Giant Marlin?

[sbh]

Mr. Dahlberg , My son and I watch your show every chance we get , always enjoy it. I promised him 1 trip any where in the the world, he wants a huge marlin. Blue or black? where is the best place to go and what time of the year?? thanks again for your show, greatly enjoyed.

[dahlberg]

hi sbh
That's not an easy question to answer with a guarantee attached! I'll be glad to give you what ever help I can, but first,"How old is your son and has he had any billfish experience, or other large critters on heavy tackle?"
How big is Giant? I can give you some suggestions, but need a little more information to make sure the "shoe fits".
best,
L

[outtaline]

All I have to say is Tropic Star Lodge in Panama. That is what they are known for. Caution the hundred pound plus tuna can be a pain if you are looking for a grander class. They are the Marlin gods when it comes to monster blacks. They consider a fish under 400lbs a rat

[sbh]

[quote="dahlberg"]hi sbh
That's not an easy question to answer with a guarantee attached! I'll be glad to give you what ever help I can, but first,"How old is your son and has he had any billfish experience, or other large critters on heavy tackle?"
How big is Giant? I can give you some suggestions, but need a little more information to make sure the "shoe fits".
best,
L[/quote]
He'll be 15 years old, not any bill fish experience, but we've dealt with 8-10FT sturgeon on the Columbia river near Portland. 500LBS OR BIGGER If thats still possible?

[dahlberg]

[quote="sbh"][quote="dahlberg"]hi sbh
That's not an easy question to answer with a guarantee attached! I'll be glad to give you what ever help I can, but first,"How old is your son and has he had any billfish experience, or other large critters on heavy tackle?"
How big is Giant? I can give you some suggestions, but need a little more information to make sure the "shoe fits".
best,
L[/quote]
He'll be 15 years old, not any bill fish experience, but we've dealt with 8-10FT sturgeon on the Columbia river near Portland. 500LBS OR BIGGER If thats still possible?[/quote]

That's just what I wanted to know! Bill fish are a giant leap from sturgeon, pardon the pun. Tropic Star is a great place to catch them, but with marlin, there are never any guarantees.
My suggestion, and it's a strong one, is to go to a location where you have lots of shots at sailfish so he can "hone" his mechanics and get comfortable with the drill, and the equipment before getting surprised by a marlin. If you are not up on your "mechanics" a big marlin can really hurt you.
Personally, I'd suggest going to Guatemala where lots of sails are as certain as anything can be in fishing, and you've got a good shot at all the marlin species as well. He can learn to "bait and switch", and like I said, get used to the drill. It's not unusual to catch 30 or 40 sails there in a day. I think the single one day, one boat record there is 120 fish! And, like I said, you've got a good shot as marlin there as well. I'd suggest you talk to the folks as Casa Viejo and pick the season where you have the best odds of marlin/sail overlap. (TS is a great spot, but guatemala is closer, the boats are bigger, seas typically smoother, all english speaking captains, and far less crowded than Panama.)
In a weeks marlin fishing it's not unusual to get one or two bites. If you've never dealt with them before it's pretty easy to blow the slim chance, or have a negative experience from sheer boredom. I can promise he'll get more enjoyment out of the trip in general because of simply more action, plus be much better equipped, more comfortable, and have a better time with mr. marlin if and when it does bite if he cuts his salt chops on a few dozen sails first. It's kind of like ski jumping. You start on a 20 meter hill and work your way up to the olympic 90 meter slide!
Another great spot is the Galapagos Islands where very large striped marlin exist in epic numbers, and you have a chance at blacks, blues, and sails as well.
Best,
L

[BADBOYSFishing]

SBH,

I've fished all over for large marlin. The most productive place so far was El Banco of of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, during September and October. We fished an IGFA tournament there in 2007 called The Banderas Bay and Ujena Bikini Jam Fishing Tournament. We caught 4 blue marlin, all over 500lbs, 1 sail fish, 1 dorado, and 1 yellowfin tuna at 176lbs. We got 2nd place in the tournament for our efforts. We also caught our own bait, 4-8lb skip jacks. It was nonstop action there. I also fished there in 2006, where we caught several marlin, sail fish, dorado, and rainbow runners. I hope this helps.

Best of Luck,
Matt