A Red Deer angler hit the fishing jackpot when in two days he caught two large wahoo and a rare white marlin.
Warren Jensen, a construction worker, was in Barbados over the Christmas holidays and after spending time with the family he was eager to get out and ocean fish.
He went out several times during his holiday and wasn’t having much luck to start his trip. His first three trips, with six-hour shifts out on the water, he didn’t catch anything.
So the guy who leads the fishing trips on his boat gave Jensen some sage advice.
“He said go home, hug a big tree and have two shots of rum,” said Jensen.
His fourth trip was supposed to happen in the afternoon, but that changed quickly when he was beckoned to get out on the water again.
The guys who run the boat Jensen used had gone out earlier with an older couple, who were unable to reel the fish in.
So they came ashore and went and got Jensen early. Out on the water they went and simultaneously all four lines out the back of the boat went as they had hooked fish.
“I hooked four of them (fish) all at the same time,” said Jensen.
“There were only two of us to reel all the fish in. I was sitting in a chair with three rods just smoking.
“What happened is a school of wahoo had come and hit the four lines.”
Jensen said they were only able to reel in two of the wahoo because he had to keep a tight line with fish, otherwise they would be lost.
“I caught eight fish within an hour there,” said Jensen. “The bite was on.
“You can fish for three days and get nothing and then, when the bite is on, it was a lot of fun.”
The very next day Jensen went out again, but this time he came back with a rarer catch. A white marlin, about 10 miles out.
“The marlin was probably the best fight because he tail-walked,” said Jensen.
“He tail-walked twice and he rose out of the water about three or four times. It didn’t take that long though, 15 maybe 20 minutes at the most, but he spun a lot of rod. It was a good time though.”
When they got the fish along side the boat they realized it had swallowed the bait.
It was injured too much, and would have died had it been let go. Jensen said if there was a chance for the marlin to live, he would have been returned to the ocean.
“Some people like to golf, some people like to do whatever, I save up all year to do this,” said Jensen. “I blow my savings in a week.”
Since 2000, he has tried to go down to the area to fish at least once a year. In that time Jensen has never had back-to-back days as good as this.
“I hit the fishing jackpot.”
mcrawford@www.reddeeradvocate.com