The fish

Billfish are the headline: the blue marlin can top 700 lb and jumps like it pays rent up there, the black marlin pulls like a truck, and white marlin and sailfish turn up in crowds on the right reef. Swordfish hunt deep at the shelf edge. In the tuna rounds the giant bluefin is the one that wins, and it can go well past a thousand pounds. Makos, barracuda and dorado aren’t trophies, but they’ll test your tackle — and a mako has the teeth to cut light line. Each fish below has its own page with its weight range, how it fights, every lure ranked from “loves it” to “ignores it”, and the spots where it bites most.