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Black Bart International, LLC :: Help zone
History |

1963
through 2003
Infected
for life, my first fight with a Blue Marlin
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Bart Miller
Age
17 ... Yellow Tail Bonanza!
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My
first Captain's job
Aboard the
36 foot. Haoule Sampan charter boat, Adelante
The Adelante's charter rate was $85.00 per
day. I went fishing nearly every day. This old wood boat was hard
work ... she was seeing her last days. There was a collision here
between my passion & fury to learn more about the sea and
her old creaky cracking bones. Big game fishing had become a compulsion
that was consuming me completely. The hours spent fishing were
long, and self inflicted, still I loved every moment of it. |
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Giant
Blue Marlin would visit me
However ...
my tackle and skills were not up to the task!
Each day after fishing I would tour the the
lobby of the Kona Inn hotel to view and dream about catching fish
like Capt. Henry Chee’s grander Blue Marlin. Chee’s
taxidermy mount was on display for all to view. The dream of capturing
one of these old, clever, powerful, ill tempered grandmas swimming
in these warm Hawaiian waters seemed most unlikely. How very wrong
I was. At this time in my youth, records were out there to be
broken and they surely will be, as they were for me. Never judge
your fishing by conventional measures of time ... seconds, minutes,
hours, days, months, or even years. Sum the total up much later
in time. This is a more kindly manner of measure. Your will and
spirit will be better served. |
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Penn
Senator reels, wimpy rods, and lots of fish
Thrills
and surprises were the menu of each day
There she is short
bait, snap, crack, pop, birds nest, smoking reel, how the hell
did that happen? |
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Sharing
the bounty with the locals
There you
go Mrs. Erickson, enjoy the fresh Marlin sashimi
These were very happy
times for me. Sunshine and Marlin-a-Plenty, nary a care in the
world ... just waiting knowingly for the next bite. |
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Climbing
to the top
Let me see
now how can I fix that last screw up
I would not accept
failure. I would have to fix all the problems until they were
gone .. long gone! |
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My
second boat, a 38 foot Uniflite named Kiholo
Hawaiian
translation - Big Fish Hook
Above photo shows
my Kona record of 5 Blue Marlin in one day, all caught on live
bait. Live bait was my method of choice. Note the 8 lb. Aku, Oceanic
Skip Jack baitfish front & center. Lure fishing for me at
this time was difficult at best. Changing from live bait to lures
did not come easy for me. It took time to learn the many tricks
of the Master Hawaiian lure fishermen. To learn these techniques,
I literally hunted down the best talent I could find that would
teach me artificial lure fishing. I could hardly sleep those nights
while waiting for the next early morning charter so that I might
practice what I had just learned. My program went like this: Early
A.M.. live bait, Late P.M. live bait, everything in the middle
- Hawaiian artificial lure fishing. Practice, practice, and then
more practice makes perfect! |
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My
third boat
A 38 foot
Bertram
She came loaded
with hot new heavy tackle, heavier rods, 130 lb. Fin Nor reels,
gaffs, Murray Product fighting chair, 1000 fathom recorder, top
notch crew, along with plenty of charters that kept me on the
water hunting for Tu Tu. Things started to happen for me, tournament
wins, big fish, World Records, Kona records, I knew for certain
that I was on my way. Even my lure fishing had improved. I now
had a good balance between live bait & artificial bait techniques. |
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My
forth boat
A 33 foot
homemade Banana patch boat
She stayed in Kona
for a short term as I moved her and myself to Bay of Islands,
New Zealand in search of new adventure. I moved lock stock &
barrel to the beautiful, historic, mystical Bay of Islands. I
shared fishing ideas with great and famous Captains. It was a
turning point in my career. One year after fishing New Zealand
I went on to fish the 1970 season at Cairns, G.B.R. 1000 pound
Black Marlin and World Records were out there, down under, for
the taking. This was the turning point in my life as a Captain.
I learned so very much about how to handle big fish, boat handling,
leadering techniques, and tackle made to do the job. When I finally
returned to Kona from Australia, I was more ready than ever. Once
again, I shared what I had learned with my Hawaiian peers. |
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My
fifth boat
The 42 foot
Merritt, Black Bart
My love affair with
this boat grew greater with each passing day. Virtually all of
my dreams came true while I owned and operated this truly fantastic
fishing machine. She had it all. We were as one from 1973 to 1994.
She carried me from one victory to another. We were like warrior
and horse to the very finish. I sold her in 1994. Her name today
is Huntress. Wearing her new name she was still is up
to old tricks catching an additional two Blue Marlin over 1000
pounds. She has caught more 1000 pound Blues than any boat in
Hawaiian waters. This great machine provided the most perfect
platform from which to perform that I could have ever asked for.
For starters, we won the Hawaiian International Allison Yellow
Fin Tuna tournament with back-to-back victories. The latter is
still a tournament record. My team won that tournament by a point
separation of over 2000 points. No contest win! Shortly after,
my team won the Hawaiian International tournament giving me the
highest score ever achieved. As top Captain for the Henry Chee
Memorial trophy, this was my second win in this tournament. Tournament
fishing aboard the Black Bart was a joy. I also achieved my personal
goal of catching a grander the first one weighed- 1265 lbs. The
second weighed in at 1656 lbs. This was and is the largest Blue
Marlin ever taken in Kona, and the second largest Marlin ever
taken in the world. |
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The
memories are great fun for me
Catching
Grander on live bait, dead bait, & lures
Catching granders
in three different oceans! These were some of my fondest memories.
Along with receiving mail from fishing buddies telling me about
their blue water encounters, their highs and their lows, the good
luck, no luck, and bad luck stories. We all shared while playing
this salty game of hide & seek. |
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Receiving
the Henry Chee Memorial Trophy
For record-breaking
score
The 42 foot Merritt
Black Bart made the difference. Guess, who the fishermen
on my right is if you can guess correctly I will send you a surprise! |
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The
Bahamas Billfish Championships
Seasons 1996
& 1997
Fishing the Bahamas
Billfish Championships during the seasons 1996 & 1997 will
always remain in my mind as one of the supreme competitive tests
I ever experienced. Our team had more than its share of good luck
winning a considerable amount of events offered during that magical
fishing time of my life. This catch brought us into the winners
circle at Walkers. We got this incredible bite with only 45 minutes
left on the tournament's clock. Fonda Huizenga was our angler
... all 100 pounds of her! She and her wonderful husband Wayne
(on the left) offered the crew complete freedom to perform as
best they knew how, with no interference, just constant trust
and support. We all had the times of our lives together. Three
Captains did not spoil the soup ... Capt. Scott Levin, Capt.
Bobby Brown, Capt. Bart Miller ... the soup was the best I have
ever tasted. |
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Team
Black Bart
Crooked Island,
Bahamas
This
talented group of men made it possible for me to complete a new
Black Bart video which encompassed our successful attempt
to satellite-tag Blue Marlin, as well as video from above and
below water from a little known secret Island. The great fishing
and lifestyle we all shared for one month, it was fantastic |
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The
proverbial one that got away
A six-hour
battle which went on into the night
Finally, the greatest
of all my fish encounters. Whilst 99% a gonner, still managed
to escape breaking the 80 lb. line. She was along side and ready
for the taking. How big you ask? To that I have a stock answer
... if you weighed the head alone from the pecks forward you would
have yourself a large Grander. My estimate was somewhere between
2000 or 3000 pounds I’ll split the difference and call her
Tu Tu Tonner plus 500 lbs. |
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Great
fishing to you all, Aloha.
Captain Bart
Miller
P.S. I’m glad
I didn’t catch her, you see I couldn’t live with all
that luck! |
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