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Marlin Video

I have always been drawn to the bluewater. The ocean has forever been a central part of my very existence. My earliest memories revolve around crabbing, fishing, claming and exploring the many mysteries of the salt water. Throughout my adolescents and early teenage years, I would sit on the shores of the ocean and fish from sun up until sundown and sometimes into the night. My curiosity often wondered as my eyes would scan the horizon. “There must be giants out there?” I was 16 years old, young and naïve and a bit bored with what the inshore waters had to offer. While my friends and fellow school mates were getting summer jobs washing dishes, I was determined to find a way to transform my bluewater curiosities into an adventurous reality and see for myself what type of monsters prowled the off-shore waters. So, I walked the commercial fishing docks in Pt. Judith Rhode Island looking for a job as a deckhand on an off-shore commercial fishing boat. Most captains who saw me laughed and would not even entertain the thought of bringing a greenhorn young kid like me out to sea. These were not recreational sport fishing boats; these were long range commercial draggers and long liners. The crews on most of these commercial fishing boats were rough around the edges, to say the very least. So, the days passed and all I got for my effort was a lot of “No’s” and a few laughs at my expense. I was beginning to think that my dreams of truly experiencing the bluewater were never going to materialize. Then, I

stumbled across a captain who was rebuilding his engine. I asked him, “You lookin’ for any deck hands?” He smirked and it was obvious that he could not figure out whether I was joking or serious. When he realized my determination and willingness to “do anything” he said, “Tell ya what kid, my boat is going to be on dry dock here for 2 weeks. You show up every day at sunrise and work through sunset. I won’t pay you, but I will feed you lunch every day. If you make it through the two weeks without being late and without complaining, I will consider making you part of the crew as a deck hand on the next trip.” Looking back, I know that he thought I would quit and never make it. But, that was not the case. I showed up before sunrise every day and worked long into the night cutting chains, mending nets, painting steel, splicing lines, cleaning fish bins and organizing gear. The two weeks came to an end, the regular crew stumbled back onto the boat with their bags and the captain said to me, “Jeremy, I appreciate your help, but the entire crew came back and there is no room for you.” I drove home, heartbroken. Then, while my grandmother was frying up some eggs for me the phone rang. Instantly, I knew this was my call and I ran to answer the phone. “You still want to go on this trip?” I responded, “Absolutely!” The rest is history and from that day throughout my college years, I worked on scallop draggers, cod draggers, long liners and gill-netters from Rhode Island to Florida to Alaska. I would sometimes spend up to 30 days at a time fishing 24/7 and 200-300 miles off-shore for swordfish, mako shark and various species of tuna. I saw the most amazing things during my days at sea and learned so much about the ocean and fishing. I saw and caught the monsters I had dreamed about. Giant sharks of all types, huge swordfish and marlin, dorado, big-eye tuna, yellow fin tuna, huge seas, massive storms and I realized how easily the ocean could swallow me whole. I had a new respect for the ocean and a new love for the bluewater and the monsters that only dwell in the deep blue water. At 23’ish I graduated from college and hung up the oil slickers and decided to pursue a life and career on land. Since that time, I have often been surrounded by all the annoyances of life on land and found myself daydreaming of the simple life at sea and the bluewater. A couple months ago, my friend Jeff was telling me about some of the bluewater fly fishing he does in Mexico. My interest peaked immediately and I thought to myself, “Just imagine Jeremy, fly fishing to the monsters in the bluewater.” This was an opportunity that seemed especially made for me. I was not interested in just catching marlin, dorado and tuna any old way; I had already done that. What interested me was re-connecting with the bluewater in a different capacity. I imagined fly fishing the bluewater and trying to get the off-shore monsters to take my fly. Something about that scenario seemed so much more rewarding for me, and so inherently different than the type of fishing I had done on the commercial boats. Rather than putting a price tag on the heads of these monsters and catching and killing hundreds of them per day; I simply wanted some pictures and video of the hunt and the chase and the catch. I wanted to catch a deep water monster on the fly and then release it back into the bluewater. Fortunately, the trip was a success and once again I re-connected with the bluewater and saw things that I had never seen before. I, once again, felt infinitely small in comparison to the massiveness and power of the bluewater and the monsters that lurk within. This was the trip of a lifetime for me. And, as always, my fly fishing journey continues to evolve and constantly amaze me.