Best Method; natural baits or artificials.
WHITE: Greenish-blue above , silvery-white below. Light blue stripes may be present. Dorsal and anal fins are rounded, and may contains spots. The lateral line is conspicuous on the white marlin; but, can not be seen on the blue.
Best Method; natural baits or artificials.
BLUE: cobolt blue along back shading to silvery white on bottom, with verticalnarrow dark bars along sides. Anal fins are sharply pointed. Dorsal fin does not have spots.
Catching one of these fish is a lifetime experience for most anglers. An encounter with either species requires a trip offshore, often outside the Louisiana state's territorial waters.
King to the hill is the blue marlin which averages approximately 300 pounds and can live over 30 years . It is considerably larger than the white marlin which averages a modest 60 pounds and seldom lives longer than 10 years.
Tackle and Techniques, This is a specialized type of fishing requiring expensive, heavy duty rods and reels. Trolling is the traditional method used to fish for these billfish.
Fighting one of these fish is usually done from a special fighting chair mounted in the working area of the boat. Once a fish is hooked the angler is strapped into the seat so he or she isn't pulled out of the boat. Boating a fish also requires a captain who knows how to maneuver the boat to keep the fish from breaking off. A few brave and experienced anglers will fight these fish from a standing position, but this is not recommended for beginners.
A slow troll of a live bait, such as a bonita, works well but trolling an artificial bait is the most popular method of fishing. Special big game lures can be trolled at a faster speed than a live bait allowing anglers to cover more territory.
The lures have a hard plastic head that resembles a fish head with a plastic skirt attached that looks like a Hawaiian Hula dancer would wear. The hooks are rigged separately to the lure body.
For most of the year, Grand Isle with mild temperatures and clear weather, is a leisurely place that attracts visitors who come to fish, walk the beach, explore the dense undergrowth at the center of the island and observe the hundreds of thousands of migrating birds who make Grand Isle their first stop for rest when they return from the tropics across the central Gulf of Mexico.
