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Over the past several months, no destination has captured the attention of big-game anglers quite like the Dominican Republic, where the fleet has been producing jaw-dropping numbers of blue marlin. In the waters off Marina Cap Cana, both Gunpowder and the Viking 68 Demo recently delivered single-day performances that stretch the realm of what’s possible on the water, toppling records along the way.
Gunpowder’s Historic Run
On November 3, 2025, the crew of Gunpowder etched their names into sport-fishing lore with a day that hardly seems real—27 blue marlin released during a 10-and-a-half-hour spree off Cap Cana.
The run began like many Dominican mornings: rough, confused seas, high anticipation, and a quiet confidence as Capt. John Mitchell and his team slipped lines.
“We started the day like any other,” Mitchell recalls. “We had 10 fish by midday, but things had slowed down. There were a lot of boats around the buoy chain, and I just had that gut feeling—it was time to make a move.”
That move—running 8 miles west, away from the fleet—changed everything.
“As soon as we set out, the chain got ripped down before we even had the full spread out,” Mitchell says. “That’s when I knew we’d found them.”
His sonar lit up with wolf packs of blue marlin—six to eight fish at a time, untouched and aggressive. For nearly three hours, the action never let up.
Owner David Machado watched from afar, glued to his phone. “John texted me that they were on 22, and minutes later said they had a triple on. I couldn’t believe it.”
In the cockpit, pit crew Neil Orange, Victor Mara and Jose were flawless. “Neil was unbelievable on the pitch all day long,” Mitchell says. “Victor and Jose never missed a beat.”
Just after 5 p.m., they released number 27. When they returned to the dock, the marina erupted.
“There must have been 150 people waiting,” Mitchell says. “Drones flying, cameras everywhere—it was wild.”
Gunpowder’s record was set. But the 2025 season in Cap Cana had more history in store.
Viking 68 Demo Raises the Bar
Several weeks later, on December 1, 2025, the Viking 68 Demo delivered a performance that pushed the boundaries even further—30 blue marlin releases in a single day, establishing a new unofficial Atlantic daily release record.
For Capt. Sean Dooley and his crew, the day started like any other: a competitive mindset, a proven spread, and the knowledge that the bite was about to go off with the approaching full moon.
“We always go out trying to win the day,” Dooley says. “But nobody expects that kind of fishing. Those days are few and far between.”
By midafternoon, the math started to shift.
“At around 3 o’clock, we released our 20th one,” he recalls. “That’s when it clicked: If we had a good afternoon, we had a real shot at making a run at this thing.”
What followed was a two-hour window of near-perfect execution. Between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m., the crew released 10 more fish, finishing at an astonishing 30-for-36.
“Our anglers did an amazing job,” Dooley says. “The crew in the cockpit—West Rivers and Thomas Garmany—made my job a whole lot easier. Without them, we wouldn’t have come close.”
The anglers—friends from Half a Buck, a 64-foot Viking out of St. Augustine—rotated through a steady rhythm of bites in pleasant Cap Cana conditions. Relatively calm seas, minimal grass, and fish in the 80- to 150-pound class made for textbook light-tackle fishing.
The timing of the flurry didn’t surprise Dooley.
“Something always happens around the moon,” he says. “Last year, it was on the backside. This year, including [John Mitchell’s record] day, it was right before it. You never know exactly when it will break loose—but you know it’s coming.”
This time, unlike past brushes with setting the record number, they didn’t run out of daylight.
“December 1 was the day it all came together,” Dooley says. “Perfect weather, plenty of fish, and flawless execution by the guys in the cockpit.”
When the Viking 68 Demo backed into its slip, the welcome committee was ready.
“Everybody was super excited,” Dooley says. “John Mitchell from Gunpowder called us, Neil was on the dock—it was pretty special. We didn’t celebrate too hard because we had to fish the next day, but we definitely enjoyed the moment.”
The Perfect Storm
Fishing the same fertile Caribbean waters that produced Gunpowder’s generational performance weeks earlier, the Viking 68 Demo proved just how extraordinary this fishery has become. More FADs and improved local efforts, stretches of unseasonably calm weather, and an influx of juvenile blue marlin have created a perfect storm for racking up unbelievable numbers.
In a sport built on stories of “the one that got away,” it’s comforting to know that occasionally, it happens to play out differently.
