White Marlin

AMONG THE PELAGIC GAME FISH THAT VENTURE WITHIN reach of Florida fishermen during seasonal migrations, white marlin are one of the most highly prized. It’s arguable they are more elusive than blue marlin, evading capture from even the most seasoned crews scouring offshore waters from Jacksonville to Key West. With many anglers going their entire lives without witnessing the acrobatics of a lit up white, it’s no surprise chance encounters are talked about for years to come. But just a few hundred miles up the Eastern Seaboard the species is one of the most available offshore targets where top teams hang serious laundry after long days trolling deep water canyons upwards of 100 miles offshore.

 

- Captain Steve Dougherty

Targeted with 20- and 30-pound light tackle outfits, white marlin are intelligent and accurate feeders that at times show super finicky tendencies. Dink ballyhoo are the baits of choice, with anglers required to master the drop back to fool the smallest of all marlin species. Though whites often casually crush baits and quickly spit them out under the slightest resistance, when hook finally meets bone these incredibly agile predators put on a show. And because white marlin are pack feeders, often working together corralling schools of mackerel, sardine and squid, where you find one there’s likely multiple fish to be caught.

As of press date, Captain John Duffy and crew aboard Billfisher out of Ocean City, Maryland hold the single-day release record for catching 57 white marlin. In typical fashion, mates in the cockpit tend two natural dredges and surface riding squid chains to draw in white marlin from the deep, while spotters in the tower keep a close watch for fish tailing down sea. Heading offshore with over 100 rigged baits is not out of the ordinary.

It’s well known to the massive body of fish that occupies the Mid-Atlantic offshore canyons during the spring and summer seasons, with the population heading to the Outer Banks in the fall before continuing their journey south as the winter season approaches. However, as anglers across the Mid-Atlantic encounter large numbers of these mini marlin, they seemingly disappear as they pass Florida’s East Coast while migrating toward the Gulf of Mexico, or the Dominican Republic and points further south. While anglers report sporadic encounters in the Florida Keys during March, April and May, there’s not a large body of fish like that found off Ocean City and catching a single white marlin during the peak of mahi season is an accomplishment in itself.