On Feb. 16, Laura and Chris Jessen were trolling for marlin aboard their 64-foot Viking, Fish Tank. They were fishing off Costa Rica near the town of Los Sueños, and they’d already caught and released two big billfish when the action turned hectic.
“We had four lines out and a couple teasers, when a 200-pound blue marlin came up to a flat line and took a rigged bait,” Chris tells Outdoor Life. “My friend Kitt Toomey from Fort Lauderdale grabbed that rod and hooked the marlin, and it took off like a blue rocket.”
He says Toomey was using a relatively light outfit with only 20-pound test — the kind of rod-and-reel they typically use for sailfish. Toomey was fighting his fish when their boat captain, Ben Horning, saw another blue marlin chasing one of the teasers. Horning let the crew know, and Laura grabbed another sailfish rod and tossed out a chugger lure rigged with a ballyhoo. The billfish crushed it and took off.
The crew now had two 200-pound blue marlin hooked up, but Chris says everything went smoothly at first. The two fish were leaping like crazy and it wasn’t the first time they’d doubled up on big billfish. The crew was confident they could handle the two fish — until Laura’s marlin turned and started running in the wrong direction.
“Both of their reels were running out of line,” Chris says. “So, we decided to tether Laura’s rod and reel [with the drag tightened] to a float ring and toss it overboard. We also tied a large, air-filled white trash bag to the float so we could see it easily.”
This allowed the crew to concentrate on Toomey’s marlin, and they chased it in the opposite direction that Laura’s fish was headed.
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“We’ve done this previously, and once had to deal with three hooked marlin,” Chris laughs. “It’s a real fire drill, but it’s exciting, and that’s exactly why we love billfishing.”
Toomey regained his line quickly as the Fish Tank backed down on his blue marlin. Moose, one of the mates, got ahold of the leader, making it a legitimate gamefish catch. Then he released the big blue.
By the time they turned back toward Laura’s fish, it had run for almost a mile. Chris says they could see the float ring and the white bag off in the distance. Once there, Laura grabbed the waterlogged rod and reel and went back to battling the marlin. The fish ran and jumped, but she was able to get the fish to the boat in short order. Moose again grabbed the leader and then released Laura’s marlin.
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Catching two big blue marlin this way is a rare event, even for the Jessens, who live an enviable life chasing marlin and sailfish for months out of ever year.
“We’ve had a great run chasing billfish,” he says. “We’ve had this boat for just over a year, and we caught about 1,200 billfish from it. Since January of this year, we’ve probably brought another 500 sailfish and marlin alongside our Viking – all released.”
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