The last time we wrote about Paul Mason, the well-known US film maker (Issue 34) it was to tell you about his boyhood fishing adventures on the Des Plaines River, just to the north of Chicago, where he and his father were after carp and catfish. He had a delightful story to tell, and Nedra, who went to school with Paul, and I, loved hearing it.

Since then Paul has moved on. Currently he was after blue marlin in the south Pacific. Did he get any? You bet he did. When Paul goes after fish, he gets them (recall that time on the Des Plaines when he got that twenty pound carp). Vanuatu, two hours by air from Australia, has become his long-time fishing ground, where he has a house, and from where he likes to watch the sun set. Now he was in relaxing mood, after completing his latest film, co-produced with Richard Gere: "Hachiko – a dog story" - to premiere in Tokyo in July.

Paul signed up again this year for the Vanuatu Marlin Classic competition. They go by numbers – of fish you catch – plus the weight of the line. The lighter the line, the more points you get. It’s a tag and release operation.

Paul fished aboard the "Shogun," a 34-footer, skippered by Peter Phillips. He said: "It's the first boat I fished on when I came to Vanuatu. I like the skipper. He loves to fish, and has first class equipment. I have gone with him on every one of the four Classics in which I participated."

Paul reported back: "The Marlin tournament has just ended and we did not win because we did not catch enough marlin. I got one we estimated at 300 pounds, on 15 kg line (30 thread), which I thought was excellent. We won the prize for catching the biggest tuna, which is like going to the Academy Awards and learning you won for the short film in the documentary division and the dinner was Thursday night."

While not actually into the money, there was nevertheless a prize for Paul’s efforts, a billy-club for dispatching the catch, as well as a “crimper.” (I must confess my ignorance: I don’t know what a “crimper” is.)

The winning boat set a new Vanuatu record for blue marlin. Coming aboard for the competition cost 1200 US dollars a day for the boat-ride. A smaller boat is available for five hundred dollars a day.

Paul was out again on the "In Deep," skippered by the Frenchman Nousnous, bringing in, in a single day, two blue Marlin, and four tuna. "I was pooped," Paul said."Too much pulling."

Awards in the Vanuatu Marlin Classic are not just billy-clubs. There’s cash too – with 60,000 Australian dollars doled out to winners. You get points for each capture, and you get more points if you’re prepared to take a chance on thinner line – like, for example, bringing in a 300 pound marlin on 30 lb breaking strength. For that brave effort you are awarded 1875 points. If you are of the more pusillanimous type, you can go up to 130 pound breaking strength, but there’s only 800 points in that. You also need to carry an observer on board, one appointed by the VMC committee; how else would anyone know if you had actually caught a fish that had been tagged, and thrown back in.

For further information:

www.vanuatumarlinclassic.com/about.html

© Sidney Du Broff 2009