While there have been bigger marlin landed commercially and by recreational anglers not in accordance with IGFA rules, pictured below are the leading big fish, officially speaking. These are the certified all-tackle world records for black, Atlantic and Pacific blue, striped and white marlin. They represent the ultimate benchmarks for anglers chasing the world's biggest fish.
Special thanks to the IGFA for providing the photos. For more information on fishing for world-class marlin, check out the links at the bottom of the page.
BLACK MARLIN
Weight: 1560 pounds Angler: Alfred Glassell, Jr. Location: Cabo Blanco, Peru Date: August 4, 1953 Notes: Glassel, Jr. of Houston boated this behemoth after a one hour and forty-five minute fight. The 174-inch fish fell for a mackerel trolled in the once-legendary Black Marlin Boulevard off Cabo Blanco. |
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PACIFIC BLUE MARLIN
Weight: 1376 pounds Angler: Jay de Beaubien Location: Kaaiwai Point, Kona Date: May 31, 1982 Notes: This Hawaii blue took a Kita lure and succumbed in less than an hour. Jay de Beaubien caught this 193-inch fish using a Fin-Nor 12/0. |
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ATLANTIC BLUE MARLIN
Weight: 1402 pounds, 2 ounces Angler: Paulo Amorim Location: Vitoria, Brazil Date: February 29, 1992 Notes: Amorim's 162-inch fish ate a pink-and-white Mold Craft Super Chugger and is the most recent record-breaker on our list. (Big photo is a replica mount) |
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STRIPED MARLIN
Weight: 494 pounds Angler: Bill Boniface Location: Tutukaka, New Zealand Date: January 16, 1986 Notes: Boniface, a New Zealand native, fed this once-in-a-lifetime fish a kahawi. |
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WHITE MARLIN
Weight: 181 pounds, 14 ounces Angler: Evandro Coser Location: Vitoria, Brazil Date: December 8, 1979 Notes: Coser (of Brazil) trolled dead bait to land this 107.5-inch fish. |
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For More Information
The Blue Marlin List
A comprehensive list of the baits and lures used to catch record blue marlin
Video: Better Than a World Record
An angler gives up a potential record to tag a monster black
The World's Best Grander Spots
Six (and then some) of the top places to pursue big marlin
