MA Anglers Land Massive 1,260-Pound Blue Marlin Off Cape Cod

Massive Atlantic Bluefin caught. NEB/AI generated Illustration.

A Massachusetts charter boat crew has decked a 1,260-pound (571.5 kg) Atlantic blue marlin believed to be the largest catch of its kind off the U.S. East Coast. According to the Associated Press (AP), Captain Damon Sacco and angler Walter Chapman needed three hours to subdue the 11-foot billfish fish in Atlantis Canyon, at the edge of the continental shelf roughly 100 miles NNE of Cape Cod. Caught on Wednesday, August 19, the fish managed to damage the boat’s transom, although not significantly enough to stall the vessel from returning to port with its prize in tow.

Even for a blue marlin, this was an unexpectedly huge trophy. Its head has been shipped to the University of Maine Pelagic Fisheries Lab for age analysis, with researchers estimating it to be 25 to 30 years old. According to Walt Golet, a marine scientist, finding a blue marlin of this size in the cool waters of the Northeast is very unusual. Several factors limit their appearances including  northeast water temperatures being too cool to accommodate them most of the year, favorable warm-water temperatures in the area being short-lived, and the massive blues only visiting the region on a seasonal basis.

As for the rest of the fish, it has been divided-up among many people for food, said Chapman.

Blue marlin are known for their incredible speed and amazing power, reaching swimming speeds of 50 to over 86 m.p.h. –  and there’s no doubt Sacco and Chapman will remember their amazing feat as a once in a lifetime catch achievement which also underscores both the migratory nature of blue marlin and the potential for rare, large specimens to be found in unusual places.

The current International Game Fish Association all-tackle world record for blue marlin stands at 1,402 pounds, 2 ounces (636 kg) and was caught off Vitoria, Brazil, on February 29, 1992, by Paulo Roberto Amorim. The record for Pacific Blue Marlin is even larger at 1,376 pounds. It was caught off Kona, Hawaii, on May 31, 1982, by Jay de Beaubien.

Written by Tom Schlichter