12 Foot Blue Marlin | Cape Cod Offshore Fishing Report

Once we watched the arrival time on the GPS drop below ten minutes we were all smiles, and amped up for our offshore fishing season to begin! Fortunately for us we received some high quality marlin fishing intel from a local captain who knows his billfish.

We took his advice and set out a marlin spread right from the get go. During this trip we would be running a 7 rod spread which I explain in-depth within the "Member Downloads" section at the bottom of this post.

With the spread set behind the boat it was no more than 15 minutes before the first bill of the trip slashed through the spread. It was a White Marlin and he hit almost every lure in the back half of the spread without getting hooked!

Unfortunately we believed the fish was too small for the hooks we were using. After pulling in the ballyhoo to check the baits, we could clearly see the attack marks left by the whitey. The slash marks left by billfish are usually smaller and thinner than a Mahi bite, which can sometimes cut the ballyhoo in half.

We made a large circle and came through the same area in the same direction in an attempt to fool the same fish. We were actually able to again raise the White Marlin, but unfortunately we could not hook up. 

As the day continued and the sun began to sink low in the sky, we had a few more hookups. This included a 4 rod knock-down with small Yellowfin tuna.

All the tunas were released!

Next we caught some decent Mahi, right before an explosion by something much larger than a Yellowfin tuna or Mahi blasted through the spread. Fish on!

Not long into the fight the line suddenly went slack and we easily retrieved the line to find that the entire bar had broken off with all the teasers, leaving only the main line with the stinger hook in perfect working order.

We'll never know for sure, but we still think that fish was a Blue Marlin.

Our theory is that the marlin ate a teaser squid, and simply held onto it long enough to provide a fight, before the bars' swivel broke.

The current conditions were like nothing I had ever seen before.

We watched a large swirling current move from far below the canyon we were fishing, through our canyon, and then out to the west. 

Around 3am, fellow My Fishing Cape Codder Mike Starr noticed some erratic motion coming from the down bait, some 200 feet straight below the boat. I reeled tight and we finally had a fish on.

This fish turned out to be a 10 foot tiger shark. It was not the broadbill swordfish I had been hoping for, but it was an exciting experience in and of itself.

We cut the shark free at the hook and it was off, ready to go be a nuisance somewhere else. Around 4 am we decided to pull the chunk baits and prepare for the troll once again. 

Due to the lack of big fish so far on this trip, there had been talk about traveling 20 nautical miles to a different canyon which was producing big yellowfin. However, overnight we had made the decision to stay right where we were and try for a giant Marlin.

This would turn out to be a fantastic decision!

We began our troll running the same spread as the day before. I will discuss the details of this spread in the "Member Downloads" located at the bottom of this report.

Not long into the troll we heard a huge splash and drag screaming off the large single lure run from the starboard long rigger!

I remember the crew saying that “this guy might have some size” and we soon realized that indeed this fish was quite large!

Kurt started screaming at us to clear lines as the fish was getting into the reel’s backing with ease. Mike turned just in time to see the fish splash across the spread.

It was still dark, and we couldn’t tell for sure what species the fish was, but we were almost positive that we had the big Blue Marlin on the line.

With lines cleared and by backing down on the fish, we were finally able to get the situation under control. Unfortunately there were no topwater dance moves during this fight, which Blue Marlin are famous for.

The fish dove deep and made two blistering runs. About 1.5 hours into the fight we noticed that the fish had stopped making long pulls of line, but we still could not gain any ground.

At this point we weren’t sure if we had hooked a Big Eye tuna which was holding its ground, or if the supposed Blue Marlin had died on the line. Eventually we knew that something had to give so we cranked up the drag and began to hand line the fish towards the boat.

Another 1.5 hours went by before we finally saw color and our fears were confirmed.

Our giant Blue Marlin had died on the line.

A Blue Marlin dying on the line is not common, but not completely out of the ordinary either.

Regardless the colors on this fish were spectacular.

We measured the marlin to be 12 feet from bill to tail fork and estimated that it weighed 400 pounds.

As disappointing as it was to not bring this beautiful fish up alive, and to revive, and release the fish, the experience was still unforgettable.

I find it amazing how the waters off Cape Cod receive such a plethora of huge, powerful, beautiful fish. This is certainly something we should all be thankful for!

I hope all of you have a safe and successful offshore fishing season. ?