1,260-POUND BLUE MARLIN STUNS MASSACHUSETTS — A CATCH THAT MAY HAVE MADE EAST COAST HISTORY

What began as another offshore fishing trip turned into an extraordinary battle when Walter Chapman and charter captain Damon Sacco encountered a massive Atlantic blue marlin roughly 100 miles off Cape Cod.

At first, Sacco reportedly thought they had hooked an enormous shark.

He soon realized they were dealing with something far more extraordinary.

THREE HOURS AGAINST A GIANT

The fish struck while the crew was fishing near Atlantis Canyon, at the edge of the continental shelf.

Chapman fought the enormous marlin for approximately three hours, while Sacco maneuvered the charter boat, Castafari, around the fish.

When the crew finally brought it alongside the boat, they realized just how enormous their catch was.

The marlin measured more than 11 feet long and was later weighed on a certified scale in Falmouth.

The number stunned everyone:

1,260 POUNDS.

That’s roughly 571 kilograms.

 POSSIBLY THE BIGGEST EVER CAUGHT OFF THE EAST COAST

The catch is being described as the largest Atlantic blue marlin ever landed off the U.S. East Coast, surpassing the previous Massachusetts record of 873 pounds.

It also surpassed the previous East Coast mark of 1,228 pounds from North Carolina.

And yet, the fish came remarkably close to an even bigger record.

The current IGFA all-tackle world record for Atlantic blue marlin is 1,402 pounds, caught in Brazil in 1992.

The Massachusetts giant fell just 142 pounds short.

A GIANT FROM COLD NORTHERN WATERS

What makes the catch even more remarkable is where it happened.

Blue marlin are migratory fish, and Massachusetts waters are considerably colder than the tropical and subtropical regions where the species is more commonly encountered.

Marine scientist Walt Golet of the University of Maine’s Pelagic Fisheries Lab said the fish could potentially be 25 to 30 years old.

Its head was sent to the University of Maine for further examination that may help determine its age.

 THE FISH LEFT ITS MARK

The battle was not exactly gentle on the boat.

The marlin reportedly damaged the vessel’s transom, leaving what Sacco jokingly called “war marks.”

After the catch returned to Falmouth, a crowd gathered at the harbor to watch the enormous fish being lifted from the boat and weighed.

What had started as an offshore trip had suddenly become a record-setting spectacle.

 JUST HOW RARE IS A FISH THIS SIZE?

Blue marlin weighing more than 1,000 pounds are often referred to by fishermen as “granders.”

A fish exceeding 1,200 pounds is extraordinarily rare.

Golet said he does not expect many Atlantic blue marlin exceeding 1,200 pounds to be caught in the coming years.

SCIENTISTS NOW WANT TO KNOW MORE

The story doesn’t end at the weigh-in.

Researchers at the University of Maine will examine the marlin’s head and otoliths to estimate its age.

If the preliminary estimate of 25–30 years is confirmed, scientists could gain another glimpse into the life of one of the largest blue marlin ever documented along the U.S. East Coast.

ONE FISH. THREE HOURS. 1,260 POUNDS.

Walter Chapman went offshore expecting a day of fishing.

Instead, he and Damon Sacco returned to Massachusetts with a 1,260-pound Atlantic blue marlin that appears to have rewritten the East Coast record books.

And the most astonishing part?

It was only 142 pounds away from the Atlantic world record.