Two blokes land blue marlin out of Waihau bay on 15.5 foot boat on Friday 25 Feb 22: Trip report on the small ship Whitebait 1550 Stabicraft skippered by Steve with me as deckhand. Started on Monday scouting out the seas off Waihau bay, ocean smacked us up a couple times but safety is paramount for us so we headed back in with our tails between our legs by lunchtime each day till Thursday. By Thursday we were venturing out to 1000 meters of water (FYI we've gone way deeper than that before snagging BFT). Snagged these little bonito and kingies along the current lines loaded with weed most days. Got smoked big time on Thursday avo, couldn't stop the bugger on 100lb gear, had a sulk for a bit after being snapped off but skipper told me to sort myself out and grow up. Reconstituted and hit the 1000 meter mark Friday AM, set lures, hour later shotgun 24kg screams, skipper tells me to take 3 deep breaths and calm down, 45 minutes later, the result.....