Massive Atlantic blue marlin reeled in off Massachusetts may be largest-ever East Coast catch

Anglers Damon Sacco and Walter Chapman landed what they believe is the largest Atlantic blue marlin ever caught off the U.S. East Coast. The fish was brought to shore in Falmouth, Massachusetts, after a fight lasting about three hours from Sacco’s charter boat, Castafari, while fishing Atlantis Canyon about 100 miles off Cape Cod. On Wednesday, the marlin measured more than 11 feet and weighed 1,260 pounds—142 pounds short of the Atlantic blue marlin world record set off Brazil in 1992, according to International Game Fish Association records. University of Maine Pelagic Fisheries Lab director Walt Golet noted that cold Northeast waters usually narrow the season. The marlin’s head was sent to UMaine to determine age, which may be 25 to 30 years, and Sacco said it left “war marks” from its bill.