BIG BLACK MARLIN LANDED BY CHARTER BOAT TOTOABA

June 18, 2006, Travis Tuberg, black marlin landed at Roca Corbeteña, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico:

Keith Hulme, Shawn Tuberg, and I booked 2 days of fishing at Corbetena with Puerto Vallarta Fishing, on June 17th and 18th, 2006. This was our first visit to town and we weren't expecting too much.

On day one, we set out at 7 a.m. with a half-moon still slightly visible in the morning sky aboard the Totoaba, a new 34 foot Sea Ray with twin Cummings Diesels rated at 315 h.p, with Captain Lalo and his mate, Jose. The first day was fairly slow, but thankfully no rain. We landed a 25 pound Yellowfin Tuna and a second 20-pounder, both great for eating, but we were hopeful of more. Day 2 would be much different...

On the morning of the 18th, we again set out for Corbetena at 7 a.m. on the Totoaba.

Just as we arrived at the island, we set up our rod with a 50 two-speed Penn International reel and 80 pound line, and almost immediately caught a Bonita, which we rigged up as bait. Then 2 minutes later about 9:30 a.m., the monster hit our line. At first, we thought it was a tuna, because it acted like one. Our rod jerked downwards. Then after a few minutes the marlin surfaced, with about a third of its body came out of the water, doing a little tail dance.

It was too far from the boat, about 100 yards, to identify the type of marlin, but we knew it was a big one. All three of us took turns, and about an hour and several minutes later, we got it to the side of the boat. It was only then that we identified our prize as the much rarer black marlin.

The length of the marlin was 148 inches.

It was exhausted by the fabulous fight that it put up, and unfortunately it expired as we were trying to free it from the hook. We had planned to catch and release, which Puerto Vallarta Fishing had suggested, but it wasn't to be. So, the fish is now being mounted. Most of the meat was donated to the crew, and we're taking a small amount home to be smoked.

This is truly a trip to remember, and we are so happy we found puertovallartafishing.net on the internet prior to our trip! They had suggested Corbetena as the place to catch big fish, and I can say I guess they were right! We can't wait to return to Puerto Vallarta!

(See "Mexico Fishing News" online for current fishing reports, photos, weather, and water temperatures from Puerto Vallarta and other major Mexican sportfishing areas. Vacation travel articles, fishing maps and seasonal calendars, and fishing related information for Puerto Vallarta may be found at Mexfish.com's main Puerto Vallarta page.