Marlins from Kayaks on National Geographic - Kayak Fishing Adventures on Big Water’s Edge

Bluewater Jon · 10-16-2008, 04:14 PM

Hi guys this is Bluewater Jon Schwartz. There's a show that will be on Nat Geo TV this Sunday called "Hooked: Fish Gone Wild". There will be a 12 minute segment that will feature the footage from the event I was lucky enough to be a part of last January, when I had the good fortune of hooking, landing, and releasing 8 marlin in 2 days from a yak 60 miles off of Cabo.

Last fall, had been invited by Sport Fishing Mag to do a mothershipping trip there in late January. When I heard how nutty it was there, I said, why are we waiting till then? Let's go now! I figure it's kinda like surfing, you go when it's going off, if you can. Well the other fellows were not able to change their schedules, so I decided to try it myself and see what happened. In November I went and, well, it was NUTS. Giant schools of marlin. Not everywhere, mind you- kind of like La Jolla when the yellowtail are breezing through on and off. You see the surface foaming 300 yards in the distance, then by the time you get there, they might be there, or not. Plus the marlin were very picky and only wanted good live greenbacks and after paddling like a bat outa hell to catch up, my baits were often less perky than the ones being assaulted by the dive-bombing birds and marauding marlin, which were slashing the surface of the water with their bills in a cross swords display that reminded me of some type of medieval battle..

So often by the time I got there all I could do was gawk in wonder at the madness, even though I was fully surrounded. Other times, I'd be chasing after the schools, but then they'd turn straight AT me and narrow the distance, and an errant marlin would bat at my bait and set the ball rolling for an epic sleighride. The whole point was, through the use of relatively heavy tackle (by yak standards, 2-speed 30's), to get the marlin to put on an aerial display close enough to get some good footage of stills, and then bring them to me before they were dead tired, then grab the bill, take the circle hook out of their jaw, or cut the leader at the hook.

You'd think with a mothership, you don't do much paddling. Sometimes that's true- and sometimes it's just the opposite, especially if you happen to be chasing a moving target like roving schools of billfish. The crew I had with me this first trip had no mothership experience, and even though I'd say stick closeby and they'd nod their heads, they'd go fishing- from the boat- soon after I paddled away from the boat, and we'd often be far away from each other- like out of site. I know, you'd think a simple "You stay close, don't fish" chat - or ten of them- would do, but fishermen have the mentality that if they are not fishing, they are not doing their job, and it's very hard for many captains and crew with no experience in mothershipping a kayak to just sit by while the yakker does their thing. It's like pulling teeth for them. It goes against every fibre in their being. It can be kind of unnerving when you are on a big fish and the mothership boat is nowhere in sight, and the sun is setting, and you're 60 miles out.

The results of the first trip were great- I landed and released two in a day. That's all well and good, but.... so did the Mexican deckhand onboard who had never been in a kayak before in his LIFE!!! The guy was stoked on trying it and did a great job. Funny too cuz when I wrote an article for Sport Fishing, HE was on the two page intro cover- and he'd never been yakking before!!! Hilarious. BTW I am not putting him down for being Mexican, my wife is Mexican.

Anywho, I had Xmas break off, and I decided, what if the late January trip never goes off as planned? So again I went down there, this time bringing a videographer with me. I figured, if there ever was a time to get this on video, it was now, so I busted out the credit cards again and maxed the buggers out. The wife and kids were away so it was all good.

We get out there and the same thing happened, only this time I had a better kayak. The first time I was using a Hobie, which are fine, but I was using it like an idiot. I thought they were not fit for billfish as the pedals might interfere with the leader so I took them out, took the rudder off, and the things had all the tracking ability of a metal salad bowl- NONE! So on this second trip (right after New Years), I had a decent sit on top that was halfways speedy and stable.

The fish cooperated to the point where I felt like they were gonna whip out a contract and demand wages- it was like we had rehearsed the whole bit.. "Ok, you freak out and go all nutty around me, and then after awhile, I'll bring you to me, you cill out, and I'll let ya go, OK?" It was just like that. EXCEPT for the fact that on the night after the fisrt of the two days, I got very sick, and didn't sleep a wink. I was shivering with a nasty temperature and had the worst bodyaches I could remember, and had a nasty cough. Good thing about Mex is that you can go to any pharmacy and get the antibiotics you need.

I got myself out there the next day, thinking, it'll be ok, I'll just do the sleighride thing and get towed around. NOPE. I was paddling and this school of porpoise swam up right next to me. The chase boat came in close to get the cool footage- porpoises next to the trolling yak, how scenic. Then..well, you might guess what... my reel goes OFF and it was obviously a big tuna. He took me down to about 1/3 of the reel's line, which was mostly 80# braid with a topshot of Momoi 100 mono, and then the painful battle set in. I worked the brute up to just below my yak, and then was like, jeez, I have no gaff! I hadn't planned on landing anything- it was all about marlins, and I kinda paused. The fish would dive and circle, etc. Once again just below the yak, and then I said, I can't take this anymore, I am about to puke, (the Ibuprofen had long worn off, my mouth was stick dry, and the chills were setting in) so I buttoned down the drag father, and POP! I thought the line busted but it was the HOOK! I still have the daarn thing- broken on the shaft right where the curve starts. Don't ask me what American made brand it was that sounds kinda like Regal Slaw, cuz I won't tell you...

When I got back, Nat Geo contacted me and said, how about being on this show we're gonna do re: wild fishing stuff, so after much arm twisting I agreed. They sent a producer down with a videographer, and we re-enacted some of the scenes, so that they could get some closeups to mix in with the original footage, make it look more interesting from a non-anglers perspective. We did these interviews too which were great except for the fact that I don't become very talkative until noon and they wanted the morning light, plus they wanted me looking into the sun, and then they doubled the effect by putting mirrors around my face, just in case I wasn't blind and dopey enough looking already. Hopefully I won't come across looking like complete buffoon.

If you go to my site at http://www.bluewaterjon.com/ you can get a link to the show's airtimes.
If you haven't already seen it, and you have any interest in seeing a low-res clip of some of the raw footage that I slapped together of that trip, here's a little video of some of it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8KNtyPbsSI
On another tack, I had some fun this summer in Kona, and I even got to swim with a whaleshark at one point.

Take care guys.
Jon Schwartz

Handymansd · 10-16-2008, 04:47 PM

Jon you are da' man. I know us La Jolla guys are pretty tame by your fishing standards, but I gotta do this sometime! I spent most of this summer way, way outside, 7-12 miles, looking for the YFT under porpoise schools. No pictures for me though.

Congrats on the National Geographic spot

, I'll record it, so that I can show people that want to know what kayak fishing is. "see this is a friend of mine...", "we do this kinda thing all the time...", " do ya want to go tomorrow?..."

You have truly become a great ambassador to the sport of "big fish from little boat", we can put your name right up there with those that have done so much for our sport!! Thanks!

P.S. Great write up in Sport Fishing, and a post that gets the blood flowing!

Bluewater Jon · 10-16-2008, 05:37 PM

HandymanSD,
Thanks for the kind words; I appreciate it. I have a knack for getting lucky with some big fish, but I have mucho respect for the guys that fish locally as well and have put a lot of time into mastering their craft, plus I am grateful to the guys that pioneered the sport well before I put my rear end in a kayak. If they were to go to a lot of the places I go to, they'd do just as well, if not better. That's why when I was asked to write an article on kayakfishing in Socal, I did the smart thing-consulted the experts (not me!)
Tx though,
Jon

10-16-2008, 04:14 PM	#1
Bluewater Jon Author & yakker Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Carlsbad Posts: 34	Marlins from Kayaks on National Geographic Hi guys this is Bluewater Jon Schwartz. There's a show that will be on Nat Geo TV this Sunday called "Hooked: Fish Gone Wild". There will be a 12 minute segment that will feature the footage from the event I was lucky enough to be a part of last January, when I had the good fortune of hooking, landing, and releasing 8 marlin in 2 days from a yak 60 miles off of Cabo. Last fall, had been invited by Sport Fishing Mag to do a mothershipping trip there in late January. When I heard how nutty it was there, I said, why are we waiting till then? Let's go now! I figure it's kinda like surfing, you go when it's going off, if you can. Well the other fellows were not able to change their schedules, so I decided to try it myself and see what happened. In November I went and, well, it was NUTS. Giant schools of marlin. Not everywhere, mind you- kind of like La Jolla when the yellowtail are breezing through on and off. You see the surface foaming 300 yards in the distance, then by the time you get there, they might be there, or not. Plus the marlin were very picky and only wanted good live greenbacks and after paddling like a bat outa hell to catch up, my baits were often less perky than the ones being assaulted by the dive-bombing birds and marauding marlin, which were slashing the surface of the water with their bills in a cross swords display that reminded me of some type of medieval battle.. So often by the time I got there all I could do was gawk in wonder at the madness, even though I was fully surrounded. Other times, I'd be chasing after the schools, but then they'd turn straight AT me and narrow the distance, and an errant marlin would bat at my bait and set the ball rolling for an epic sleighride. The whole point was, through the use of relatively heavy tackle (by yak standards, 2-speed 30's), to get the marlin to put on an aerial display close enough to get some good footage of stills, and then bring them to me before they were dead tired, then grab the bill, take the circle hook out of their jaw, or cut the leader at the hook. You'd think with a mothership, you don't do much paddling. Sometimes that's true- and sometimes it's just the opposite, especially if you happen to be chasing a moving target like roving schools of billfish. The crew I had with me this first trip had no mothership experience, and even though I'd say stick closeby and they'd nod their heads, they'd go fishing- from the boat- soon after I paddled away from the boat, and we'd often be far away from each other- like out of site. I know, you'd think a simple "You stay close, don't fish" chat - or ten of them- would do, but fishermen have the mentality that if they are not fishing, they are not doing their job, and it's very hard for many captains and crew with no experience in mothershipping a kayak to just sit by while the yakker does their thing. It's like pulling teeth for them. It goes against every fibre in their being. It can be kind of unnerving when you are on a big fish and the mothership boat is nowhere in sight, and the sun is setting, and you're 60 miles out. The results of the first trip were great- I landed and released two in a day. That's all well and good, but.... so did the Mexican deckhand onboard who had never been in a kayak before in his LIFE!!! The guy was stoked on trying it and did a great job. Funny too cuz when I wrote an article for Sport Fishing, HE was on the two page intro cover- and he'd never been yakking before!!! Hilarious. BTW I am not putting him down for being Mexican, my wife is Mexican. Anywho, I had Xmas break off, and I decided, what if the late January trip never goes off as planned? So again I went down there, this time bringing a videographer with me. I figured, if there ever was a time to get this on video, it was now, so I busted out the credit cards again and maxed the buggers out. The wife and kids were away so it was all good. We get out there and the same thing happened, only this time I had a better kayak. The first time I was using a Hobie, which are fine, but I was using it like an idiot. I thought they were not fit for billfish as the pedals might interfere with the leader so I took them out, took the rudder off, and the things had all the tracking ability of a metal salad bowl- NONE! So on this second trip (right after New Years), I had a decent sit on top that was halfways speedy and stable. The fish cooperated to the point where I felt like they were gonna whip out a contract and demand wages- it was like we had rehearsed the whole bit.. "Ok, you freak out and go all nutty around me, and then after awhile, I'll bring you to me, you cill out, and I'll let ya go, OK?" It was just like that. EXCEPT for the fact that on the night after the fisrt of the two days, I got very sick, and didn't sleep a wink. I was shivering with a nasty temperature and had the worst bodyaches I could remember, and had a nasty cough. Good thing about Mex is that you can go to any pharmacy and get the antibiotics you need. I got myself out there the next day, thinking, it'll be ok, I'll just do the sleighride thing and get towed around. NOPE. I was paddling and this school of porpoise swam up right next to me. The chase boat came in close to get the cool footage- porpoises next to the trolling yak, how scenic. Then..well, you might guess what... my reel goes OFF and it was obviously a big tuna. He took me down to about 1/3 of the reel's line, which was mostly 80# braid with a topshot of Momoi 100 mono, and then the painful battle set in. I worked the brute up to just below my yak, and then was like, jeez, I have no gaff! I hadn't planned on landing anything- it was all about marlins, and I kinda paused. The fish would dive and circle, etc. Once again just below the yak, and then I said, I can't take this anymore, I am about to puke, (the Ibuprofen had long worn off, my mouth was stick dry, and the chills were setting in) so I buttoned down the drag father, and POP! I thought the line busted but it was the HOOK! I still have the daarn thing- broken on the shaft right where the curve starts. Don't ask me what American made brand it was that sounds kinda like Regal Slaw, cuz I won't tell you... When I got back, Nat Geo contacted me and said, how about being on this show we're gonna do re: wild fishing stuff, so after much arm twisting I agreed. They sent a producer down with a videographer, and we re-enacted some of the scenes, so that they could get some closeups to mix in with the original footage, make it look more interesting from a non-anglers perspective. We did these interviews too which were great except for the fact that I don't become very talkative until noon and they wanted the morning light, plus they wanted me looking into the sun, and then they doubled the effect by putting mirrors around my face, just in case I wasn't blind and dopey enough looking already. Hopefully I won't come across looking like complete buffoon. If you go to my site at http://www.bluewaterjon.com/ you can get a link to the show's airtimes. If you haven't already seen it, and you have any interest in seeing a low-res clip of some of the raw footage that I slapped together of that trip, here's a little video of some of it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8KNtyPbsSI On another tack, I had some fun this summer in Kona, and I even got to swim with a whaleshark at one point. Take care guys. Jon Schwartz Last edited by Bluewater Jon; 10-16-2008 at 04:36 PM. Reason: cuz dEre wUz mistaKes

10-16-2008, 04:47 PM	#2
Handymansd Ancient Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: On The Water Posts: 935	Jon you are da' man. I know us La Jolla guys are pretty tame by your fishing standards, but I gotta do this sometime! I spent most of this summer way, way outside, 7-12 miles, looking for the YFT under porpoise schools. No pictures for me though. Congrats on the National Geographic spot, I'll record it, so that I can show people that want to know what kayak fishing is. "see this is a friend of mine...", "we do this kinda thing all the time...", " do ya want to go tomorrow?..." You have truly become a great ambassador to the sport of "big fish from little boat", we can put your name right up there with those that have done so much for our sport!! Thanks! P.S. Great write up in Sport Fishing, and a post that gets the blood flowing! __________________ All men are equal before fish. -Herbert Hoover

10-16-2008, 05:37 PM	#3
Bluewater Jon Author & yakker Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Carlsbad Posts: 34	Hi HandymanSD, Thanks for the kind words; I appreciate it. I have a knack for getting lucky with some big fish, but I have mucho respect for the guys that fish locally as well and have put a lot of time into mastering their craft, plus I am grateful to the guys that pioneered the sport well before I put my rear end in a kayak. If they were to go to a lot of the places I go to, they'd do just as well, if not better. That's why when I was asked to write an article on kayakfishing in Socal, I did the smart thing-consulted the experts (not me!) Tx though, Jon