We fished 1/15/09 and 1/17/09 and caught 25 striped marlin out of about 37 hookups, with the fish ranging from 120-160lbs. The fishing was insane, with marlin, sea lions, whales, and various sea birds all feeding on schools of mackerel. We tossed live mackerel at the bait pods to catch the marlin. The fishing was highly visual and we watched the marlin eat our baits right behind the boat. All fish were caught on circle hooks and released boatside.
1/15/09:
Met the captain and the mate at the boat and left for the Golden Gate Bank at about 7:30am.
We arrived at the bank after about an hour run to see birds, sea lions, whales, and striped marlin busting pods of mackerel all around us.
As we pulled up to the first bait pod, I looked down in the water and saw 2 striped marlin chasing bait right under the transom!!!
We began pitching mackerel to the pods of mackerel and I quickly hooked up and landed my first marlin: a 160lb striped marlin. This scenario continued throughout the day: chasing down the bait pods and pitching baits. The amount of life in the area was incredible, with sea lions, whales, and many marlin busting bait pods on the surface. Most bait balls had several marlin on them, and we estimated some of the bait pods to have over 30 marlin.
Throughout the day we saw many freejumpers.
We also saw many free swimming fish around the boat.
Here are the pics of the fish we caught on day 1:
We fished from 8:30am-2:30pm and ended the first day going 12/20 on striped marlin.
Day 2: 1/17/09
We arrived at the Golden Gate Bank at about 9am to find the same activity we saw on Thursday
We began pitching baits again and found the striped marlin eager to feed. One marlin hooked by another boat began to greyhound...and ended up crashing straight into another vessel fishing the same bait pod!
Here are the pics of the fish from day 2:
We ended the day going 13/17 on striped marlin.
This was one of the most incredible fishing experiences of my life. Not only was the marlin fishing insane, but there were sea lions, whales, and birds feeding everywhere as well. Pitching baits to mackerel schools being busted on the surface was one of the most exciting methods of fishing. There is nothing that compares to watching a lit-up marlin eat your mackerel just feet behind the boat.
