NEFMA - Marlin Fishing 2023

In the early 2000’s Sportfish boats ruled the offshore fishing, social media was not yet defined and catches were recorded on portable cameras. You had to call an 800 number to get the Marine Forecast. In person 2 or 3 day tournaments were the norm. In one May BlueWater Tournament held out of St Augustine there were 29 Blue Marlin releases !

Fast forward.....SOCIAL MEDIA !!!,Weather Apps and InReach. Sportfish boats are the minority, Center Consoles are the norm. Wahoo seems to be the species most sought after and Blue Marlin the least. In the NEFMA (Northeast Florida Marlin Association) BlueWater Tournament the Half- A-Buc released 3 Blue Marlin in 1 day ! What has really changed in North Florida off-shore fishing ? Are there fewer Marlin ? I do not know of any data that supports there are fewer Blue Marlin. I do have significant data that shows far fewer boats fish for Blue Marlin. Today many Marlin are by catch ! Yes, the Marlin and Mahi travel together. So if you want to increase your chances of landing a Marlin while you are targeting Mahi you can make a few easy changes. Go up a little on your leader strength and increase the length. If you are not already doing so add a teaser or 2. Make sure you have a pitch rod ready or at least one bigger bait in the spread you can reel up to get attention from a prospector. If you are in a CC once you have cleared the lines move your Angler to front of boat. Try not to put too much pressure on the fish or they will sound. Run them down once they begin to tire and get the leader.

The NEFMA BlueWater Tournament will be 5/10 - 5/13. The Captian meeting will be 5/10 at the NEFMA Clubhouse. NEFMA will be once again participating as a stop on the Sport Fishing Championship, National Tournament. CBS Sports will be imbedded on 12 of our boats and coverage will be on CBS Sports on their Saturday shows. So please join us and be part of this incredible event. To join go to NEFMA.com and click Tournaments.