Finest Places For Black Marlin Charters

 

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.

Greenpeace

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.

Ernest Hemingway

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.

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.

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 deep sea waters off of Brisbane’s Gold Coast is a much frequented haunt for light tackle sport fishermen looking for M. Indica and other game species. Hobbyists can trawl for Mia Mia, Spanish Mackerel and Wahoo, among others. Jiggers, or bottom fishers, also flock here to capture the likes of Cobia, Kingfish, 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 Black Marlin 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. Because of its location between the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, the season for Black Marlin Charters depends largely on the weather.