KEY POINTS:
A keen fisherman says the hunter became the hunted when a marlin sank its bill deep into his left thigh and he had to be taken to hospital.
Jeff Oliver became the second Northlander to be attacked by the giant game fish in four days as he fished from his launch near the Poor Knights on Wednesday morning.
A Kerikeri man was taken to hospital after being stabbed in the calf by a marlin as he fished from a charter boat last Sunday.
Oliver's troubles began as two friends reeled in a 70kg "stripey" after a 20-minute fight. "The bloody thing targeted him," said Keith Whalley, one of his companions.
"It looked at him and flew out of the water straight at him, it was quite deliberate."
Oliver said he was lucky the fish didn't break his leg.
"It came straight across the boat at me very fast, I didn't have time to move back out the way. It went straight in and straight out again."
The bill pierced Oliver's thigh down to the bone, causing serious blood loss for the haemophiliac.
"The bills on young marlin are pretty sharp so I'm lucky it didn't do too much damage," he said.
"I put my finger into the hole and thought, 'that's not right' so put my hand over to stem the flow. I suppose the hunter became the hunted."
Oliver's companions stemmed the flow of blood for him before the Northland Electricity Rescue Helicopter airlifted the marlin fisherman of 15 years him to Whangarei Hospital.
His companions didn't waste the time it took for the helicopter to arrive and made sure the marlin didn't get away. Once on land they took it straight to a smoker.
Oliver said he expected a prime piece of the fish to eat and planned to keep the bill as a memento.
Fiancee Sandi Earle said he wouldn't be allowed back fishing - at least not until after their November wedding.
A charter boat skipper said it was a coincidence that two fisherman had been injured in such a short period.
Bills carried bacteria that could cause infection. but big-game fishing was generally not dangerous.
- NORTHERN ADVOCATE
