She’s a natural: newbie lands catch of lifetime

EVERYONE who fishes dreams of a catch like Alicia Pasfield’s.

Alicia Pasfield reeled in a 1000 pound marlin on charter boat Iona II off the caoast of the Daintree. Picture: Stewart McLean

EVERYONE who fishes dreams of a catch like Alicia Pasfield’s.

About 4pm Saturday, Ms Pasfield caught a 1000-pound (453kg) black marlin on 130lb (60kg) line using a queenfish as bait.

The 35-year-old from NSW was fishing with her partner, Adam Jordan, and two friends on board the Iona II just off the Daintree, north of Cairns, when she nabbed the catch of her life.

“It was the first time I’ve been in the chair and I was really nervous,” Ms Pasfield said.

“It was an amazing experience. The crew set up and they dropped the bait, but the baits were only out for a couple of minutes.

“We got it to the boat three times in 30 minutes, which is a lot easier than a lot of them usually are, apparently.”

Some people can fight them for hours, so to land it so quickly was a feat.

This is Ms Pasfield’s first big catch. “I have just started (fishing) this year so I was very blown away to even have the chance to get out there and experience that, because people come from all over the world to experience it,” she said.

Ms Pasfield came away from the experience a little bruised but that hasn’t stopped her from getting right into it.

“I have seen a lot of videos of Adam and what he has done with other people coming on board,” she said.

“I have watched them and how it all works, but to actually get in there yourself ... I understand now why it’s a very addictive sport.”