The blue marlin of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans are more widely pursued by sport fishermen than any other marlin species. Their wide distribution in tropical oceanic waters and seasonally into temperate zones makes them available to many anglers; and their potential to reach great sizes and fighting ability make them desirable among anglers.
Biology and life history Blue marlin are one of the world's largest bony fish and although adult males seldom exceed , females may reach far larger sizes well in excess of . A Pacific blue weighing caught in 1970 by a party of anglers fishing out of Oahu, Hawaii, aboard the charter boat
Coreene C skippered by Capt. Cornelius Choy (this fish often referred to as 'Choy's Monster') still stands as the largest marlin caught on rod and reel. This fish was found to have a yellowfin tuna of over in its belly. In the Atlantic, the heaviest sport-fishing capture is Paulo Amorim's fish from Vitoria, Brazil. Commercial fishermen have boated far larger specimens, with the largest blue marlin brought into Tsukiji market in Tokyo supposedly weighing a massive . A blue marlin over 1,000 pounds (450 kg) is known as a "grander". Fish of this size are very difficult to catch, making them highly valued amongst anglers. Blue marlin occur widely in the tropical oceanic waters of the Atlantic and the Indo-Pacific, with many fish making seasonal migrations into the temperate waters of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres to take advantage of feeding opportunities as those waters in spring and summer. Warm currents such as the
Gulf Stream in the western Atlantic and the
Agulhas Current in the western Indian Ocean serve as oceanic highways for blue marlin migration, and have a major influence on their seasonal distribution. Blue marlin have a limited ability to
thermoregulate, and the lower limit of their temperature tolerance is thought to be in the region of about although individual fish have been caught in cooler temperatures. Larger individuals have the greatest temperature tolerance, and blue marlin encountered at the limits of their range tend to be large fish. This wide distribution brings blue marlin in contact with anglers in many parts of the world. Blue marlin are eclectic feeders preying on a wide range of prey species and sizes. Scientific examination of blue marlin stomach contents has yielded organisms as small as miniature filefish. Common food items include tuna-like fishes, particularly
skipjack tuna and frigate mackerel (also known as
frigate tuna),
squid,
mackerel, and scad. Of more interest to sport fishermen is the upper range of blue marlin prey size. A white marlin has been recorded as being found in the stomach of a blue marlin caught at Walker's Cay in the Bahamas, and more recently, during the 2005 White Marlin Open, a white marlin in the class was found in the stomach of one of the money-winning blues. Shortbill spearfish of have been recorded as feed items by Kona blue marlin fishermen. Yellowfin and bigeye tuna of or more have also been found in the stomachs of large blue marlin.
Fishing techniques Fishing styles and gear used in the pursuit of blue marlin vary, depending on the size of blue marlin common to the area, the size of fish being targeted, local sea conditions, and often local tradition. The main methods used by sport fishermen are fishing with
artificial lures, rigged natural
baits, or
live bait.
Natural bait fishing The pioneers of blue marlin angling employed natural baits rigged to skip and swim. Today, rigged baits, particularly
Spanish mackerel and horse
ballyhoo continue to be widely used for blue marlin. Also, the
American eel is considered to be one of the best rigged baits due to its natural swim tendencies when properly rigged. Trolling for blue marlin with rigged baits, sometimes combined with an artificial lure or skirt to make "skirted baits" or "bait/lure combinations", is still widely practiced, especially along the eastern seaboard of the United States and in the
Bahamas, the
Caribbean, and
Venezuela. Rigged natural baits are also used as "pitch baits" that are deployed after fish are raised to hookless lures or "teasers".
Artificial lure fishing Blue marlin are aggressive fish that respond well to the splash, bubble trail, and action of a well-presented artificial lure. Trolling with lures is probably the most popular technique used by blue marlin crews today.
Hawaii is recognized as the birthplace of lure trolling for marlin, with skippers operating from the Kona Coast of the Big Island of Hawaii developing many designs still used today. The earliest marlin lures were carved from wood, cast in drink glasses, or made from chrome bath towel pipes and skirted with rubber inner tubes or vinyl upholstery material cut into strips. Today, marlin lures are produced in a huge variety of shapes, sizes, and colours, mass-produced by large manufacturers and individually crafted by small-scale, custom makers. A typical marlin lure is a small (), medium () to large ( or more) artificial with a shaped plastic or metal head to which a plastic skirt is attached. The design of the lure head, particularly its face, gives the lure its individual action when trolled through the water. Lure actions range from an active side-to-side swimming pattern to pushing water aggressively on the surface to, most commonly, tracking along in a straight line with a regular surface pop and bubble trail. Besides the shape, weight, and size of the lure head, the length and thickness of skirting, the number and size of hooks, and the length and size of the leader used in lure rigging all influence the action of the lure: how actively it will run and how it will respond to different sea conditions. Experienced anglers often fine-tune their lures to get the action they want. Lures are normally fished at speeds of ; faster speeds in the range are also employed, primarily by boats with slower cruising speeds traveling from spot to spot. These speeds allow quite substantial areas to be effectively worked in a day's fishing. A pattern of four or more lures is trolled at varying distances behind the boat. Lures may be fished either straight from the rod tip ("flat lines"), or from outriggers.
Live-bait fishing Live-bait fishing for blue marlin normally uses small tuna species, with
skipjack generally considered the best choice. As trolling speed is limited because baits must be trolled slowly to remain alive, live-baiting is normally chosen where fishing areas are relatively small and easily covered, such as near
fish aggregating device buoys and in the vicinity of steep underwater ledges.
Blue marlin angling destinations Areas where bottom structure (islands, seamounts, banks, and the edge of the
continental shelf) creates
upwelling, which brings deep nutrient-rich water close to the surface, are particularly favoured by blue marlin.
Atlantic In the western Atlantic, blue marlin may be found as far north as George's Bank and the continental shelf canyons off Cape Cod, influenced by the warm current of the Gulf Stream, and as far south as southern Brazil. In the eastern Atlantic, their seasonal range extends northward to the Algarve coast of Portugal and southward to the southern coast of Angola. Atlantic blue marlin were first consistently caught by sport fishermen in the early 1930s, when anglers from Florida began to explore the Bahamas. Authors such as
Ernest Hemingway and
S. Kip Farrington did much to attract the attention of big-game anglers to the Bahamian islands of
Bimini and Cat Cay. After the Second World War, and especially from the 1960s onwards, anglers began pursuing and finding blue marlin in destinations all over the tropical and subtropical Atlantic. ;Bahamas The Bahama Islands have long been popular destinations for fishermen seeking blue marlin.
Bimini, located at the eastern edge of the Gulf Stream, has the longest history of blue marlin fishing in the islands, dating back to the 1930s and 1940s when anglers such as Michael Lerner, Ernest Hemingway, and S. Kip Farrington fished there . From the 1960s, more outlying areas such as
Walker's Cay and the Abaco islands have developed as blue marlin grounds. The Bahamas is home to one of the most intensely competitive tournament series in marlin fishing, the Bahamas Billfish Championship. ;Bermuda The banks lying off the hook-shaped island of
Bermuda consistently produce blue marlin. Many Bermudian fish are small specimens in the class, but every year much bigger fish in the and larger class are caught. A giant boated aboard the
Mako IV, skippered by Captain Allen DeSilva, in 1995, stands as the largest blue marlin caught in Bermudian waters. This fish is also one of the largest blue marlin ever boated in the Atlantic. A series of tournaments attracts many boats and crews from the United States every summer. Visiting boats and crews join a small but well-equipped fleet of charter vessels. ;Brazil Blue marlin are fished by sport fishermen operating from several locations along the Atlantic coast of Brazil. Blue marlin have been encountered as far south as
São Paulo, and are regularly hooked and caught in annual tournaments held offshore of
Rio de Janeiro. However, the majority of international attention has thus far focused on Canavieiras, the gateway to the Royal Charlotte Bank, an extensive area of bottom structure that holds billfish, tuna, and other pelagics in great numbers; and on Cabo Frio, where an annual tournament has produced several fish weighing in excess of . The city of
Vitória is considered one of the finest locations for blue marlin fishing by many anglers. Fishing is a popular activity in Vitória, attracting fishermen from other states and countries due to the large population of
marlin and
sailfish off the coast of
Espírito Santo. Largest of the many big blue marlin caught at Vitória is the
International Game Fish Association all-tackle record, held by Paulo Amorim, who caught a blue marlin that weighed . ;Cape Verde Islands This cluster of islands in the eastern tropical Atlantic has proved to be an outstanding blue marlin fishery since it was first seriously fished in the 1980s. Blue marlin may be caught year-round in
Cape Verde, but the best fishing seems to take place between March and May when large numbers of blue marlin concentrate in island waters. Blues encountered off Cape Verde range widely in size, with many fish of and good numbers of larger fish in the class. The biggest catch from Cape Verde waters is a fish caught in September 2006 near the island of
Saint Vincent by angler Barry Silleman fishing with skipper Berno Niebuhr. Incidental catches include
wahoo and large
yellowfin tuna. ;Mexico (Atlantic coast) In the eastern Yucatán, charter boats operating from Cozumel, Isla Mujeres and Playa del Carmen encounter blue marlin in addition to numerous white marlin and sailfish from late March through July, when the waters of the Gulf Stream bring billfish through the area. These blue marlin of the western Caribbean tend to be smaller. While large specimens can top , fish are far more common. ;Portugal Although blue marlin are being caught in increasing numbers on the Algarve coast of Portugal, the main centres of blue marlin fishing in Portugal are the oceanic islands of the
Azores and
Madeira. The small port of Horta on
Faial Island is synonymous with blue marlin fishing in the nine-island chain of the
Azores. The season normally begins in late June or early July and continues until weather conditions put an end to the fishery in mid- to late October. Weather conditions can be unpredictable at the end of the season, but in midsummer when the area is dominated by the Azores high, the seas can be very flat. Although blue marlin can be found close to Faial, boats seeking them often select three banks that serve as productive feeding locations for these fish. The Azores sits in the northern extreme of blue marlin distribution and the fishery is dominated by large fish. Large fish are average here and every year fish of and above are encountered. The Azores is home to Atlantic blue marlin records for, amongst others, IGFA -line classes. Blue marlin fishing in
Madeira was pioneered by local anglers in the 1960s and 1970s, and a number of large blue marlin were caught during the 1980s, but the focus for most visiting anglers tended to be sharks and the prolific schools of bigeye tuna. After the mid-1990s, however, the attention of blue marlin fishermen was drawn to the island after several exceptional captures, including eight fish weighing over in 1994 alone. Between 1997 and 2000, blue marlin fishing in Madeira, along with the other Atlantic islands, underwent a severe downturn, blamed by many on the strong
El Niño event of 1996–1997. From 2001 onwards, conditions began to improve, and the seasons of 2005 and 2006 have seen Madeira return to some of its former glory. June and July appear to be the premier months for blue marlin fishing. A small fleet of charter boats operate out of the small marina in the island's largest town,
Funchal. The most popular fishing grounds are situated on the south coast of the island, sheltered by the high cliffs from the prevailing northeast trade winds. Fishing generally takes place within a few miles of the island and many great fish are caught well within of the shoreline. Lure fishing is the most successful method with a wide variety of medium to large artificials from various sources being successful. ;Spain Although a number of blue marlin have been brought into ports along the Atlantic coast of mainland
Spain, the subtropical archipelago of the
Canary Islands is by far the most prolific blue marlin grounds in Spain. Blue marlin appear seasonally in the Canary Islands between May and October, with some individuals having been caught earlier and later in the year. The average size of blue marlin encountered in the Canary Islands tends to be large, in the class, including some very large fish upwards of . Smaller fish in the class also make an appearance at times. Sport fishing boats may be chartered from the main islands of
Lanzarote,
Fuerteventura, and
Tenerife; from the smaller islands of Graciosa and La Gomera; and from
Puerto Rico de Gran Canaria on the island of
Gran Canaria, which has historically been the main destination for marlin fishing there and still boasts the largest fleet of charter boats in the islands. In recent years,
La Gomera has steadily gained attention amongst European and international marlin fishermen with numerous blue marlin catches, including fish over . Blue marlin are caught both offshore and inside the island's shelf, which often holds abundant schools of
bait fish, mainly mackerel and scad. ;United States The
Outer Banks of
North Carolina have long been known for their blue marlin fishing. Since the early 1950s when Ernal Foster on the
Albatross I made the first charter fishing trips for blue marlin,
Cape Hatteras has been known as an important destination for the sport fisherman. Other important fishing centers include
Morehead City, home to the famous Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament, and
Oregon Inlet. The proximity of the Gulf Stream and of the continental shelf edge in the Cape Hatteras area create a productive combination of current, blue water, and ocean temperature that attracts a wide variety of gamefish including blue marlin. While the average size of a blue marlin is typically , big fish inhabit these waters. North Carolina was home to the former all-tackle world record Atlantic blue marlin, a fish that also stood as the world record for class tackle for over 17 years. The state record, which stood for many years at , was finally exceeded by a blue taken off
Nags Head on 15 August 2008. ;Venezuela
Venezuela's
La Guaira Bank has some of the most prolific blue marlin fishing in the Atlantic. Blue marlin are present year round with particularly good numbers in spring. Trolling with ballyhoo baits using relatively light tackle, often in the class, is popular for the variety of billfish species that can make an appearance in these waters. ;Virgin Islands The island of
St Thomas in the US Virgin Islands is one of the most renowned blue marlin destinations. Full moons from June to October can accompany some intense blue marlin fishing in the area known as the 'North Drop'. Lure fishing, trolling natural baits, and bait and switch are all popular. The former all-tackle world-record Atlantic blue of was boated there.
Indo-Pacific In the Pacific, blue marlin are seasonally found as far north as southern
Japan and as far south as the
Bay of Plenty in the North Island of New Zealand. Blue marlin in the eastern Pacific migrate as far north as Southern California and as far south as northern Peru. The southern limit of their distribution in the eastern Indian Ocean appears to be the waters of Albany and Perth in Western Australia, and in the western Indian Ocean blue marlin have been taken as far south as Cape Town. Blue marlin have probably been known to Japanese high-seas fishermen for centuries. However, the Pacific blue marlin was not officially considered to be a separate species (though still debated) until 1954; prior to then, Pacific blues were known as "silver marlin" or often confused with black marlin. The capture of a Pacific blue marlin by skipper George Parker of Kona, Hawaii, was instrumental in clearing up the identification of Pacific marlin species. Hawaii has continued to be the major center of blue marlin fishing in the Pacific, and Hawaiian blue marlin techniques have been disseminated throughout the Pacific Basin by travelling anglers and crews, influencing blue marlin fisheries as distant as Japan and Australia. ;Australia Blue marlin range on both the east and west coasts of Australia, with fish being recorded as far south as the Tasmanian east coast and Albany on the west coast. Notable regions to fish for blue marlin in Australia are off
Cairns, southern Queensland from Fraser Island to the
Gold Coast,
Port Stephens and
Sydney, the
New South Wales south coast region, Rottnest Island off Perth, and Exmouth and Broome in Western Australia. On the east Australian coast, blue marlin are a popular target for anglers fishing from such ports as Port Stephens, Sydney, and the southern ports of
Ulladulla,
Batemans Bay, and Bermagui. However, the best scores in terms of numbers of fish have come from boats fishing the Gold Coast. A blue marlin over has been officially recorded in Australian waters, several blue marlin over have been boated or released by Australian anglers; fish larger than a thousand pounds have been hooked, but none so far landed. The Australian record capture (which is also the ladies' all-tackle world record) weighed just under . Its weight, , was caught on tackle whilst fishing from
Batemans Bay on the Australian New South Wales south coast. Apparently, it took some time for the fish to be weighed, which almost certainly robbed the angler of a fish reaching . This fish was caught in March 1999 by the then 27-year-old female angler Melanie Kisbee fishing from a boat named
Radiant, a Bertram, which was captained by the late Paul Gibson. The fish was caught on a Topgun lure called "Awesome" in blue and pink. Previous Australian records have been held by a fish also captured from the port of Batemans Bay during the Tollgate Island Classic, a capture which helped to put Batemans Bay on the map for big blue marlin, and a fish of around captured in
Bermagui by angler Wayne Cummings. A large marlin washed up on a beach in Western Australia weighing in June 2013. Larger blue marlin appear to be captured in years when the water temperate is warmer than usual. On the New South Wales coast, water temperatures of brought down the coast by the warmer south east current appear to produce the best blue marlin fishing and the largest blue marlin. The fishing season in Australia for blue marlin is January to May–June. Lure fishing, live bait and switch-baiting are all used successfully for blue marlin in Australia. Blue marlin are targeted by some anglers and are also encountered whilst fishing for the more abundant striped marlin. ;Ecuador For more than 60 years, the waters of the Humboldt Current which sweep past
Peru and
Ecuador have been fished by sports fishermen. In 1951, a group of mainly American sports fishermen set up the Cabo Blanco Fishing Club at
Cabo Blanco in the far north of
Peru, close to the border with Ecuador. Some of the greatest marlin fishing in the world took place here until the club closed in the 1960s. Today, the main centres for fishing this area of the Pacific coast are further north, in Ecuador, and the fishery has shifted from the pioneer fishing locations inshore, where black marlin and swordfish were fished by presenting baits to sighted fish, to further offshore for blue marlin, striped marlin, and tuna. Salinas is the most well-known billfishing location, and seasonally offers good fishing for large striped marlin, as well as blue marlin and other gamefish, such as bigeye tuna. The other popular blue marlin destination in the country is Manta, which is usually in season when Salinas is not. A large fleet of sport-fishing vessels operates from both towns. Blues in this area are known to reach large sizes, with the most notable capture being a fish boated by local angler Jorge Jurado which formerly held the IGFA -class record. ;Hawaii More blue marlin are probably caught by rod and reel in the Hawaiian Islands than anywhere in the world. Over 60 fish over have been weighed in Hawaiian waters, including the two largest marlin caught on rod and reel: a fish caught from
Oahu by Capt. Cornelius Choy and a fish caught off
Kona by angler Gary Merriman aboard the
Black Bart, skippered by Capt. Bart Miller, in March 1984. The town of Kona on the lee coast of the island of
Hawaii is internationally known for its blue marlin fishing, the skill and experience of its top skippers (many of whom are also skilled lure makers), and its long-standing Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament. A large fleet of sport-fishing vessels operates from Honokohau Harbor. Blue marlin skippers in the Hawaiian Islands employ both lure-fishing and live-baiting techniques. ;New Zealand Although a blue marlin weighing over was caught in the Bay of Islands as early as 1968, striped marlin have traditionally been the main billfish species in the New Zealand fishery. However, Pacific blue marlin captures have increased in New Zealand over the last 10 years, and blue marlin are now consistently caught from along the eastern coast of the North Island. The Waihau Bay and Cape Runaway area is particularly well known for blue marlin. Blue marlin encountered in New Zealand tend to be of large average size with most averaging . Larger specimens in the -plus class are hooked and landed every year. Most New Zealand blue marlin are taken by lure fishing, with a wide variety of locally made and imported lures being popular. ;Tahiti In 1930, the American angler Zane Grey boated the first blue marlin weighing over , fishing a few miles south of Mataiea,
Tahiti. Although damaged by a shark bite, this fish weighed in at , a remarkable capture on the primitive fishing tackle of that era. Offshore fishing in Tahiti began to develop in earnest in the 1960s, following the establishment of the Haura (marlin) Club of Tahiti in 1962. Today, seven gamefishing clubs exist in the Society Islands. As in Hawaii, the average size of blue marlin in Tahitian waters is in the range, but many larger individuals in the and larger class are boated each year. ;Vanuatu The island nation of
Vanuatu appears to be the premier destination for blue marlin in the South Pacific and one of the best fisheries for Pacific blues in the world. A ratified fish was landed in August 2007. ==Black marlin==