Iowa Tourists Battle With Record Marlin

For three fishermen from Iowa, a vacation to the East Cape region of Baja California proved to be anything but restful. But they aren’t complaining.

Not after landing what is believed to be the largest marlin ever officially weighed and recorded in the sleepy resort area about 100 miles north of Cabo San Lucas on the Sea of Cortez.

The Pacific blue marlin weighed 950 pounds, measured 14 feet and had a 79-inch girth. So strong was the big fish that it dragged the fishermen around the gulf for 21 hours, finally coming up to the boat defeated and near death at 7:45 Sunday morning.

The fishermen and skipper Gavino, of the 29-foot Relentless, were in only slightly better shape.

“They were absolutely exhausted,” said the boat’s owner, Les Kepler of East Cape Sportfishing.

The anglers--Russ Dormann, Paul Fitzpatrick and Gene Juegee--were reportedly en route home Tuesday and couldn’t be reached for comment. According to Kepler, they left the beach at 6:45 a.m. Saturday and successfully landed a small striped marlin at about 8:30.

At about 10 a.m., Gavino spotted what he thought was a large swordfish sunning itself on the surface. It turned out to be a giant marlin, and it was hungry.

Using its thick bill, it repeatedly batted the teaser lure--the big one without the hook used to attract billfish--but refused to take any of the hooked lures. Gavino then cast a live fish and it was inhaled.

“The fish took the boat in a northeast direction all day,” said Kepler, who monitored the fight via radio from shore. “It towed that boat 12 miles, and that’s nothing. It got dark. They turned the lights on and, like most fish do when they start hurting, it went south. It took that boat about 30 miles, all the way to the [Los Frailes] area.

“Finally, at 6 o’clock [Sunday morning], they said they had the fish close and were starved and wanted coffee. At 7:20 they called me and said they had got him at boat and at 7:40 they had him [tied to] the swim step.”

After a 4 1/2-hour boat trip back to the beach, the three fishermen, who took turns handling the rod during the ordeal, stepped off the boat in a collective daze.

“They didn’t really know what they’d done,” Kepler said. “They knew they had caught a nice big fish. But they really didn’t understand.”

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Bugged bass: Field & Stream magazine reports that the owner and three others at Maryland’s Charles County fish farm were raided by wardens and police, who caught the group via radio signals emitted by bass that biologists had tagged with tiny, electronic devices.

In all, 3,000 largemouth bass were bugged and put back into the Potomac River as part of a growth and migration study. Some of them wound up at the farm, which tipped off wardens.

The fish crooks reportedly were poaching bass from the river, storing them at the farm and selling them to Asian markets and restaurants in the United States. The ring illegally sold more than 40,000 pounds of bass at more than $150,000 in profits before the bust.

Briefly

CONSERVATION--The Billfish Foundation, a group that promotes and rewards conservation of billfish around the world, named the winners in its 1994 release certificate program. In all, 8,067 billfish were reported released, an increase of 19% from 1993. Skipper Benito Agundez of the Cabo San Lucas-based Tracy Ann of the Pisces Fleet was honored for releasing 132 striped marlin last year.

BOATING--National marine weather forecasts for any boating area in the United States are now available via touch-tone and cellular phones, through a service called Weather Watch. The service, which costs 98 cents a minute, or 85 cents a minute if a prepaid account is opened, is being offered through the Boat Owners Assn. of the United States. Weather Watch number: (900) 933-2628. Account information: (800) 683-6622.

CALENDAR--Ronnie Kovach, who has fishing programs on ESPN and KABC radio, will conduct a free seminar on coastal saltwater fishing June 13 from 7-9 p.m. at Sport Chalet in Torrance. Details: (310) 316-6634. . . . A two-part Southern California marlin seminar will be held June 14 and 21 from 7-9:30 p.m. at the Balboa Bay Club in Newport Beach. A $50 donation will go toward the United Anglers’ white sea bass enhancement program. Details: (714) 645-5000, ext. 177. . . . The Great June Jamboree, sponsored by Western Outdoor News and Traveland U.S.A., will be held June 17-18 at Traveland in Irvine. The event features RV seminars and displays, and a kids’ fishing pond. No charge. Details on the fishing portion: (714) 546-4370. RV details: (714) 651-0945.