FISHING NOTES : Mad Marlin Takes on Two Boats and Three Fishermen

It wasn’t any holiday weekend for fish as the denizens of the deep gobbled up bait.

Otto Kowal of Long Beach and 7-year-old son Mickey were fishing from their skiff at Horseshoe Kelp over the holiday weekend for an hour without a bite, so Kowal raised anchor and made the run to Catalina Island within an hour through calm seas and no wind.

His only stop there was the east end quarry. He was fishing a cast away from kelp when a marlin jumped over the bow of the small boat, missing the two by inches.

It happened as the boy was reeling in a bass and the marlin followed it to the surface.

“We both were using only 10-pound test line and could never hold that hungry jumper with light tackle,” Kowal said.

Switching to a rock cod rod and reel, he made several casts using bait and a jig. The fish hit. While Kowal tried to reel it in after peeling most of the line, the marlin started to move the boat toward another angler in a small rubber raft.

Erik Landsfield of Carson was hooked up and following his fish as Kowal’s skiff approached. When the two were only a yard apart they discovered the marlin had been snagged by Landsfield and had tangled with Kowal’s line.

After an hour the tired marlin was brought to the surface.

The three anglers also limited out on bass and had an 11 1/3-pound sheepshead to show for their holiday.