Footage shows a chaotic scene in which Thomas Arendall is knocked to the deck by the marlin, which self-releases after the collision.
Marlin are powerful game fish that occasionally leap into boats, creating hazardous situations.
The accompanying footage, shared via Instagram by Chasing Nature, shows a hooked blue marlin soaring over a yacht’s stern and flooring deckhand Thomas Arendall.
“Fishing can be a dangerous game,” Chasing Nature’s Jonathan Schell stated, adding that Arendall was not seriously injured.
The chaotic scene unfolded last week in the Gulf of Mexico aboard the Jubilee.
Footage shows the estimated 300-pound marlin leaping beyond the stern as a different deckhand tugs on the leader. The marlin then flies over the rail and slams into Arendall’s upper body, knocking him down.
One commenter observed: “An inch away from getting stabbed in the jugular. Count your blessings mate.”
Schell told FTW Outdoors that Arendall “got scratched up on his back and had about an inch-deep, 2- to 3-inch laceration on his forearm.”
The Jubilee was fishing out of Orange Beach, Alabama, and the marlin broke the line and swam free after flopping back into the water.
As Schell noted, the catch was “official” once the other deckhand had grabbed the leader.
The Atlantic blue marlin, landed during a big-game sportfishing competition, is among the heaviest fish ever caught off Bermuda.
A team of anglers participating in the Bermuda Big Game Classic made history Monday with the extraordinary catch of a 1,268-pound Atlantic blue marlin.
“Local Bermuda fishing team, UnWined, just weighed in the third-largest fish in Bermuda history at 1,268 pounds!” Bermuda Triple Crown exclaimed via Instagram.
The billfish measured 12-plus feet and boasted a girth of more than 6 feet.
A Cook Islands angler has landed a 1,128-pound blue marlin while fishing solo aboard his 22-foot boat. The rare ‘grander’ catch sets a national record.
A Cook Islands angler on Monday landed a 1,128-pound blue marlin while fishing solo aboard his 22-foot boat.
The rare “grander” catch established a new blue marlin record for the South Pacific nation, according to the Cook Islands News.
Arnold told the publication that he had been trying for 14 years to reel in a grander, or a marlin weighing 1,000 pounds or more.
“These fish demand so much respect,” Arnold told the Cook Islands News. “A massive thank you to the ocean and Polynesian spirit. “I’m proud to be a Cook Islander, and to bring in these fish in, in my own home. It really is a blessing.”
In a Thursday post on X, the Blue Planet Society stated: “Respect? Selfish, egotistical thief of rare wildlife.”
(Blue marlin are listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species.)
The massive marlin was hooked three miles offshore and landed after a 1.5-hour battle that featured multiple leaps and powerful runs.
According to the Cook Islands News, “Every part of the fish was to put to good use, the meat was sold locally and the bones/head prepared and eaten – nothing was wasted.”
The previous Cook Islands record catch, of a 1,045-pound blue marlin, occurred in 2020.
The world record for Pacific blue marlin stands at 1,376 pounds, for a 1982 catch off Kona, Hawaii.
On the fifth and final day of the 50th White Marlin Open, a fisherman landed the first and only qualifying billfish of the tournament.
On the fifth and final day of the 50th White Marlin Open, a fisherman landed the first and only qualifying billfish of the tournament, and it was a whopper worth a hefty sum.
John Ols of Laytonsville, Maryland, caught a 640.5-pound blue marlin Saturday that paid a world-record $6.2 million from a $10.5 million purse.
Ols was fishing with a team aboard the Floor Reel, a boat based in Ocean City, Maryland, where the tournament is based. It was the third straight year a boat from Ocean City won the five-day event billed as the “World’s Largest and Richest Billfish Tournament,” as reported by The Virginia-Pilot.
Ols’ fish was weighed Friday evening, and then the team had to wait three hours until the fish was declared the winner. It beat last year’s winning blue marlin by more than 100 pounds, and surpassed the record payout of $4.45 million set last year with a 77.5-pound white marlin caught by Jeremy Duffie.
Ols’ fish measured 118 inches, easily making the 114-inch minimum length to have it weighed.
“While there were unofficially 551 white marlin and 46 blue marlin caught, only three billfish were brought in and only two were weighed,” the tournament report stated.
“The Chaser out of Manteo, N.C., just missed with a 67.5-pound white marlin [the minimum for weighing is 70 pounds or 70 inches], and the No Limit out of Indian River, DE, brought in a blue marlin that missed our 114” minimum length by two inches, so it was not weighed.”
From The Virginia-Pilot:
No white marlin caught were deemed large enough this week to bring in to weigh, although more than 400 were caught during the week. It’s just the third time in the tournament’s history — the others were 1984, ‘85 and ‘86 — that no white marlin filled the winning categories.
Boats are permitted to fish three of the tournament’s five days, and 357 boats hit the fishing grounds Friday.
Anglers vacationing in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, on Wednesday brought to port a blue marlin that weighed an estimated 1,000 pounds and measured an astonishing 14 feet.
Anglers vacationing in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, on Wednesday brought to port a blue marlin that weighed an estimated 1,000 pounds and measured an astonishing 14 feet.
Pisces Sportfishing, whose fleet was not involved in the extraordinary catch, reported via Facebook that the Minnesota anglers were aboard Dream Maker with Capt. “Cheque” Cervantes.
“Happening NOW in Cabo. Another ‘out of season’ Blue Marlin today, weighing in at 660 lbs and measured out to 169 inches; 14 feet!” Pisces exclaimed.
Marshall Ryerson, who arranged the charter, told FTW Outdoors that the marlin was so long and heavy that only part of the fish could be hoisted onto a local dock scale. Based on its 169-inch length and 69-inch girth, Ryerson added, the marlin’s weight was estimated at 1,000 pounds.
Anglers pose with blue marlin estimated to weigh 1,000 pounds
That would rank as one of the top blue marlin catches in the steeped history of Cabo San Lucas sportfishing.
(For the sake of comparison, a blue marlin caught by Pisces in 2019 weighed 814 pounds on an official scale after measuring 167.5 inches with a 66-inch girth.)
The marlin was caught by Caesar Larson and Luke Fox, who were among five anglers on a charter in search of tuna and dorado. The massive billfish attacked their lures five seconds apart and they fought the marlin with both rods for 90 minutes before it was alongside the 34-foot boat.
Ryerson, who said the marlin was in no shape to be released, addressed the greater challenge of transporting such a large marlin back to port.
“It took seven of us and every bit of energy from each of us to get the fish in the boat,” he said, referring to the anglers and crewmen. “After several attempts and help from the waves we were able to get the fish up and into the boat.”
Luke Fox (left) and Caesar Larson pose with marlin they caught off Cabo San Lucas
Ryerson added that the meat was donated to a local charity that benefits impoverished children.
Tracy Ehrenberg, who runs Pisces Sportfishing, told FTW Outdoors that a 700-pound blue marlin was landed a week earlier. Both catches were unusual because prime fishing season for blue marlin is July through October.
“However, there is always one big blue caught in the first month of the year,” Ehrenberg said. “Two is exceptional. But if you go back and examine the archives, the biggest blue marlin in my memory are caught out of season, like April or May.”
The marlin was donated to a charity that feeds impoverished children
Ehrenberg said the fleets are currently focused on striped marlin, which are more abundant during the winter, along with dorado and other small gamefish.
Catch-and-release marlin fishing is strongly encouraged in Cabo San Lucas, and the vast majority of anglers set their billfish free whenever possible.
A fisherman in Kona, Hawaii, got the new year off to a hot start Sunday by catching a 507-pound blue marlin in unconventional fashion.
A fisherman in Kona, Hawaii, got the new year off to a hot start Sunday by catching a 507-pound blue marlin in an unconventional—but sometimes unavoidable—fashion.
David Setniker, fishing aboard his boat called Maverick with Captain Trevor Child and crewman James Bach, landed the behemoth marlin in 45 minutes.
“Another awesome fish for the boss today,” Maverick Sportfishing Kona reported on Facebook. “Unfortunately, the fish got tail-wrapped and came up backwards, so we had the smoke master ready.”
This was the third report recently of a blue marlin hitting 500 pounds or more in Hawaii.
Reported on New Year’s Eve by the Lahaina News, Capt. Rod Quam and his wife Janice landed a 510.4-pounder, the fourth-largest blue marlin for Lahaina in 2020. This, too, was tail-wrapped and died on its way in, prompting the fishermen to keep the catch.
And in mid-October, Capt. Jonny Keiley and his dad, Capt. Deli, landed a 546-pound blue marlin, the second-largest for the harbor at Ali’I Kai, Lani, the Lahaina News reported.
NBA legend Michael Jordan and his crew landed a 442.3-pound blue marlin in the 62nd annual Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament in N.C.
NBA legend Michael Jordan and his crew aboard his 80-foot Viking sportfishing yacht “Catch 23” landed a 442.3-pound blue marlin on the second day of the 62nd annual Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament on Tuesday. It wasn’t the day’s biggest but got the most of the attention.
According to WITN, three other blue marlin weighing 470.4, 450.2 and 450 pounds were also caught Tuesday as anglers vie for the record purse of $3.34 million in what is said to be the largest and oldest sportfishing tournament in the country.
Big money–$552,500—remains on the table for the first boat to catch a blue marlin 500 pounds or bigger. The largest blue marlin of the tournament will net $1.14 million.
“I’d love to be back with a little bit bigger fish,” Jordan said in the post-catch interview with Big Rock TV, according to Inside Carolina. He’ll have more time to try as the tournament runs through Saturday.
In the interview, Jordan also talked about his love for the state of North Carolina where he first made a name for himself playing at the University of North Carolina under the legendary Dean Smith.
“I’m always looking for an excuse to be back in North Carolina,” Jordan said, according to Inside Carolina. “It [fishing] is a chance to come back home. I love coming back home.”
Not surprisingly, Jordan was the center of attention at the Big Rock weigh station Tuesday afternoon as he posed for photos with his team and the blue marlin. The crowd cheered, and the legendary Chicago Bulls star loved it.
“I always feel North Carolinians come out to support their stars,” Jordan said.
Jordan, fresh off the recent airing of the ESPN documentary “The Last Dance,” is better known for his golf game, as hobbies go. But he’s become quite the fisherman as well. Besides this fishing tournament, Jordan and his crew usually also compete in the White Marlin Open in early August in Ocean City, Maryland.
