The end of the year is also the end of the marlin season in Costa Rica. So, as we left the docks to look for billfish on the fly we were hoping mostly for a few sailfish to rise to our teasers. Then, we could bait and switch them into our big popper flies. To our surprise, we ended up catching the last gorgeous, extremely photogenic little blue marlin of the year.
Our set up usually consists of three hookless Pakula teasers for a spread in our left side which we troll at around 8 knots. Once a fish shows up, we make sure our guy is pretty fired up and we throw the boat out of gear. Then, and only then, we tease him into casting range. We hate trolling our fly and also, since we use a 20lb tippet if you hook ‘em on a moving boat the line breaks immediately.
If you place the fly too far in front of the fish, the eat is problematic as it swallows it moving forward which leaves you powerless when strip-striking. The best bite is a side bite, matched with a strike opposite to the direction of the fish. All that said, I’ve had friends come over and hook a billfish on a trout set. So that’s just a bit of theoretic crap on two paragraphs.
Timing Tides www.timingtides.com is a photo and video website with original content from us three Costa Rican guys who love to fly fish. You can find them on Instagram: @timingtides.
You can find more content from Fede on Instagram @fedehampl
[…] Epic Video: Blue Marlin On A Fly Rod […]
[…] Epic Video: Blue Marlin On A Fly Rod […]