Fishermen win $1.16 million after catching ‘record-breaking’ blue marlin

In the first hour of the last day of the MidAtlantic Tournament, a team of fishermen hooked up to a blue marlin, breaking a potential Maryland record, according to ForTheWin.

Onboard boat The Billfisher, Billy Gerlach battled the marlin for 3½ hours with the team having the leader in hand two dozen times before the fish was finally gaffed and pulled onto the deck.

The blue marlin weighed 1,135 pounds and, if approved by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, would surpass the current record of 1,062 pounds caught by Robert Farris in 2009.

Record aside, the blue marlin won the division and The Billfsher team were awarded $1,167,762, reports ForTheWin.

It was only the 14th day boat owner, Jon Duffie had spent on the 64ft custom-built boat, manufactured by his company, Duffie Boatworks of West Ocean City.

“It was our only bite of the day because we had only been fishing about 50 minutes,” says Duffie, according to The Dispatch. “We started out just below the Washington Canyon, and we were off on our own, and less than an hour in we had the bite.

“It ate the left side and it ate the right rod for us, thankfully for a fish that big. The fish jumped a half dozen times, but nobody really got a good look at it on the boat except me. Everyone was like, ‘Why are you so excited?’ They hadn’t seen it and I told them, ‘You guys have no idea what we have here.’

“I initially thought a 700-, 800-pound blue. We fought it for three hours and 20 minutes. It was incredible. It was the hardest battle I’ve ever seen. I don’t have a lot of experience with fish that size. It’s just a rarity for this area.”

The blue marlin measured 136½ inches (346.71cm) with an 80-inch (203.2cm) girth, according to Chesapeake Bay Magazine. According to the tournament writeup, it took eight men to hoist the marlin up onto the scale.

Read the full story here.

Images courtesy of Ocean City Sunset Marina.