Follow us on Facebook

White Marlin

For me, trying to pick a favorite billfish is like trying to decide on a favorite muscle car. Just when I've narrowed it down to a '68 RS/SS Camaro, I get my eye back on a '69 396 Chevelle, or a '68 Firebird, maybe even a '66 289 Mustang, all four speeds, of course. The fact is they are all cool, just different.

Maybe I'll never own a hot car, but I've seen some hot white marlin over the years. I consider the blue marlin awesome, mainly because of size and strength, but their smaller cousin, whitey, much more delicate. Generally, a white marlin is "lit up" as he shops through the spread of baits, or rises to one in particular. His pectoral fins, usually the first color you see, will be an electric blue when excited. Often the strike will be easy, as opposed to the, sometimes, wild crashing strike of a blue marlin. I usually spot a white marlin before he reaches the bait, and we often try to switch him over to a different bait than what he rose to. During our peak marlin season, we always mix in some 20 pound tackle just for a white or sail.

For years we fished everything the same, all wire leaders, all off of 50s or 80s. Over the last 15 years, a lot of us have scaled down to tackle that lends more of a challenge to the angler. These fish tend to be much more acrobatic on the lighter stuff, and normally put on a great show.

It's not uncommon to have more than one white marlin at a time in the spread. Sometimes we have pods, or coveys of fish appear. One on each teaser, flatlines, short riggers, it's crazy sometimes!

We usually fish for white marlin in 100 fathoms of water, give or take. Things seem to be optimum in the summer when we get an eddy, or pocket of cooler water, with a slack current. This is impossible to predict months, or even weeks in advance, but thanks to satellite sea water temperature shots, we can usually get a grip on what's coming a couple of days in advance. There will be a few whites caught in May, but I'd say June through August is our prime time, July being my personal favorite.

We don't keep any of the billfish, strictly catch and release. After all, you are going for the experience! Come enjoy the thrill of a white marlin battle with me this summer. You'll be glad you did.