Riley Payne, an MSU senior and Meridian resident, caught a 790 pound monster Blue Marlin recently near Harbor Island in the Bahamas. Members on the successful trip were Ronald Billiot, Andrew Dalgleish, Jordan Sackett, Rich Andretta, Captain Jay Saiter and his father Joe Saiter and Jay's nephew Paul Snider.

    Mississippi State senior Riley Payne had no idea that the BP oil spill in the Gulf would turn out to be a positive thing for him and his fishing this summer. Payne went to the Gulf Coast to serve as a deckhand on a boat. He was aware of the oil spill but he wasn’t really thinking about it much when he started his first day on the boat. Though he had hoped to spend a few weeks on the water, it didn’t take long for things to go south on his plans as they came face to face with a 50 mile long oil slick on the opening day of snapper season.

    Captain Jay Saiter knew things weren’t good and made alternate plans as the fishing was shut down in the Gulf pretty quickly. Undeterred, the ship’s owners and Saiter made alternate plans and headed for the Bahamas on Payne’s second day on the job. “They asked me if I’d like to live on the boat for the summer,” said Payne. Of course he was open for the opportunity that quickly turned into a memorable experience.

    “I thought I’d work about three weeks and then go back to Meridian,” he continued. However, the excited young angler spent the summer on the boat spear fishing for lobster, snapper and groupers. And he even swam with a tiger shark near the edge of a reef. Though he was having a great time the best was yet to come.

Unforeseen future

    During the last couple of weeks Riley experienced the trip of a lifetime. Shortly after getting on the water with the captain and about eight other folks, they hooked up with a 250 pound Blue Marlin. They had only gone about eight miles offshore near Harbor Island when the big fish struck. After a “short” 30 minute battle they wore him down, and tagged and released him.

    “We put our bait out and started fishing again and about 20 minutes later another Blue Marlin struck and took off,” Payne said. “I grabbed the rod and reel and the Marlin exploded through the water. That fish looked like a freight train as it came out of the water.” As Payne battled the Marlin it quickly became evident that this was not the usual blue marlin. This was a monster fish!

    “As soon as I got hold of the fish he started stripping line out,” Payne continued. “I fought it and finally got it near the boat, close enough to see the leader, but when he saw the boat he bore down and went straight to the bottom!”

    “We were fishing in 2,000 feet of water and that marlin went all the way to the bottom and we couldn’t do anything with him for awhile.” The massive fish continued to battle and bull his way back and forth but in the end he was no match for Payne as they finally wore him down  after four hours of battling back and forth.

    “Captain Saiter said that the Marlin was the fish of a lifetime, and that he’d never seen such a fight,” said Payne. Though they normally tag and release the marlin while practicing catch and release, this monster fish was a lifetime trophy and worth weighing and photographing. The Blue monster tipped the scales at 790 pounds with a live weight at the beginning of the battle estimated at 855 pounds!

Plans expanded

    “I just thought I’d work a few weeks on the boat and do some bottom fishing,” Payne related. “I never had an idea that I’d wind up spending the summer in the Bahamas and catch the fish of a lifetime!”

    While the oil spill wasn’t good for most folks, Payne did what many Mississippians do in times of trouble; he didn’t quit but made the best of a bad situation. In the process, he got to experience perhaps the best summer of his life. In the process he caught the fish of his lifetime!

    “Looking back on my summer I made many memories that will stick with me forever but when I think of fishing I will always see that beast of a fish tail walking across the blue water with the sun shining down bringing out all her beauty,” Payne said!

    Take it from Riley; never give up on your plans even when all around you are predicting gloom and doom. Big obstacles sometimes turn into great opportunities and Payne surely experienced one of the biggest triumphs of his life by catching that monster marlin!

    Contact  Mike Giles at

601-917-3898 or e-mail him at Giles1958@bellsouth.net