Ideal Regions For Black Marlin Charters
The prized game fish, Makaira Indica, more commonly known as Black Marlin, is one of the world’s fastest fish. It reaches speeds of more than 50 miles per hour. Generally weighing in at 1700 pounds, or 750 kilograms, larger beasts have been reportedly caught by Black Marlin charters. M. Indica is of the Perciformes order of fish and dwells in the coastal surface waters of the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
Seafood Red List
Makaira, along with other genera of the Perciformes order, is on the Greenpeace seafood red list. This is a list of commonly available fish that are highly likely to be sourced from unsustainable sources. For this reason, most modern sport fishermen will return them to the sea once they have caught and photographed them. It is in the same family, Istiophoridae, as the Japanese white and Hawaiian silver marlins.
Santiago
Ernest Hemingway’s old fisherman, Santiago, made his fictional claim to fame when he broke a nearly three-month dry spell when he finally hooked a Makaira. The remainder of the novel, ‘The Old Man and the Sea’, captures the chronology of the old man’s brave struggle with the beast and Mother Nature.
Fins
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.
Fishing Tours
Some of the best charter fishing tours for M. Indica originate off the eastern coast of Australia. Nearly three quarters of all marlin of more than one ton in weight are caught over a 150 mile-long stretch of the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Cairns. This is roughly twice the amount caught around Brazil, Portugal and Hawaii combined.
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.
Port Stephens
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.
In Central America, the Guatemalan Republic is evolving as a favorite location to seek Black Marlin Fishing. Some of the biggest hauls of billfish have been reported as coming from here, with anglers boasting catches of more than 20 fish in one day. Because of its location between the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, the season for Black Marlin Charters depends largely on the weather. Some of its biggest storms in living memory have been Hurricanes Stan (2005) and Mitch (1998).
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