SUP fishing for lobster and snook.
At least she did better than old man Santiago in “The Old Man and The Sea” by Ernest Hemingway!