Nathan Adams and the anglers aboard his 21-foot tinnie, Western Break, made world-wide news when after a 12-day fishing span, multiple record fish were landed. The most notable of which was Adam's potential IGFA world record, 740-pound Pacific Bluefin Tuna.
GoFISHn got in touch with Adams who shared some more photos on his awesome catches and details of that epic span and his fishing passion:
GFN: How did you get into fishing? How much fishing do you do?
NA: My father had a boat from the time I was born and I have been fishing since I was old enough to hold a fishing rod, (I think about 3 years old).
I am a commercial fisherman, I got into commercial fishing because I loved my recreational fishing so much. I got into game fishing about 15 years ago and have been mad keen on it since I started. I go recreational fishing on my days off commercial fishing, and I take at least a month off in the game fishing season (February/March), to chase marlin.
I have a secondary business manufacturing marlin lures, I started making "Red Gill Custom Lures" marlin lures for myself and friends to start with but they were so successful that everyone wanted them and it became a business.
GFN: Were you out fishing those three days specifically for the New Zealand Sport Fishing Council Nationals competition, or was there any other reason you decided to do a three-day fishing excursion?
NA: I was fishing in our local fishing club, Muriwai Sports Fishing Club, Game Fishing Competition which runs for two weeks, the second week of which coincides with the NZ Sport Fishing Council Nationals, this is a nationwide tournament which our club usually does very well in.
We fished for 12 days and caught 10 Stripped marlin the biggest was 318 pounds, one Black Marlin, which weighed 790 pounds [eds note: this set the Muriwai Sports Fishing Club record], one Broadbill Swordfish, which weighed 270 pounds and the Pacific Bluefin Tuna, which weighed 738 pounds. Most of the other stripped marlin were tagged and released.
GFN: If you don't mind sharing the information, what lure or bait were you using when these catches hit?
NA: All of the marlin including the Black Marlin were caught on my own Red Gill Custom Lures, which hopefully will be available worldwide soon. The Broadbill Swordfish was caught on a dead bait fished deep during the day time. And the Tuna was caught on a live bridle rigged Skipjack Tuna.
The Black Marlin and several of the Stripped marlin were caught on a Red Gill Custom lure, RG4 Gay Bob, which was the top lure for most of the boats fishing in the area.
GFN: Which fish was more of a battle? The Tuna or the 358kg black marlin?
NA: The Tuna fought much harder, but died and sank to the bottom after only about 15 to 20 minutes. I then had to winch the dead fish straight up off the bottom, as I was worried if we planed it up we might get it snagged in the foul bottom beneath us. At that stage we still thought the fish we were playing was probably a Black Marlin. Dead-lifting the fish tested the 37kg IGFA tackle to the max. And I am still amazed that I lifted the fish without busting it off. It took 20 minutes to lift the fish out of 220 feet of water. So the total fight time was only about 40 minutes.
The Black Marlin was also on 37kg IGFA tackle and took an hour and a half to land. I had the leader in hand after 40 minutes, but had to dump it as I was worried I would break the 400-pound leader which was already a bit damaged from catching Stripped marlin the day before. We elected to play the fish a bit longer and tire it out a bit more so I would not have to swing on the leader as hard. The fish actually died on it's last run and there was no battle on the leader.
GFN: What's your next fishing trip that you're planning?
NA: I have just completed a two-day fishing competition between the Muriwai Sports Fishing Club and the Ahipara Game Fish Club. We tagged and released two stripped marlin making us the top boat for the Muriwai Sports Fishing Club, but sadly we lost the trophy to the Ahipara boys for the first time in four years. The marlin season is starting to slow down now, and my next trip will probably be chasing the autumn Broadbill Swordfish. I had success with them last year–I did three days and caught five Broadbill Swordfish, the biggest was 520 pounds, and we also caught a 400-pounder that day.
