Who invited the antis? Are you idiots PETA members or what? Go back where you came from.

wow thats a bummer

Great fish.

They didn't release the fish because sharks were doing what they naturally do... eat. Now they have all that fresh meat to feed people who are hungry. I'm sure glad that God designed the world so that we can live off of the natural bounty of the earth!

For you antis, I want to start a hunting reserve where you can enjoy the sport and still know that you didn't kill an animal. Catch and release deer hunting where you tranquilize trophy deer, get your picture and then go home. Would you try it 1before40?

Truly amazing catch! WOW!

Awesome story and wow what a fish.

My arms get tired when I fight a 20# chinook for 20 minutes... Wow, what a fish.

you guys sound like a bunch of antis to me

what the crap were these retards thinking????
this is truely a sad story. i mean you report the fish was within leader contact a number of times, but instead these fine gentlemen choose to let their arrogant, self serving, egotistic attitudes get the best of them, mainly the captain of the boat. they made their catch per tournament rules, so let her go?
there is no tree hugging here at this pc, there is though a recognition of the typical waste we continue to exhibit and which as we all know will be the end of these type of beautiful resources that in turn give us these most excellent adventures.

these guys are not heros and did not deserve the notoriety, of what i use to think was great magazine.
bad show f&s

1before40, are you sure that's why the indians didn't kill more buffalo? Their survival and wealth depended on how many animals they were able to kill. Consider they were limited by stone age equipment and foot transport more than high ideals. The harvest of the buffalo resource by whites indeed seemed wasteful in that carcasses were left to rot. But the hides were the comercial interest. Consider your own inevetible wastefulness as you pursue your livelihood. Do you discard plastic milk jugs or empty waterbottles? How about the plastic package almost every product we use comes in... discarded. The buffalo hides came wrapped around carcasses. The carcasses were not needed so they were discarded.
BTW; what were we going to do with all those buffalo if they were not harvested. Would you allow a couple thousand buffalo to pass through your yard. One thing is certain: change. We all make adjustments.

Fantastic story. What a fish. Hemingway should have been there.

what a great animal. We should not be thinking about what an animal she could have been think about what she was in her life swimmin the waters of the earth.

You totally need to get that mounted just like it is, call it morbid, but it would keep the story alive, and the memory even more so.

wow great fish

Greetings from Mozambique,

Duarte here, the captain of the boat.

I come across this site today along with the comments on the article, some of which I find pretty bizarre, almost bordering on the ridiculous. I am not in the least insulted, but find it rather odd to be called retarded, arrogant, egotistic, idiot and other names by people I do not know and most of all, and as BeaverUtah rightly stated, by people who were not there and do not know the whole story.

Honestly, I can only assume there is a lack of knowledge from whoever wrote them – or maybe wisdom beyond me, in which case I would sincerely ask their author´s to share their infinite understanding on Giant Marlin Fishing with me.

I am not the best or the worst at what I do, but anyone that knows and as fished with me knows I am a true conservationists and NO ONE is more sad than me for the end of this fish. I am not going to elaborate on the whole story has there is nothing to justify and I am at peace of mind knowing I did my best to try and release it in good health…for a number of reasons in this instance it unfortunately did not happen, but that is a chance every captain or angler takes when pursuing this great sport.

I have been fishing for close to 30 years and been a professional captain for the last 20. In the last 10 I have had the fortune to mainly target billfish and fish, work and learn with some of the best in the business in some of the World´s top grounds. That does not make me any better than anyone else, but I like to believe I have learned some stuff along the way, most of all in ensuring the healthy release of all the fish I hook for my guests.

As a Captain or deckhand, I have tag & released a few hundred Marlin over that time (with a great percentage of Blues and Blacks over 800 pounds and three estimated over a grand) and of those ONLY TWO fish have ever died on me, both of which were attacked by sharks. This is a rare record which I am extremely proud off and which in itself indicates the respectful way I target these or any other fish I intend to release.

In fact as detrimental as it can be for business I do not under circumstances kill fish by choice, and every angler who fishes’ with me knows that beforehand. I am not one to judge the actions of others and do not point fingers at those who do, but that is the way on my boat wherever I fish. I do not know of many big game Captains who would not kill a potential all tackle African Black Marlin record, and I would not think less of them if they did so, but in my mind there was never a doubt that we would release her if we had managed too.

There is conservation and a moral issue here…we all know that this represents nothing in the overall wealth of our oceans. I have seen with my own eyes and we all know what long liners, purse seiners and all other commercial crap represents in the big picture and the fact is that there is a lack of political and economic interest in doing anything. It is not only the japs, but a good number of all other first world countries…do you guys know who the biggest importer of billfish in the world is? Yeah, the good old USA!!!

In the sportfishing scene, I think that all those billfish (big and small) hanged for big prize tournaments or those granders who are caught, hanged, weighted, photographed and then dumped back in the Ocean is much more important and a serious threat for the perception of the sport by the Joe public than the odd fish that unfortunately dies on a responsible and competent crew that did their very best to release her.

As we were towing it back, word had spread on the villages that a big fish had died. As I approached the beach in the dark all I could hear was the cheerfulness singing off over a 100 voices of locals (who live a life of subsistence and at best feed their families with a salary of less than us$ 50.00 a month) eagerly waiting, pangas in hand, to cut a piece of meat to take home. This did not diminish my sorrow a bit, but it was certainly good to know that this fish did not go to waste and that it made for a good meal for dozens of families that live in absolute poverty.

This comment is already too long and as I have said I am not her to elaborate why that fish had the sad end it did…but will be happy to answer any ``reasonable`` questions or comments.

Tight lines & healthy releases

you guys sound like a bunch of antis to me

PhrozenTW - Did you cut all your American history classes? The white man is responsible for the near extinction of the buffalo. The Indians lived from this land long before we ever set foot on the soil and only hunted to survive because they respected the life they were taking as the sustenance for the life they were living.

Too bad they didn't think this through-- once they fought the Marlin for so long the "VERY EXPERIENCED" captain should have known that the likely outcome wouldn't be good for the Marlin -- sharks or not!! They exhausted it after fighting it for hours-- a few dozen pictures and their memories of the experience should have been sufficient!! But I guess so much adrenalyn was flowing that their common sense went out the window. WE CAN ALL LEARN FROM THEIR MISTAKE!!! I hope the next time someone hooks such a rare and special fish they make the effort to consider that they have been sent a fantastic gift and let the fish go prior to the point where it might not recuperate!!!

NICE

Agree with natureguy, methinks the Marlin was dead meat when he hit the hook. Catch and release doesn't fare well with the real big ones. I don't know how you would let it go though when "enough is enough", cut the line and have it swim around with 500+' of line dangling? naaaa, that would be a death sentence too (shrug)

It would seem that the whole purpose of catch and release was defeated somewhat in this case.

Cruising fly fisher & wcsli994 – we never had the fish exhausted alongside the boat, neither did we gaff it or took measurements…the fish was attacked before it got to the boat and we never actually saw the sharks. But then, I am just an idiot with no experience!!!

Sixt9rangers – Your tone and language is truly sad, but I will not lower to your level and try to respond. I am sure you know it all and have captained thousands of anglers to big Marlin and locked yourself with a half a ton fish on the leader, so…

Come on now PhrozenTW, fighting sharks with their bare hands would just be silly!!! There's no sport in confronting a game animal without gadgets and mechanized weaponry, the "sportsman" must always prove their higher intellect by emerging victorious. Bare hands just dont produce trophies.

Idiots should have released her as soon as the first shark showed up. Some sport. These females need to breed.

this reminds me of the pictures of the rhinos with the horns cut off and left to die. why can't you leave these beautiful animals alone. Disgusting white fat old rich men looking for a thrill by killing beautiful creatures.