Blue Marlin Caught, Young Angler Hospitalized

A few big drum, with some scattered keepers mixed in, has been the best news on the island. Lately, the water has warmed and looks as green as the Gulf Stream on South Point.

Armed with some bottom rigs and squid, I decided to teach 13-year-old Alec from Raleigh how to surf fish in Ocracoke. He just bought a new Daiwa set up, strung with 12-pound test. Never mind my 12-foot custom rod and reel with braided line, he wanted to fish with his new pole. So we did, and we were definitely not sorry.

Three casts in and the bite was on. It hit like a mack truck. The rod was almost snatched out of Alec’s hand. With my help and a little drag, he began the fight. And it was EPIC. The fins flashed and shined and slapped. The tail walking show was like something from a Michael Jackson video. This fish BEAT IT!

With all my fishing experience, I didn’t even believe my own eyes. The long bill pierced the surface and I knew what it was. The pointed fins don’t lie. It was a blue marlin.

Four hours later, the fish was dog tired and lying on the white sand beach. His eyeballs were so bulged, I was inspired to drip saline into my contact lens-coated irises. Sorry, no pictures. We had to hurry and release him.

I practice good fishing ethics and this poor fellow was about to die. Still, he got his revenge. While I un-finangled the J-hook, Alec got too close to the sharp bill and got his leg slashed. Thank God the Hatteras Ferry is running, because he is scared of helicopters.

Lying in the Outer Banks Hospital with a fishy gash in his leg, this kid is smiling all the way to junior high after a very memorable spring break. No pictures, only a memory and the stories that follow. Never underestimate what you can catch in Ocracoke surf.