Schrödinger's Marlin

For several years my wife Hanna’s primary fishing goal has been to catch a marlin. She’s had brushes with opportunity: on our first trip to Guatemala in 2020 we spotted one patrolling a school of bonito but could not get it to bite, and on our first trip to Panama in 2021 we had one grab a trolled bait and come loose before the hook was embedded.

Two weeks ago, in Guatemala, she had opportunity number three.

Or so we think.

On our second day of fishing, after releasing an astounding 28 sailfish the first day, we had a fish grab a ballyhoo at about 9:45 am. It did not jump, it did not cartwheel, it did not greyhound across the surface. Instead, it just steadily ran. Every time she’d recover a little bit of line, it would take more out. 

Clearly, the fish was much heavier than the 80- to 100-pound sails we’d been catching. It likely wasn’t tail-wrapped, as it fought conventionally, nor did it spin as it came up like a tuna. It almost assuredly was the marlin she’d coveted for so long, and after 40 minutes of fighting it didn’t seem to be tiring, but she’d made some progress.

Five minutes later the fish was at the leader for the second. At that point – to the best of my understanding – it’s a legal catch for tournament purposes. Just one problem: we hadn’t seen the fish, so we had no confirmation that it indeed was a marlin, what type of marlin, or how big. 

The mate carefully worked the leader, but after a wrap, the hook simply pulled. We never saw the fish. Even after viewing our friend’s underwater video after the trip, we still don’t know what it was. So, if it’s a “legal” catch but you don’t know what it was, I guess it just doesn’t count. 

One good thing about bass tournament weigh-ins. There’s no mystery about what was caught or what they weighed.

Fortunately, Hanna will have more chances to tame Makaira, coming up first in Panama, then in Cabo, then back to Guatemala, where I hope she gets a bit of revenge. Until then, she’s left with a memory of a leadered fish that was a bit too camera shy.