True sport fishing should mean that the odds are balanced between the angler and the fish - although this season we have often felt that the giant black marlin aren't playing fair by hiding.



On a day when nothing showed up despite the plethora of birds and crashing tuna, by late afternoon we were frustrated enough to try some live baiting. Linden Bank is shark heaven so this is usually a recipe for a pointless fight with a 500lb ocean whaler but when nothing else is working...


We got a few chopoffs and then a big hit and strong run. Ready for the mandatory endurance test, I took the rod to the chair and settled in, going rapidly to sunset to bring it in or break it off. We were seeing normal shark behaviour when suddenly the line began to rise towards the surface and guess what appeared off the back of the boat...



Shocked and amazed only began to cover it. She was in the same ballpark as the 1,120lb monster we had weighed four days earlier. The battle began in earnest!

As happended with the earlier fish, the pegmark came and went with monotonous regularity over the next hour and a half, with the leader a tantilizingly few inches away from the grasp of our wireman. Giant fish will find any weaknesses in angler technique, boat manouvering and tackle. After almost two hours and on yet another powerful run, the thimble connecting the swivel shattered and she was free.

While there is inevitably a feeling of frustration in losing a fight like that, it is the nature of the best kind of fishing. Good luck to her, she is probably down there in the Fighting Chair Saloon relating the story of how she whipped Shaka and showing off her new jewellery. Fishing on the Great Barrier Reef is not always about catching. Sometimes the fish wins...