Ever since I found out about the 78kg marlin that was caught at South West Rocks by kayak fisherman Paul O'Leary I've been trying to get my head around how he did it. I figured that the best way to have my questions answered was to go right to the source - the very man who did the deed himself. I first met Paulo (as he is affectionately known at the AKFF) at last years Sunstate Hobie Bass Bash event and back then he told me of his aspirations to get amongst some big pelagic fish. It didn't take long for him to exceed his own expectations.
If you're curious to know what it's like to hook onto a marlin from a kayak, grab yourself a cuppa, sit down and have a read. In the Q&A below Paulo offers an intreguing insight into how he caught the fish and what the experience was like.
Q: How long have you been fishing from a kayak, what attracted you to it, and can you tell us a bit about your humble beginnings?
A: I bought my Hobie Revolution at the Brisbane boat show in Sept 2007. I have owned a variety of stinkers throughout my life. As a child my father always had a boat and was a fanatical fisherman. For the past 15 years or so my fishing was reduced to holidays at the coast and a once a year offshore trip for four days. I would stand for hours on the beach and watch the mackeral and tuna slash away at the bait fish, just beyond casting range and scheme ways to get my line out there. Good game fish from the beach were few and far between. I didn't want another boat but rather a personal craft that allowed me to fish. I looked at rubber ducks and then a jetski, but they still had motors. I investigated fishing kites from NZ but they just seemed too much hassle and our predominant winds in SEQ just didn't suit. I wandered past the Hobie stand and was instantly drawn to it. I had seen earlier Outback models five or so years before but it looked like a gimick and I never gave it another thought. I knew then and there this was what I had been looking for all along. Excited by the prospect of getting offshore, but still sceptical, I paid my deposit and headed to Sunstate Hobie the next Saturday. I knew within two minutes this was it. At this stage I didn't know of anyone kayak fishing. I found Yakabout and followed Josh on his travel. I have been out at least once a week since getting it and just find it the perfect fishing platform. Ill never buy another motor boat.
Q: Prior to catching that infamous marlin, what was your most impressive catch?
A: My first trip off Caloundra last December was the best day I had prior to the marlin. I landed 3 good snapper and on the way home picked up an 8.5kg Yellowfin Tuna. I couldn't wipe the smile off my face for three days.
Q: You caught the marlin during the AKFF gathering at South West Rocks. Did you target marlin specifically, or were you simply aiming for large pelagics period?
A: To be honest I never thought any of us would hook a marlin, let alone land one. My aim for the week apart from the marlin was a large cobia. I managed a big Mack Tuna, a shark and a bonito all week. I never wavered from the targets and trolled two heavy rods with live slimeys 5-7 hours a day for seven days. The target was a marlin or a large pelagic.
Q: How would you say the Hobie Revolution faired during the fight. Would you say that pedal-power was a help, hindrance, or neither?
A: After the catch, the debate raged as to whether it could have been done from a paddle kayak. I believe the overwhelming consensus was beaching the fish would not have been possible from a paddle kayak but many were still willing to have a go. I would say the pedal-power was integral to landing the fish. I constantly used them throughout the fight to regain line to my spool, get in front of the sounding fish to turn its head, after it had towed me 4kms off shore, and finally drag the fish into the bay and onto the beach. It fought me all the way to the beach and the pedals were the key to landing it. Even on smaller fish they allow you to move when the fish swims under the yak or spools your line on the first blistering run. I can imagine fishing without them.
Q: Tells us about the rod, reel, tackle and tactics you used when the hook up came?
A: To be honest it was the break from what I and everyone else had been doing with live bait all week, that gave me the edge and the strike. I hooked up a Squidgy Jelly baby to my older outfit, still believing the strike would come on the newer, heavier livey rod, rather than this enormous plastic. How wrong was I? This was only a 10-15kg Penn GT220 combo with about two thirds of a spool of old 30lb braid. This rig had copped a hiding throughout my last offshore stinker trip and I wasn't that confident it would hold up to a 10kg tuna, let alone a 78kg marlin! It was most likely the lack of confidence in the gear that lead me to fight the fish with only 3-4kg of drag. To be honest I don't think I could have applied much more pressure without flipping the yak. More than once the yak tipped on its side as I skewed out to the side of the fleeing fish. I responded by throwing one leg over the back and reducing the angle on the
fish. The full three hours was a ding-dong battle.
Q: How long did the fight last for, how far did it tow you, and were there any hairy 'oh shit' moments?
A: The three hour fight was filled with many moments. I believe I shouted 'Oh Shit' on many an occasion. When the fish first struck and launched from the water, I didn't realise it was me that was hooked up. The rod was in my hands and the line was slack as the fish left the water 15m to my right. When it re-entered the water, took up the slack and the rod buckled over, I remember shouting 'Holy Crap, Holy Crap its meeeee!!!!!' I was hurtling along at 10kmh thinking Im on to the biggest fish of my life and a huge smile broke onto my face. Then I looked behind to see the land disappearing and started to wonder how far I would end up offshore. The entire three hours was as much an emotional workout as it was physical. Will my knots hold, will I get sharked, will I fall out of the yak, am I going to hit that charter boat and so on. I have never pushed my body and mind to those limits before in my life and certainly not for three hours straight.
Q: The fish isn't a lot smaller than your kayak... tell us a bit about how you managed to bring it in to land?
A: Actually the fish weighed two kilos more than I did and at 2.5m was a good deal bigger than me too. When I had worked the fish back to 250m offshore I knew I couldn't raise ut without snapping the line, so I decided to drag it back into the bay. The fish was in only 15m of water now and was fighting with everything it had. Violent head-shakes and tail beats. Each time I raised it to 6ft below the surface it would sound to 20m. I would use the pedals to get a better angle on the fish to raise it higher in the water column. Every metre I made on the fish with the pedals the fish would drag me back a half metre. The less than 1km trip around the heads and into Trial Bay took well over an hour of constantly battling the fish. Twenty five metres off the beach the fish made a run for the open water. I held on for dear life and turned its head back again. In five feet of water another yakker jumped in and grabbed the fish around the mid section. Two others joined in and I grabbed the bill and dragged it onto the beach.
Q: At a guess, how many mouths would you say that the fish fed? And do you have any marvellous marlin recipes to share?
A: I would say close on 100 people ate from that fish. I personally fed over 20 and others present on the day each took a few kilos and distributed it amongst family and friends throughout the country. The rest went straight back to the sea where it was devoured by the locals within minutes. Though I am getting good at catching I can't say I'm too good in the kitchen. My favourite recipe involves lime, pepper and chilli, but I couldn't for the life of me tell you how to cook it. :)
Q: Now that you've achieved this feat, what do you hope the next chapter to be in Paulo's amazing kayak fishing adventures?
A: Though I would like to catch another billfish, the toll the three hour fight took on my body and mind isn't something I want to go through on a regular basis. It took me 4-6 hours to regain control over my body and almost a week to fully recover. I have a list of fish I still want to catch from the kayak. It's as long as my arm, but I ticked a few off recently. Last weekend I landed my first Northern Bluefin tuna of almost one metre. A big cobia is still my main goal. A huge GT or yellowtail kingfish are right up there too.
Q: Thanks for taking the time to respond to my probing questions. Next time I'm in town how about catching up for a fish?
A: Absolutely. I'm always up for a fish with other like minded yakkers. There's no place Id rather be than a few kilometres off the beach, with the sun coming up, surrounded by bait boils and under the tow of a huge beastie from the deep.
