Sometimes the fish beats the fisherman (1 Viewer)

Ad: This forum contains affiliate links to products on Amazon and eBay. More information in Terms and rules

syscom3

Pacific Historian
14,751
10,558
Jun 4, 2005
Orange County, CA
I wonder if the fish will be telling stories about how he nabbed his tormentor.

Angler speared by a giant fish | the Daily Mail

Angler speared by a giant fish
Daily Mail Reporter 09:25am 4th August 2006
When he saw a companion on his boat hook a giant fish during a sea angling contest, Ian Card was delighted.

Next second, the scene of triumph turned to horror - as the 14ft blue marlin leapt out of the water across the vessel and speared Mr Card through the chest with its spiked bill.

The impact of the 800lb fish knocked him overboard into the Atlantic off Bermuda.

Then, with a thrash of its tail and with the 32-year-old still impaled and bleeding profusely, it dragged him underwater.

Terribly injured, he somehow stayed conscious as he struggled to pull himself free of the marlin's 3ft razor-sharp spike before he drowned.

Finally, he wrenched himself away and was rescued by his companions on the boat - who included his 58-year-old father Alan.

Yesterday, he told how his son surfaced with blood pumping from his wound. 'He put his hand up to his chest and his fingers disappeared,' he said. 'He had a wound about as big as your fist.' Mr Card was rushed to hospital, where sur- geons carried out an emergency operation and yesterday he was in a stable condition.

But doctors told him that if the marlin's spike had struck a fraction of an inch higher, it would have severed an artery and killed him.

The bizarre accident happened as he and his father took part in an international fishing tournament 15 miles south of Bermuda.

They were aboard the 42ft yacht Challenger, owned and captained by Mr Card senior, a professional skipper, with his son serving as mate. As the marlin was hooked by angler Leslie Spanswick - who was strapped into a fishing chair at the stern of the boat - Mr Card junior was standing up about 8ft away. 'The fish all of a sudden changed direction and jumped,' said his father.

'It was airborne going across the full width of the boat and Ian just happened to be in the way. All in one motion, the fish flew across the cockpit, impaled him with its bill and took him out of the boat.

'He landed in the water about 15ft away and the marlin was on top of him.

'He was underwater and he had his arms wrapped round the fish and the fish was pushing him under. I lost sight of him for a few seconds. That's a sight I'll never forget. I knew there was no good going to come out of it.'

But Mr Card eventually surfaced 50ft behind the boat. 'Once we got Ian up, I cut the fish loose,' said his father. 'My main concern was not the tournament.'

Family friend Dennis Benevides radioed emergency services and stuffed a towel into the wound to staunch the flow of blood as the vessel sped for the shore.

It reached land 40 minutes later and Mr Card was taken to Bermuda's King Edward VII Memorial Hospital. A 14ft fish would normally take up to two hours to reel in, but the fish leaped at Mr Card after just ten minutes - when it was still fresh and strong.

His mother Elizabeth said: 'He was very lucky - it was a very serious injury. I was very surprised that a fish could make such an injury.'

Tournament organiser Dan Jacobs said: 'Fish have jumped into boats before and people have been hurt dealing with marlin, but it's very unusual for a fish to leap completely out of the water from behind the boat and come right across the boat.

'Ian is very lucky to be alive. I'd say that we have probably witnessed a miracle.'
 
It's not a rare occurance, Marlin's have been known to do it a few times. I read this story a few days ago. When I was in Gran Canaria I had the pleasure of seeing someone haul in a Marlin - bigger ****ers, put up a great fight.
 
plan_D said:
When I was in Gran Canaria I had the pleasure of seeing someone haul in a Marlin - bigger ****ers, put up a great fight.
Mako sharks are a valued game fish as well. Real fighters. The one below was caught by hook and line in a derby off of Yarmouth harbour here in NS two years ago. The guy in the burgundy shirt in the second pic caught it. I don't know him personally, but he works in the naval dockyard here in Halifax.

Shortfin mako like this one don't usually get quite this big, at least not off our shores, but it's a common species in the waters around Nova Scotia. We see them all the time. Longfin too on occasion. Fishermen are always bitching about them.

I don't do much swimming in the ocean. ;)
 

Attachments

  • mako511.jpg
    mako511.jpg
    35 KB · Views: 187
  • mako510.JPG
    mako510.JPG
    27.7 KB · Views: 196
Mako is a beautiful shark. Would love to catch one one time, but I wont since it would be so hard to release it back into the ocean without losing your hand to its jaws while trying to remove the hook.
 
Spare a thought for this chap.

Tuna 'size of a cow' sets record off NZ
August 23, 2005 - 10:29AM

A fish the "size of a cow" that took five people to haul onboard a boat has set a new world game-fishing record for a New Zealand angler.

Business broker Michael Hayes thought he was going to be dragged overboard when he tried to land the 268kg bluefin tuna off the West Coast.

He was fishing with 60kg breaking-strain line on a reel borrowed from an Australian about 50km west of Greymouth last Thursday.

Now, he is waiting for the results of a DNA test to confirm that the fish is a Pacific bluefin tuna and a new International Game Fishing Association record.

"I got it to the boat but then it took five of us to get it into the boat," Hayes said.

"It was a hell of a big fish. It's the size of a cow."

The fish was caught using a soft-squid plastic lure on an Australian mate's reel, which was made to handle black marlin that could weigh up to 500kg.

It took two hours to land and was one of four bluefin tuna, all heavier than 200kg, caught by anglers on the boat.

A Justice of the Peace had attended the weighing and certified scales had been used, according to rules. The fish is now frozen in Greymouth until the DNA testing can be completed.

Hayes will have the fish mounted for his game fishing club at Whangaroa in Northland near the Bay of Islands.

0,1445,201878,00.jpg


Source:

Picture Source:
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back