Galapagos Islands – Sometimes you don’t know how good your fishery is, until you are forced to try something new. While the Galapagos will always be synonymous with Striped Marlin, a few slower seasons and the good skippers start looking to other alternatives. This is exactly what Braden Escobar with Ecua Gringo has been doing. Braden tells us the last few seasons, the Striped Marlin have not shown up in the epic proportions they are used to (30+ Day). While they could still target the plentiful gamefish (Tuna, Wahoo) many of his clients want Billfish, so off he went to find them.

There have always been Black Marlin and Blue Marlin in these waters, but they were generally caught while looking for Striped Marlin. While there is good fishing 12-Months a year, Escobar starts his season in December and generally ends it by May mostly due to calmer weather. The Blacks and the Blues could very well be there in June through November, but they have not put in the time to target them, at least not yet. It may not matter as it turns out as they are definitely around in March and April. Unlike the Striped Marlin, this is not a numbers fishery, but they get good size, with plenty of fish over 500 lbs. That is not to say they can’t get the numbers, just recently he raised 2 Striped Marlin, 4 Blue Marlin and a Black Marlin. An envious day no matter where you fish!

Braden started Ecua Gringo back in 2000 and was instrumental in allowing recreational fishing in the Galapagos Islands. In their 13 years of fishing, they have released over 5,000 Billfish, so they have had great success over the years. Perhaps now, they can add to this success with the discovery of these Blue and Black Marlin. Stay tuned to the Billfish Report and we will keep you up to date on their progress.