Catching Hard Head
The allure of a fishing lure, especially a brand-new one, is whether or not it will catch fish. The answer was a resounding “yes,” and in a big way, for the first official lure crafted by Capt. Marlin Parker of Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. On what started as a slow fishing day for Marlin and his charter clients, as well as the Kona fleet on that September 25, 1978, ended with a then Hawaiian island record catch of a 1,257-pound Pacific blue marlin hung at the dock. Unfortunately, that first lure was lost to the ocean depths. But it did confirm Marlin had a knack for lure-making, and he subsequently founded Marlin Magic. Today, Marlin, with business partner Gary Eoff, continues to own and operate the manufacturing business that has over the years landed big game lures on sportfishers worldwide. Marlin also continues to charter his 57’ Spencer, Marlin Magic, out of Honokohau Harbor, pulling his famous fish catching lures some 200 days a year.
A NATURAL TALENT
Marlin is one of those sportfishing captains who was born with saltwater running through his veins. His father, Capt. George Parker of IFGA Hall of Fame renown, was among the pioneering charter fishing captains in Hawaii in the 1950s. The senior Parker also\ famously made his own big game lures. He used leftover materials from a nearby hotel renovation site, such as shiny chrome pieces cut from towel rods, wooden dowels, rubber tubing strips and vinyl upholstery material, and added some lead weight for stability. The first use proved its prowess when Parker senior reeled in a 500-pound marlin. Then, on November 13, 1954, when Parker was in route to Honolulu to put his 47’ charter boat, the Mona H in drydock, he singlehandedly and sans a fighting chair reeled in an all-tackle record 1,002-pound Pacific blue marlin using one of his homemade bathroom fixture lures. Two months later, Marlin was born. It only seemed natural to the family that the grand event be commemorated by naming the tyke in honor of the grander fish. Of note is that this catch was eventually recognized as a Pacific blue marlin, something the senior Parker worked diligently with scientists to accurately classify. This first grander caught off Hawaii also put the island on the map as a big fish destination, something Marlin has enjoyed to forge his own successful career and use as fertile grounds for testing his lures.
“I didn’t want to follow in my dad’s footsteps at first,” Parker says. “I wanted to be a contractor. So I went to boarding school on Maui, ended up on a construction crew after high school and then went to California for three years, where I got my license and began contract jobs to get my feet wet. When I came back to the Big Island in 1976, the idea was for me to start my own business. But construction was slow. My dad said he had a crew problem on one of his boats. I told him I’d help him out, but only for three or four months. That was 47 years ago.”
Marlin took the helm of the 46’ Sampan, Islander. He got his captain’s license the next year. When he wasn’t fishing or performing boat maintenance, he’d sit in the cockpit with grits of sandpaper, his miter box and saw, and fashion his own lures. Back then, much of Marlin’s research and development work in shaping the lures happened right on the boat. Then he’d pour the resin and finish everything else at his house after fishing hours.
“My friends would come by, and I’d give them a lure. When they broke off during a fight, they came back for another. I told them ‘the next one will cost you.’ That’s how I started my lure business,” he says.
Four years later, Marlin started working with SoCal craftsman and jeweler Eoff to create a line of signature lures with abalone shell inserts. Eoff, who had moved to Kona, then became a partner in Marlin Magic Lures.
GRANDER-CATCHING FIRST LURE
The most successful lure, and what might be called Marlin’s first official lure, is the one that landed him the 1,257-pound Pacific blue marlin. It was made of pure pigmented white resin with a 90-degree cut, a 1 ½-inch diameter head and a 12-inch skirt. While the original lure is lost in the drink, his Hard Head lure line is still available. The advantage is they are easy to run, especially in very rough water.
The weather was fine, but the fish weren’t biting for Marlin or the rest of the Kona charter fleet on that September day in 1978. He had five customers on a split charter, and by mid-afternoon, two of them were more concerned with being back at the dock by 5 p.m. to catch a happy hour booze cruise.
“I was pretty frustrated with the fishing, so I decided to bring all my lures inside the 4th wave behind the boat, or less than 50 yards away. That way I could keep an eye on them and see how they ran. If I didn’t like it, I’d bring it in, change the face or do this or that. I was pretty much doing some R&D that day,” he says.
It was about 3:30 p.m. when the lure in the first wave, or about 24 feet behind the boat, went off. The Islander was a stone’s throw from shore in about 90 fathoms of water when the short line went off with a bang and started to scream. The crew’s first thought was that it was a wahoo since they were so near to land. The angler grabbed the rod, and when his reel was nearly spooled, the fish turned suddenly, aimed straight back at the boat and did a belly flop at the side of the vessel. It was then easy to see, a marlin that was over 14 feet long. Marlin slammed the engine into reverse. He kept the fish from nearly spooling the 80-pound line on the reel again by keeping up with the marlin at 9 knots as it headed out to sea. This enabled the angler to crank enough line in for the mate to eventually grasp the leader. Add to that a lucky gaff shot, and the fish was caught. The Islander had no transom door, and in the fight to keep the fish next to the boat, the leader got caught in the rudder and the lure was lost to the depths. Back at the dock, a crowd gathered to see what was at that time the largest Pacific blue marlin caught in Hawaii. That wasn’t the largest fish Marlin has caught. He weighed in a 1,400-pound Pacific blue in 1990.
SECRET TO SUCCESS
“I never molded any lures that didn’t catch fish,” says Marlin. “All the lures that we have available today have caught several fish before we even mold them. Basically, they’re laid and hand shaped, and then we use that prototype and see what kind of action we get from the lure. If it keeps getting jumped on, regularly, that’s the one that gets molded.”
Marlin estimates that he and Gary have created over 200 different lure designs in their careers, whether they be straight lures or straight cut lures, jetted lures or scoop lures. He continues to come out with about five new designs a year. After all, he says, it’s not only about trying to attract fish but also the vendors and ultimately the fishermen who are always looking for that “something new.”
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