When angler Raed Hassan chartered Alati for a day of fishing in the Seychelles, he probably didn’t anticipate the day that lay ahead. Hassan, an experienced angler from Dubai, had previously fished in many other locations and was looking forward to a good trip with Capt. Perry Rosalie and mates Mangi Katana and Tabu Karisa on the 45-foot Cabo Express from A1 Fishing.
The team departed from Eden Island Marina, on the island of Mahé, and put the lines in approximately 42 miles to the southwest. They soon caught plenty of wahoo and tuna and decided to go looking for marlin, so they deployed a 5-lure spread on 80-pound-class tackle in clear, blue water and perfect fishing conditions.
At 1:44 p.m. the marlin hit a red-and-black lure in the short right corner position. About 15 minutes into the fight, the fish really woke up, powering off 350 yards of line in an incredible series of jumps. And while A1 makes every effort to tag and release their billfish, they knew this one could be a potential record for the country, which currently stood at 680 pounds.
The fish came to the leader several times throughout the afternoon but was able to power away each time, leaving the angler and crew wondering if they would successfully end the fight. At 5:50 p.m., as the light was starting to fade, Katana grabbed the leader for the final time. He fought the fish on the leader for almost ten minutes before they planted the first flying gaff.
Next came the challenge of boating the monstrous marlin—the head and shoulders were far too broad for the Cabo’s transom door, so they reversed the fish and brought it in tail-first, lifting the massive head using a rope tied to the bill to secure it for the trip back to port.
On the certified scale the black registered 400 kilograms, or 881 pounds. Interestingly, the fish measured 142 inches from the lower jaw to the tail fork and had a girth of 82 inches. Usually with these measurements, the fish would be much larger, but an autopsy revealed that the fish had no roe or stomach contents and had lost every bit of blood during the journey in. Had the fish been caught prior to spawning, it could have weighed over 1,000 pounds. After a night in cold storage, the marlin was cleaned and the meat smoked for the local community.
