Monster marlin lands Brendan a reel shock

REBECCA STEVENSON
BRENDAN Harman has gone fishing "maybe 40-odd, 30-odd years", and yesterday was one of his better days. He set the pace in the Coruba Fishing competition with his catch of a 105kg striped marlin, one of two on the day, and his first-ever.
After about half an hour of back-and-forth tussling, it lay with steely dead eyes in front of an appreciative crowd.
At about 2.5m long, the marlin was almost as wide as the Calm Lady, the boat which eventually brought it to the shore, and from there to the scales at the back of the Hawke's Bay Sports Fishing Club.
Mr Harman seems like a quiet sort of bloke, but yesterday there was no dodging conversation - his hefty catch on day one of the competition, exciting aspiring fishermen and old hands alike.
"That's a good fish," commented a grizzled sea-goer.
"Yeah," said Mr Harman.
Hung up, weighed and applauded, it's time for Mr Harman to tell how he bagged a big'un. It took about 40 minutes to complete the task, the marlin hooked on his line about 9am. After battling with "bumpy, snotty" seas, keeping the fish on his line while he got strapped into the chair, all hands on the Calm Lady went to work bringing the marlin on board.
It sounded easy, but the angler at the centre of all the attention made it clear it wasn't.
"It's my first one. It's a good feeling," he said.
Mr Harman said he would be celebrating his catch at the fishing club, while the marlin was being butchered, smoked and vacuum packed.
Hawke's Bay Sports Fishing Club captain Shelley Herbert knew such a fish on only day one of the three-day competition would stir up the other anglers.
And so it proved, with a second marlin caught later in the day heading off Mr Harman's catch. That 117.2kg whopper was landed by Kyle Frehner on the Enforcer.
That catch leads the season marlin jackpot along with the competition, a total prize of $8000.
The Coruba Fishing Competition continues on until tomorrow.