The Calm Before the Storm: Angler Stephen Schultz has hooked the fish of a lifetime—a 500-pound blue marlin off Panama. The fight appears to be near the end as Schultz has reeled the marlin within 30 feet of the boat.

Then the You-Know-What Hits the Fan: The marlin leaps out of the water—almost as if to see where the angler is—then it suddenly tail-walks straight to the cockpit and knocks Schultz out of the fighting chair with 500 pounds of fury. That’s gonna leave a mark.

The Check-Your-Underpants Factor: This one scores 9 out of 10. When I used to work at Salt Water Sportsman magazine, we interviewed Schultz’s father just days after this happened, who said Stephen suffered four broken bones in his face and lacerations in his throat.

What’s so amazing about this attack is how much ground the marlin covers in such a short amount of time. From the time the fish jumps to when it strikes the angler takes only three seconds. But I imagine from Schultz’s point of view, that three seconds felt more like three years.

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from dwaynez wrote 4 years 19 weeks ago

That had to be a scary moment, it happens so quickly you could hardly react if you were in his shoes

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from olsonseth wrote 4 years 19 weeks ago

Thats a story to tell

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from DakotaMan wrote 4 years 3 weeks ago

That's the issue with Marlin... it is like snagging a treble hook in a quarter horse's rump. He goes where he wants. I had a very similar experience but escaped unharmed. While fighting a 425 Blue Marlin, he jumped over the boat from the port side right over my head and back into the water on the starboard side. I was able to duck him but the air was full of billowing monofilament and thoughts of Captain Ahab flashed through my mind. There are a lot more injuries on these boats than you hear about and the smart captains stay up on the bridge and let their rookie first mates take the spears.

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from backcountrybeagle wrote 3 years 41 weeks ago

owch, that must have hurt like a mother.

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from dwaynez wrote 4 years 19 weeks ago

That had to be a scary moment, it happens so quickly you could hardly react if you were in his shoes

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from olsonseth wrote 4 years 19 weeks ago

Thats a story to tell

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from DakotaMan wrote 4 years 3 weeks ago

That's the issue with Marlin... it is like snagging a treble hook in a quarter horse's rump. He goes where he wants. I had a very similar experience but escaped unharmed. While fighting a 425 Blue Marlin, he jumped over the boat from the port side right over my head and back into the water on the starboard side. I was able to duck him but the air was full of billowing monofilament and thoughts of Captain Ahab flashed through my mind. There are a lot more injuries on these boats than you hear about and the smart captains stay up on the bridge and let their rookie first mates take the spears.

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from backcountrybeagle wrote 3 years 41 weeks ago

owch, that must have hurt like a mother.

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