Giant blue marlin attacks press boat during Kona tournament

A giant blue marlin went berserk after becoming hooked and attacked the press boat on Day 2 of the Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament off Kailua-Kona, providing the event photographer with the photo opportunity of a lifetime and a thrill he'll never forget.

Jon Schwartz was aboard the Chiripa on Tuesday, following the tournament's action via marine radio, when the marlin struck one of the lures being trolled behind the boat.

It was late afternoon and the tournament action had slowed. Schwartz, according to his blog post, "was sacked out on the couch, my four cameras strewn across the floor of the salon," when he awoke to the sound of line screaming off the reel.

"We'd been pulling those things for the past two days with no hits, and I basically forgot they were there," he said of the lures.

What he thought might be a tuna turned out to be a Pacific blue marlin estimated to weigh more than 500 pounds. It leaped and started "careening through the air in every conceivable direction, throwing massive walls of water with every move of its huge tail, and leaving car-size holes in the water when it came crashing down," Schwartz recalled.

Crewman K.J. Robinson had taken the rod and was fighting the billfish. Schwartz grabbed his cameras and ran and began to shoot, and shoot, and shoot.

Then suddenly, the marlin turned and charged the boat. "Now mind you, I am watching all of this through my 300-millimeter telephoto lens. I was so focused on getting the shot that I probably lost sense of what was really happening in terms of how the fish was behaving," Schwartz wrote.

The photo at the top of this post was the last image captured just before impact. The marlin slammed into the side of the boat but seemed un-fazed as it sped off and resumed fighting for its freedom.

Robinson, however, seemed close to winning the battle 20 minutes later, having reeled the fish close enough to yell for the tagging stick. But just then the line went slack. Robinson reeled in the lure and found that the hook had broken under the weight of the struggle.

The fight was over, but Schwartz had chronicled an episode that astonished even longtime HIBT veterans who were nearby in other boats.

"Many of them have been fishing for giant marlin their whole lives and said that they had never seen anything like it, and they'd never seen a fish act like that or move that fast," Schwartz wrote. "

They also said they were worried about the guys in the boat!"

-- Pete Thomas

Marlin photos are courtesy of Jon Schwartz and protected by copyright laws

Comments

[CAPT JIM]

LOOKS LIKE WE DID SEE THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY HURRAY FOR THE FISH

[Micah Frisinger]

I am pretty sure these tournaments are catch and release (tag). Nobody is eating the poor marlins.

[Cody]

AWESOME!!! I'm glad that fish are fighting for freedom! i cut fish out of my diet FOREVER because i think that they are too innocent to be eaten. Although many sea animals attack humans, people still shouldn't eat them. I mean c'mon, how would you like it if you were deep-fried in oil, or baked in the oven. I hope all fish would stand up for their civil rights. SAVE THE SEAS!

[Steven]

Wow......!! This is every angler's dream, of landing a fish that size. However, I am glad it got away.

[CM]

I'm glad to see the fish fight off of the hook. What a majestic fish! It had to be farily old and he/she will live to strengthen their genitic pool.

[joan]

Imagine a creature becoming frantic after being hooked and "attacking" a boat. Seems he was the one attacked despite it being a tournament.