THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 4, 1996 TAG: 9607030723
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C8 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BOB HUTCHINSON
LENGTH: 31 lines
Like most species, white marlin are wherever you can find them, usually along the edge of the Continental Shelf.
You often find them in water between 30 and 100 fathoms deep - that's 180 to 600 feet. Usually, but not always. At times they can be in as little as 15 fathoms (90 feet) or as much as 1,000 fathoms (6,000 feet).
Their location is controlled by the same two factors that guide the movement of most forms of migratory wildlife, from black ducks to blue marlin: water temperature and food availability.
White marlin like to hang out in water that's between 74 and 82 degrees.
Finding that temperature is the easy part. You can ask other fishermen, look at satellite-produced temperature charts of the ocean or go see for yourself, although the latter is a bit chancy.
When it comes to food, things get a bit complicated. Some 78-degree water along the edge of the Continental Shelf is loaded with baitfish. And some is almost devoid of life.
Charter boat skippers are the ones who usually know where the food is. They're on the ocean almost every day of the fishing season.
Without that kind of expertise, anglers seeking white marlin - or any other species - are left to their own devices, be it a satellite chart or a dependable source of dockside information.
Even then, some billfishing days will be diamonds, others will be stone. That's why they call it ``fishing'' instead of ``catching.'' by CNB