First marlin of the year fills fridge | Northland News | Local News in Northland

While bragging rights for catching the first marlin of the year go to Bay of Islands' Guy Sutherland, it's Donna Pascoe who has the first fridge full of smoked fish.

Mr Sutherland tagged and released a striped marlin near the Three Kings Islands at 6.30am on January 4, making him the first to catch one this year.

But Mrs Pascoe holds the title for first marlin weighed in for 2012.

"Everybody at the beginning of the season always keeps their fingers crossed that I'll catch something so they can have some smoked marlin," Mrs Pascoe said.

The winning fish, a striped marlin, was hooked at Nine-Pin Trench between the Cavalli Islands and the Bay of Islands.

She and her husband initially tagged it for release as they thought it might be too small but decided at the last minute to take it in to the club at Tutukaka and weigh it.

It played on the line for just 25 minutes and was very easy to get on board the boat.

"I said my prayers the whole time when it was on the line, talking to it the whole way," Mrs Pascoe said.

By the time she got her gloves on, her husband had already pulled the fish onboard.

"You try to swim the fish in off a wave but that one was very obliging."

Mrs Pascoe's marlin was 96.6kg, just over the qualifying weight of 90kg. "It's made my year," she said.

The New Zealand Game Fishing Council ruled that Mrs Pascoe weighed in the season's first marlin on January 5, defeating a rival claim by an angler from the Bay of Islands Swordfish club who also landed a marlin on the same day.

Mrs Pascoe and her husband are from Auckland but belong to the Houhora Big Game & Sports Fishing Club.

"We wanted to target the first marlin of the season. We were pretty keen," Mrs Pascoe said.

Although this is her 15th marlin, it's the first time she has landed the first of the season.

She was introduced to game fishing four years ago by her husband and plans to compete in the sport-fishing nationals this year.

Mrs Pascoe said she hooked a blue marlin on January 3 but was heartbroken after it got off the line 20 metres from the boat.

Sue Ellis from the Whangarei Deep Sea Anglers Club at Tutukaka said while conditions underwater were fine, bad weather meant anglers had had only one or two chances to go fishing this year.

"It's been hopeless," reckons member Pete Saul.

Besides Mrs Pascoe's marlin, the club has caught only one yellowfin tuna.

Kim Bell said after a shaky beginning, it's now full speed ahead at the Swordfish club. A third striped marlin was landed on January 6, with a fourth tagged and released. A short-tailed spearfish added to the tally of five game fish for last week.

"There's good water out there," he said.

Mr Saul has spotted skipjack tuna in shallow waters near Whangaruru, along with mahimahi, manta rays, green turtles and sunfish.