More rare and unusual catches continue, including another striped marlin and a mako shark hitting the decks for stunned fishermen off the Washington coast.
Marlin and mako
Cody Meyers and his father-in-law Dave, helped by Sea Breeze Charters owner Steve Sohlstrom and deckhand Kylee Arzner, were fishing for albacore tuna when a nearly 8-foot striped marlin grabbed the purple cedar plug they were trolling aboard the F/V Monte Carlo in the early afternoon on Saturday, Aug. 29.
The pair were able to land the nearly 100-pound fish before returning to the Port of Ilwaco around 5 p.m.
“It was a total team effort and a memory we will look back on the rest of our lives,” Sohlstrom later recalled.
The crew had to “chase” the fish a couple of times, with the marlin putting up a “spectacular” fight, including “tailwalking” across the surface several times. A purple cedar plug drew the fatal bite.
A rare catch this far north, the marlin is the second landed in the last two weeks by the Sea Breeze Charter fleet. On Saturday, Aug. 15, Tim Durheim, of Prineville, Oregon, was fishing aboard the F/V Four Sea’Sons roughly 40 miles off the Washington coast when he and crew landed a 151-pound striped marlin, besting the previous Washington state record by 17 pounds.
The remarkable marlin catches weren’t the only unusual fish encountered this week. While also tuna fishing off the Washington coast on Tuesday, Aug. 25, Shake N Bake captain Mike Colbach reported landing their first mako shark of the season.
Makos aren’t particularly rare, but are uncommon in waters below about 61 degrees. The ocean off the mouth of the Columbia has risen near or above that temperature.
Rare catch
Striped marlin, also known as Nairagi, A‘u, Makijki, Barred marlin, Spikefish, or Striped swordfish, are a highly migratory fish living at the top of the food chain in the tropical and subtropical regions of the Pacific and Indian Oceans, according to NOAA Fisheries.
The species is a member of a larger family known as billfish, which get their name from their upper jaw that extends to form a spear. Because of their large size, marlin are prized sport fish. Striped marlin also support large commercial fisheries throughout the Pacific Ocean.
Striped marlin are a rare catch in the cooler, Washington waters, as they typically prefer the warmer, tropical areas (between 68 to 77 degrees) in the Pacific but can tolerate cooler waters better than other marlin due to their migratory nature.
Striped marlin are smaller than other marlin species, but can reach a length of 12 feet and weigh more than 450 pounds with a lifespan of up to 20 years.
