iStockphoto / Kelly Dalling
The crew aboard ‘Release’ in Cooktown, Australia released a grander black marlin weighing in at 1,039-pounds which makes it one of the largest fish caught anywhere in the world over the past year.
Cooktown in Queensland, Australia is a global fishing destination and renowned for its proximity to the Great Barrier Reef which offers sport fishermen the chance to target any number of species. But it is particularly known for producing some of the biggest black marlin in the world this time of year and the crew fishing on Release learned that this week.
1,093-Pound ‘Grander’ Black Marlin Caught In Australia
Check out the absolutely massive ‘shoulders’ on this grander marlin. Scroll to the right in this Instagram gallery to see more photos:
To really put the size of this fish into perspective, look closely at how small this guy’s hand appears while holding the rigid pectoral fins. Fun fact, a black marlin are the only species of marlin that cannot fold their pectoral fins flat:
A Father-Son Grander!
Cairns fisherman Bodie Bell can be seen here posing on the right with the fish. In one photo, the ‘angler’ is listed as Alex Lipworth. So it is unclear if Bodie was the mate or captain but Captain Ron Kawaja posted a video on Instagram calling it a Father-Son grander, so it would seem that Haydon Bell and Bodie Bell tag teamed this massive fish to get it to the scales.
Bodie, by the way, went viral a few years ago after he went overboard on this same boat while they were battling a black marlin:
A childhood friend of mine is currently in Cooktown (from Florida) marlin fishing. I’ve been living vicariously through his Instagram stories over the past few days. There haven’t been any grander marlin sightings yet but the size of the fish are significantly larger than the marlin I’ve caught in Costa Rica and chased in Panama.
For any serious anglers out there, Cooktown in Queensland has to be on your radar. Just make sure to time your trip to when the big fish are migrating through there.
So far this year, there have been two other notable ‘grander’ marlin caught that I wrote about here on BroBible. Back in August, a 1,081.5-pound blue marlin was landed in Kona, Hawaii. And in July, the ‘Triple Crown’ of fishing was won by a team that caught a 1,268-pound blue marlin, the third largest blue ever caught in Bermuda!
As far as I can tell, this 1,039-pound black marlin is the largest black marlin caught worldwide this year (so far). And for context, the IGFA fishing world record for black marlin is a 1,560-pound fish caught in Cabo Blanco, Peru back in 1953.
Currently, there are 27 IGFA fishing world records for black marlin (fly fishing, line class records, kids records, etc) that have been set in Australia. It is THE SPOT for these records if you’re ever chasing one!