The Marlin is regarded as the ultimate game fishing experience and Marc sets of for three days of extreme fishing based on Lizard Island.
Lizard Island is perched on the edge of the Great Barrier Reef. The island is an exotic hideaway for the rich and famous. It is also the home to a marine biology research station, which is where Marc is bunking down.
With a day to spare before getting out on a boat Marc retraces the footsteps of English explorer James Cook. He climbs up to “Cook’s Look” the highest point on the exotic island. Before long Marc is back at beach level and enjoying a snorkel amongst the amazing coral and marine life of the Great Barrier Reef.
At dawn Marc is picked up at the research station to meet skipper Steve Haggarth and his crew on the impressive “Force”. Without delay they start trolling several lures and baits in an attempt to raise and hook a Black Marlin.
Over the next two days numerous big fish are caught, including a sizeable Spanish Mackerel and a huge Potato Cod, but no Marlin. There is a close call when the trolling bait is hit by a Marlin.
On the final day of fishing with a new boat and a new crew, Marc is after a giant billfish with a man called Bill Billson. You soon learn that everything is bigger with Bill. He is a huge genial man with a reputation as “the” Marlin skipper working the Lizard Island area.
Bill seems completely at ease with the pressure as Marc settles in with his new crew including the lively “Flash” (the Traceman). As time ticks away it seems as if even Billson is going to fail. Then when all seems lost, on the last afternoon of the last day, a Marlin is on.
Marc who had been snoozing in the cabin is suddenly in the chair and hooked up to a feisty Black. The Marlin leaps and fights spectacularly and even though it is only approximately 200lbs it still almost manages to haul “Flash” over board.
Marc is absolutely thrilled with the fight as the Marlin is released, and rushes up to the fly deck to thank Bill. Bill laconically advises “that was practise” and that they will get Marc a bigger one. A more than satisfied Marc thinks Bill is joking, but soon learns that Bill was serious.
As if on cue the crew then hook up a huge Black Marlin and as Marc is strapped into the chair, he recalls, “We were about to enter a war zone”.
The huge Black (approximately 800 lbs) has frightening power and Marc, the crew and our camera crew are pushed to their limits in the ultimate man meets fish experience. “Flash” is thrown about the boat like a rag doll and Marc is almost hauled out of the chair.
The great fish finally tires after an epic battle and is released, leaving Marc slumping in the chair both physically and mentally exhausted.
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