Weigh-in of a 464kg black marlin at Paihia, landed by Ross Tuydor on board Raptor. Video / Bay of Islands Swordfish Club
“Absolutely nuts” — that’s how an exhausted angler described his epic 10-hour battle to land a 464.5-kilogram black marlin off Northland’s Cavalli Islands.
Ross Tuydor, from Fife in Scotland, finally wrestled the giant billfish aboard Raptor, a private launch, just before 9pm on Sunday.
The catch instantly propels him into an exclusive ‘grander’ club for fish weighing more than 1000 pounds (453.6kg) and, if certified, will earn him a New Zealand record.
The crew returned to the Bay of Islands that night, and had the marlin weighed at Paihia Wharf on Monday morning while a crowd of about 70 locals watched and cheered.
Skipper Paddy Bohane said the marlin was “the fish of a lifetime”.
“You fish your whole life trying to catch something like that. It’s the pinnacle of game fishing. He can pretty much retire now.”
Bohane, who hails from Ireland but lives in Paihia, said the group left the Bay of Islands on Friday afternoon, with Tuydor tagging a striped marlin, estimated at 90kg, on their way to the Cavallis.
The following morning they fished Sixty Mile Ground, where they caught some bluenose and hāpuku and Tuydor tagged another “stripey”.
On Sunday, they headed about 35 nautical miles off the Cavallis to an area known as The Condom, named after its shape on the chart.
“About 10.40am we were trolling near the tip of The Condom in 1200 metres of water when we got a bite which left a giant hole in the water and started screaming off line. We didn’t see it initially, until it jumped. Then we knew how big it was.”
Bohane said the group planned to tag everything they hooked, but changed their minds when they saw the marlin’s size.
It took 10 hours and 20 minutes to land the fish, with Tuydor starting on a light 12kg drag which increased as the fight wore on. By the third hour, the drag was up to 21kg.
“Our angler had that drag on for the next seven hours. I’ve been involved in swordfish fights that have gone on for 12 hours, but not with as much drag. That is hands-down one of the greatest efforts I’ve ever seen by an angler in the chair without giving up. Lesser men would have given up long before.”
For seven hours, the fish was no more than 50m from the boat.
“After nine hours, when we thought the fish was done, it turned and started taking us out to sea. I was going backwards at three knots chasing it. That fish was very stubborn.”
With the monster marlin are (from left): Raptor owner Phil Marra, skipper Paddy Bohane, crewman AJ Barton-Barry and angler Ross Tuydor. Photo / Ken Lousley
Tuydor said his catch was “a bit of a surprise”.
“I’ve done a bit of fishing, but I’ve never experienced a thing like that in my life. And I don’t want to again. It was nuts, absolutely nuts.”
“I’ve done a bit of kingi fishing before - you can battle away for 20 minutes, half an hour, whatever. I wanted to cut it off after seven hours. I got fed by AJ [Barton-Barry, a crewman]. He just kept pumping chocolate into my mouth,” Tuydor said.
“After nine hours I still couldn’t get any ground on it. When I saw the thing come up to the surface, I could understand why it was such a fight.”
Bohane said it was the biggest fish he’d seen.
“My biggest fear during the whole fight was that the angler was going to say, ‘I’m done’, and hand it to someone else. Kudos goes to him. It was a monumental effort.”
Raptor back in port with almost half a tonne of marlin on board. Photo / Ken Lousley
The marlin was so huge it had to be cut in half to fit onto a trailer.
The head and shoulders will be mounted, while the rest was taken to “Smokey Dave’s place” in Paihia for smoking.
Raptor, which is based at Ōpua, is a 72-foot (22m) Maritimo owned by Phil Marra. Marra was on board as the gaff man.
If certified, Ross Tuydor’s black marlin will be a New Zealand record for a 60kg line. Photo / Ken Lousley
According to the New Zealand Sport Fishing Council, Tuydor’s catch — if officially certified — will be a national record for the heaviest black marlin landed on a 60kg line.
The all-tackle record, set by Alain Jorion off Gisborne in 2002, is a 473.2kg black marlin on a 37kg line. The world all-tackle record is 707kg.
If Tuydor registers his catch with the council, it will be the first officially recorded black marlin of the 2022-23 season. It will also be, by a long way, the heaviest fish of any species so far this season.
