Great Barrier Reef
Client: Pelagic Gear
Services: Photography + Story Production
Project Type: Brand Campaign
Pelagic traveled to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef with a simple goal: put their gear to the test in one of the most demanding fisheries in the world. That, and to catch a giant black marlin.
Oak House spent a week at sea documenting the experience, capturing the product in use, from crew rigging baits to anglers fighting a 900lb fish. Following the trip, we brought the story to life through a long-form marketing blog, supported by email and social media storytelling for Pelagic’s audience.
DAY 1: Might As Well Start Where the Fish Are
We’re a few thousand feet above the coastline, having just cleared Cairns' regulated airspace—heading north toward Cooktown. My headset crackles as it clicks on, and the pilot asks if I get motion sickness. As I say no, we bank hard left and drop quickly, leveling off below the mountains, bringing the vibrant intricacies of Australia’s northeastern coastline into clear view.
Cooktown wasn’t always on the itinerary, but it's the closest harbor to where the fish are. So, that's where our boats are, and now, two planes full of gear and crew later, that’s where we are.
The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) has a storied history of marlin fishing. It can be assumed that not long after the first inhabitants of this northern zone whittled away at a fallen tree, one of them paddled out to the ribbons and hooked into some sort of beast. But it was in the early 20th century that marlin fishing, as we know it, really came into the limelight on the GBR. It boomed in the '40s and '50s, and with the help of conservation efforts and regulations starting in the '70s, it has remained one of the premier zones for targeting giant black marlin—and that’s why we’re here.
