A blue marlin weighing 1,260 pounds has been landed off Massachusetts, and the incredible catch could go down as the largest Atlantic blue marlin ever caught off the U.S. East Coast.
Captain Damon Sacco and angler Walter Chapman were fishing aboard the Castafari near Atlantis Canyon, approximately 100 miles off Cape Cod, when they encountered the massive billfish. The fish measured more than 11 feet long and required roughly three hours of fighting on rod and reel before the crew could bring it alongside the boat.
For Sacco, the first glimpse of the fish was almost unbelievable. When the giant fin appeared at the surface, he initially thought the crew had hooked an enormous shark. It wasn’t until he got a better look that he realized they were dealing with an extraordinarily large blue marlin.
The 1,260-pound fish is particularly remarkable considering where it was caught. Blue marlin are highly migratory and only seasonal visitors to New England, where water temperatures remain too cold for them during much of the year. According to University of Maine researcher Walt Golet, the opportunity to encounter a blue marlin of this size in the Northeast is extremely limited.
The fish fell 142 pounds short of the recognized Atlantic blue marlin world record—a 1,402-pound giant caught off Brazil in 1992.
Scientists are also interested in learning just how old this fish was. Its head was being sent to the University of Maine’s Pelagic Fisheries Lab for examination, with researchers estimating that the marlin could potentially have been 25 to 30 years old.
Chapman, a lifelong fisherman from Plymouth, said it was unquestionably the largest fish he has ever caught on a line. The catch also left its mark on the Castafari, with the marlin’s bill reportedly punching holes in the boat’s transom.
When the boat returned to Falmouth Harbor, a crowd gathered to see the enormous fish and watch it hit the scales.
Whether it ultimately becomes an officially recognized record or not, a 1,260-pound blue marlin from New England is an extraordinary catch—and one that will be talked about for a long time.
