Valentine Thomas on Catching a 400lb Marlin

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Valentine Thomas

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Valentine Thomas is a former attorney and financier turned free-diver, spear-fisher, chef, and author.

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What's the biggest fish you've ever speared? In Marlin it was about 400 pounds. Holy shit! Was it attached to a rope? Yeah, it was like... So you're holding on to it? Like an elastic. The spear is attached to a bungee which is attached to a buoy. So the buoy, when a fish takes off, the buoy takes off. So you knew you were going for Marlin at the time? No, not at all. Wow. I'm swimming for tuna actually. 400 pounds. I was very scared that he would spear me back, which you know would have been kind of fair enough. Sort of. Yeah. Damn, is that possible? Would you attack you? That's him? Holy shit! I was just guessing. I don't know that that said officially. Yeah, that's it. You would know. Holy fuck. That's a black Marlin. That thing is huge! What did that taste like? I've never had Marlin. It's really good. It's kind of similar to swordfish. Yeah? It's awesome meat. Wow. Look at the size of that fucker. Because most of the time they don't eat them. Why is that? They can have high level of mercury so you just don't heat the whole thing, I guess. Oh, okay. But it's amazing tasting. Really? I gave away a big part of it in Mexico when I was, and I took back home about 50 pounds with me. Did you smoke it? How do you cook it? I only kept just not too much. I probably kept like 10 pounds of it, not even. So you brought 50 pounds home so you just give away the other 40? Yeah, I actually put on my Instagram that I was giving away Marlin at the grocery store at the corner of that street and that street and I just gave away all of it. And people just showed up? Really? I like meeting people. Wow, that's really nice. That's very cool of you. Wow. It was fun. Nobody killed me yet, so let's see. Jesus, don't put that out there. So when you shot this Marlin, how long before you could actually get it in the boat? How much time does it take after you shoot a Marlin? It took me about two hours, so the fish basically just took off and it was... As soon as I shot it, so basically I jumped, I was in the water and I saw this Marlin coming from the deep. And of course, when I tried going towards it, it was swimming away. So I turned around and looking from the corner of my eye and he just turned away because I was like, what's that thing? He's not even looking at me. And he turned around and he gave me a complete like broad shot. Broad shot? How far away? Pretty close. Probably from me, Jamie. So I said that's... Really? I don't know how it's done. 15 feet? Feet to whatever you guys are using. Yeah. What are we using? In America, land of the free, home of the brave. It's called feet, not meters. Four meters. That fucks it. And so I was like, okay, my gun was pretty small. So I thought I can either shoot it in the gills, but then I would risk to just not go all the way through it. Then you really want the spear to go all the way through it. So I showed it mid body and the spear went through it and I went back to the surface, grab onto the buoy. One buoy is not a lot for fish that's that big. And you just hung onto the buoy and went for a ride? I like bear hugged the buoy and I was yelling at the boat, bring me that buoy, I have a big fish on. Wow. And the boat comes super quickly. Basically, it was another guy in the water. So I have to take the other people out of the water, making sure everything is clear. Meanwhile, I'm hanging onto the buoy. The boat comes in, throws me into the buoy. I'm clipping. The fish is swimming. It's my snorkel. It's like, put the wind in the water. That thing is going. And then I had a second buoy in. I'm like, okay, this is more pressure. So now the fish is dragging an elastic rope that's creating pressure, two berries and me. Wow. So I'm kind of waiting for it to slow down and to tire it up. When I feel there's no pressure anymore, so there's a clip and then the bungee cord, I put it up, I put it up. And then when the fish come close enough, so I had a second smaller gun to give it like a last shot, basically. And the first seven to eight times, the fish, as soon as it was seeing me, was going back down. And I'm like, for fuck's sake. I'm like, Jesus. And they're like, keep pulling the fish out. Keeps it. I'm like, I'm not feeling good. Like I'm feeling so bad. I puked after it. That's that. But you're so much adrenaline and you're like using all your energy. And the last time he was like, he had no energy left. So I managed to give a second shot. Then I brained it. And then, oh, and the brain. So went back to the surface. Where do you shoot to get the brain? So most of the time is basically right behind the eye. So kind of behind the top of the head and the eye. That's kind of where the fish brain is. So I bled it. When you brained, would you just stiffen up? They just stop. They kind of like either like shake a little bit and just stop moving. Then you just bleed it and put it back on the boat. Wow. I didn't talk the entire way. Really? I was just like with my mado pen and people were talking to me. I was like, shh. I was like, I can't right now. I don't even know what just happened. That's so big. 400 pounds is so big to shoot with this beer gun. We got to the dock and it's like a bunch of like Mexicans gathering. It's like, oh, nice. You got cool. Got that. And they pointed like the girl in the back on. I'm like, me. That's hilarious. Do you like that? That you are like this like it's it's thin girl. That's killing these giant. Look at the size of that thing. My God. That is huge. That was a nice fish. It's so wide. Wow. That is cool. Is that the spear that's laying on top of it? Yeah. That's the spear. Yeah. Wow. That's massive. It was so great. I was I was I was I was sort of shocked that I could barely barely speak. How long is it? How long is the fish? Yeah. Don't give me meters either. Good question. It looks like it's like nine or 10 feet long. Is that right? Yeah. It's probably like a good like something like that. Yeah. Wow. That's awesome. What do you think at any point in time? Like, oh my God, I bit off more than I could chew. Yeah, definitely. After I showed it, I was like, oh, shit. What have I done? This is when the fun comes out. I'm gonna get dragged to the bottom of the ocean hanging out of this buoy. It's like this may be my last day, but we'll be a fun one. Wow. What is it? If you shot anything big other than that? Like, is that the by far the biggest thing you've ever shot? Yeah, that's by far the biggest one I ever shot.The Jerogan experience. What's the biggest fish you've ever speared? In Marlin it was about 400 pounds. Holy shit! Was it attached to a rope? Yeah, it was like... So you're holding on to it? Like an elastic. The spear is attached to a bungee which is attached to a buoy. So the buoy, when a fish takes off, the buoy takes off. So you knew you were going for Marlin at the time? No, not at all. Wow. I'm swimming for tuna actually. 400 pounds. I was very scared that he would spear me back, which you know would have been kind of fair enough. Sort of. Yeah. Damn, is that possible? Would you attack you? That's him? Holy shit! I was just guessing. I don't know that that said officially. Yeah, that's it. You would know. Holy fuck. That's a black Marlin. That thing is huge! What did that taste like? I've never had Marlin. It's really good. It's kind of similar to swordfish. Yeah? It's awesome meat. Wow. Look at the size of that fucker. Because most of the time they don't eat them. Why is that? They can have high level of mercury so you just don't heat the whole thing, I guess. Oh, okay. But it's amazing tasting. Really? I gave away a big part of it in Mexico when I was, and I took back home about 50 pounds with me. Did you smoke it? How do you cook it? I only kept just not too much. I probably kept like 10 pounds of it, not even. So you brought 50 pounds home so you just give away the other 40? Yeah, I actually put on my Instagram that I was giving away Marlin at the grocery store at the corner of that street and that street and I just gave away all of it. And people just showed up? Really? I like meeting people. Wow, that's really nice. That's very cool of you. Wow. It was fun. Nobody killed me yet, so let's see. Jesus, don't put that out there. So when you shot this Marlin, how long before you could actually get it in the boat? How much time does it take after you shoot a Marlin? It took me about two hours, so the fish basically just took off and it was... As soon as I shot it, so basically I jumped, I was in the water and I saw this Marlin coming from the deep. And of course, when I tried going towards it, it was swimming away. So I turned around and looking from the corner of my eye and he just turned away because I was like, what's that thing? He's not even looking at me. And he turned around and he gave me a complete like broad shot. Broad shot? How far away? Pretty close. Probably from me, Jamie. So I said that's... Really? I don't know how it's done. 15 feet? Feet to whatever you guys are using. Yeah. What are we using? In America, land of the free, home of the brave. It's called feet, not meters. Four meters. That fucks it. And so I was like, okay, my gun was pretty small. So I thought I can either shoot it in the gills, but then I would risk to just not go all the way through it. Then you really want the spear to go all the way through it. So I showed it mid body and the spear went through it and I went back to the surface, grab onto the buoy. One buoy is not a lot for fish that's that big. And you just hung onto the buoy and went for a ride? I like bear hugged the buoy and I was yelling at the boat, bring me that buoy, I have a big fish on. Wow. And the boat comes super quickly. Basically, it was another guy in the water. So I have to take the other people out of the water, making sure everything is clear. Meanwhile, I'm hanging onto the buoy. The boat comes in, throws me into the buoy. I'm clipping. The fish is swimming. It's my snorkel. It's like, put the wind in the water. That thing is going. And then I had a second buoy in. I'm like, okay, this is more pressure. So now the fish is dragging an elastic rope that's creating pressure, two berries and me. Wow. So I'm kind of waiting for it to slow down and to tire it up. When I feel there's no pressure anymore, so there's a clip and then the bungee cord, I put it up, I put it up. And then when the fish come close enough, so I had a second smaller gun to give it like a last shot, basically. And the first seven to eight times, the fish, as soon as it was seeing me, was going back down. And I'm like, for fuck's sake. I'm like, Jesus. And they're like, keep pulling the fish out. Keeps it. I'm like, I'm not feeling good. Like I'm feeling so bad. I puked after it. That's that. But you're so much adrenaline and you're like using all your energy. And the last time he was like, he had no energy left. So I managed to give a second shot. Then I brained it. And then, oh, and the brain. So went back to the surface. Where do you shoot to get the brain? So most of the time is basically right behind the eye. So kind of behind the top of the head and the eye. That's kind of where the fish brain is. So I bled it. When you brained, would you just stiffen up? They just stop. They kind of like either like shake a little bit and just stop moving. Then you just bleed it and put it back on the boat. Wow. I didn't talk the entire way. Really? I was just like with my mado pen and people were talking to me. I was like, shh. I was like, I can't right now. I don't even know what just happened. That's so big. 400 pounds is so big to shoot with this beer gun. We got to the dock and it's like a bunch of like Mexicans gathering. It's like, oh, nice. You got cool. Got that. And they pointed like the girl in the back on. I'm like, me. That's hilarious. Do you like that? That you are like this like it's it's thin girl. That's killing these giant. Look at the size of that thing. My God. That is huge. That was a nice fish. It's so wide. Wow. That is cool. Is that the spear that's laying on top of it? Yeah. That's the spear. Yeah. Wow. That's massive. It was so great. I was I was I was I was sort of shocked that I could barely barely speak. How long is it? How long is the fish? Yeah. Don't give me meters either. Good question. It looks like it's like nine or 10 feet long. Is that right? Yeah. It's probably like a good like something like that. Yeah. Wow. That's awesome. What do you think at any point in time? Like, oh my God, I bit off more than I could chew. Yeah, definitely. After I showed it, I was like, oh, shit. What have I done? This is when the fun comes out. I'm gonna get dragged to the bottom of the ocean hanging out of this buoy. It's like this may be my last day, but we'll be a fun one. Wow. What is it? If you shot anything big other than that? Like, is that the by far the biggest thing you've ever shot? Yeah, that's by far the biggest one I ever shot.