Enticing the bite....
Enticing marlin to strike is the $64 million question......
Let me start by saying "a marlin following a lure" can be several things and take several forms. If the marlin is "lit up", I'd be patient - he'll come around eventually. If he's not lit up, then try something.
First, there's the "looker". This is the marlin that pops in the spread, moves from one lure to another looking and then disappears. Usually these fish are gone forever - but sometimes show up a little while later and either smashes a bait or turns into a "follower". Not much you can do with lookers, because they're gone pretty quick.
"Followers" come into the spread and follower or shadow a particular lure in the spread for awhile. You can speed up, slow down, or turn sharply to try to get these fish to strike. Another trick is grab the line above the reel and give a tug. This will dart the lure forward and then have it pause momentarily. This works best when the fish is right on the lure or pretty close. However, if the fish is deep below or off to the side, a pitch bait might be the ticket. Turning to same side is good on these fish because the lure will slow down and drop slightly, moving closer and in front of the fish. Once the slack is picked up by the turn, the lure will then accellerate quickly away.
"Lazy" fish are lookers that might make a swat at a bait, but not really eat it. If he/she break his bill out of the water, you can try free-spooling back. In Cabo, with some lazy striped marlin, I've been able to free-spool the job right back into their mouth! Slowing down, or using lures with lots of wiggle seem to work best on lazy fish. Then again, I've enticed some hook-ups from lazy fish by yanking it away from them when they make a swat - after a few total misses, they seemed to get more intent.
These are just generalities, every fish seems to be a bit different. The only really wrong thing is to do nothing. If he ain't biting, you aren't to lose anything by trying something different!
I haven't been fishing since May 18th and I have the itch. I am tired of eating tuna and AJ :headknock. I want a wahoo (never hooked one), ling (I have had several to the boat, and gaffed some, but never boated my own), and snapper. May as well try for a marlin if I we are out far enough
