Where do I begin? Thankfully, the forecast swells and wind did not arrive today. The morning started with a great sunrise and just got better from there. Bright sunshine gave us fantastic light and the sea was calm with a series of long rolling swells. Action in the morning was quiet. Unfortunately there is no "How to Shoot Photos of Blue Marlin" handbook. It's very much of a "what if we do this or what if we try that?" kind of game. The first fish we raised was a disaster. It attacked the right squid chain after smashing up the right long. The crew called it as I got ready. I jumped in and saw nothing, but as I spun around just passing the long teaser I saw the blue hiding in the prop wash. He seemed to understand that I couldn't get a clean shot of him in there. Seconds later he was gone. It was over before it had even begun.
We went into a post-play huddle to work out what had gone wrong. With a few adjustments to the play book the next blue presented itself an hour later. This time we were on the money. As I got in the water right behind the squid chain was a blue bearing down on me like a freight train. This fish and I were on a collision course and it was making no signs of changing his mind. There I was playing chicken with a blue marlin. I held on to the camera, pulled the shutter release, and waited for the bang! He just missed hitting me and disappeared after the teaser. I checked the LCD display, and I had it!!! As I swam back to the boat I was joined by a bull shark who followed me, getting closer. I would turn and he'd move away but was straight back on my heels the moment I turned my back.
Back at the boat the guys were still playing with the marlin. He was climbing all over a hookless teaser Tommy was casting to him and would alternate hits with the squid chain still hanging from the teaser. I arrived back just in time to watch him swim away all lit up in luminous hues of blue.
I think we're starting to get the hang of this and will be back out tomorrow to try it again.
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