Something Missing With This Grander

It was one of the biggest marlin ever caught off Cabo San Lucas, but Florida resident Mearle Platt, who caught it, isn’t exactly jumping for joy.

Platt’s fish, caught Sunday after a two-hour fight aboard the Gaviota VIII, tipped the waterfront scale at 1,060 pounds. It was only one of a few “granders” ever taken off the Baja California Peninsula.

But it might have been the largest, had it not lost its stomach, literally, along the way. Apparently, the giant billfish was ripped open by the crew’s gaff. It was reportedly too heavy to be lifted onto the swim step for the ride in and was towed 19 miles back to the marina. Along the way, the tear in its underside grew until the stomach ripped free.

Nobody is sure how much weight the fish lost, but it could have easily been the 51 pounds necessary to beat the Baja record, a 1,110-pounder caught by a San Diego angler in 1979, and some fleet owners say Platt’s fish might have set a line-class world record as well.

The world record for 50-pound test line, which Platt was using, is a 1,166-pounder caught off Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, in 1993.

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Disappointed as Platt might be, his plight is trivial compared to that of a lifelong marlin fisherman from the East Coast.

A recent story in the Washington Post told of Chris Bowie’s last fight with a blue marlin in the Gulf Stream 60 miles off North Carolina, how the big fish dragged Bowie, 29, to a watery grave on June 16 while he was working as first mate aboard a 53-foot sportfisher competing in a North Carolina tourn- ament.

Bowie, of Ocean City, Md., was preparing to release the 200-pound billfish when his hands got caught in a 30-foot-long wire leader attached to the hook, according to his brother, Randy.

“He didn’t do anything wrong,” Randy Bowie told the Post. “He was an excellent fisherman, and he’d done this hundreds of times. But the fish did something no one ever saw before. It did a 180(-degree turn) and took off. That tightened the wrap and tangled both Chris’ hands. It catapulted Chris off the boat.”

Second mate Ronnie Fields dived in, hoping to cut Bowie free, and spotted the fish 30 feet down, with Bowie attached. But when Fields surfaced for air and dived again, all he saw was a spot deep in the water.

“The thing we take comfort in,” Randy Bowie said, “is that if the Lord had come to Chris and said, ‘I’m taking you tomorrow, how do you want to go?’ he would have thought it over and said, ‘On a fighting deck, fighting a marlin.’ ”

Briefly

BAJA FISHING--Blue marlin are showing more frequently off Cabo San Lucas and the East Cape region in the gulf, but striped marlin remain the prevalent catch. The Gaviota fleet in Cabo reported five blues--all taken on lures--and 33 stripers, 27 of which were released, in its weekly report. Wahoo fishing is picking up. One group fishing out of Hotel Punta Colorada at the East Cape reported catching and releasing nine sailfish and six blue marlin--ranging in size from 110 to 260 pounds--in two days of fishing. A 429-pound blue was taken by Chuck Reince of Huntington Beach while trolling a green and yellow lure aboard a Palmas de Cortez cruiser. Striped marlin and sailfish are fairly abundant.

NOTEWORTHY--The Los Angeles Rod & Reel Club is holding its annual Kid’s Fishing Trip for needy youngsters Monday aboard the Annie B Barge in Los Angeles Harbor. The club is treating 450 boys and girls, who will travel to and from the barge in shifts, to several hours’ fishing. About 70 volunteers from the fishing club will spend the day helping the youngsters--many of them first-time anglers--make the most of their trip.

CALENDAR--Rod manufacturer Kenny Palao will give a seminar on how to match gear for any species Thursday at 7 p.m. at the FIB’ers club meeting at Newport-Mesa Christian Center in Costa Mesa. Details: (714) 893-5051. . . . Saddleback Outfitters is conducting a beginners fly-fishing course Friday from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. at Imperial Golf Course in Brea. Cost is $75. Details: (310) 697-8870. . . . The Pomona Gun Show will be held Saturday and Sunday at Fairplex Park. Hours are 9-5 both days. Cost is $6 for adults, $5 for ages 12-18 and free for children. . . . Rod-maker Glenn Blackwood will give a seminar on fly rods July 14 at 7:30 p.m. at the Pasadena Casting Club’s clubhouse in Arroyo Seco. Details: (213) 667-7510.