Hot Spots For Black Marlin Charters

by erin on December 15, 2011

The prized game fish, Makaira Indica, or the Black Marlin, dwells in the Indo-Pacific Oceans in surface waters near the coast. It is one of the fastest-moving fish on earth (50 miles per hour) and comes from the Order, Perciformes. The average weight of M. Indica that are routinely caught on Black Marlin charters is around three quarters of a metric ton (750 kilograms) or roughly 1700 pounds. Heftier specimens have been reported.

Seafood Red List

As with other genera of Order Perciformes, Makaira appears on the Greenpeace seafood red list. This list documents species that have a high likelihood of being harvested from supplies that are unsustainable. This is why the modern sport fisherman will pause only to photograph their prize and then return it to the sea from whence it emerged. Other species in the same family, Istiophoridae, include the Japanese White Marlin as well as the Hawaiian Silver Marlin.

Old Salt

In the novel, ‘The Old Man and the Sea’, written by Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961), old salt, Santiago, finally manages to break a 12-week dry spell by hooking a member of Makaira. The rest of the novel goes on to describe the hero’s legendary battle against the combined forces of the fierce, resolute beast and Mother Nature.

Color

Contrary to its moniker, M. Indica is not black but rather deep blue and white with black tail and pectoral fins. The pectoral fins are unique in that they are rigid, rather than flexible. Another feature that sets it apart from other species is its abbreviated ventral fin, no more than 12 inches in length. Makaira likes the warm equatorial and subtropical waters that hug the coastline, although it is not completely absent from the open sea. It has been spotted as far north as the Lesser Antilles and as far south as Brazil.

Popular Tours

Some of the most popular tours for M. Indica cruise the waters of Australia’s east coast. Roughly 70 per cent of all Makaira larger than 1000 pounds in weight have been found along a 150-mile long section of the Great Barrier Reef located off the coast at Cairns. The combined hauls of Portugal, Brazil and Hawaii only amount to half this collective mass.

Game Fish

The Gold Coast at Brisbane is a very popular gathering place for light tackle enthusiasts seeking Makaira and other game fish. Here they can trawl for Spanish Mackerel, Mia, Wahoo and others. Bottom fishers, otherwise known as ‘jiggers’, come here to find Kingfish, Cobia, Peal Perch and Snapper.

Tours

Port Stephens is more than twice the size of Sydney Harbor. With its beautiful scenery, glassy clear waters and golden shoreline, it is a world-class focus for game fishing. Tours from this area depart during the month of January through April.

 

Black Marlin charters also operate out of Central America’s Republic of Guatemala. Some of the most bountiful hauls of billfish have been reported to have come from here. On a good day, black marlin fishing here is great, an angler can bag 20 or more fish in a single day. Because of its position tucked in between the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, the area is prone to hurricanes. This controls the months during which charters are able to operate.

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