iStockphoto / campbellphotostudio / Laura Ragsdale
large blue marlin next to a fishing boat in San Diego, California
The current ‘Super El Niño’ building in the Pacific set a record this week as officially the strongest El Niño on record and there are still months to go before it reaches its peak. With record-setting warm water in the Pacific basin, fishing in Southern California has been absolutely incredible.
Earlier this month, a new California state-record Pacific Bluefin Tuna weighing 420 pounds was caught out of San Diego. Further north but also driven by warm El Niño waters, a 21-year-old record in the state of Washington fell when a rare Striped Marlin beat the existing record by 17-pounds. Last week, a massive Blue Marlin was caught out of San Diego that has set a record of its own!
648-Pound Blue Marlin Caught Aboard ‘The Pegasus’ Fishing Out Of San Diego
The old adage of “give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime” has always rubbed me the wrong way because it fails to factor in just how expensive fishing can be. Rods, reels, bait, boats, gasoline, permits, a dock slip, travel… The expenses never end.
Is it worth it? Absolutely. There is nothing I would rather be doing at any time than fishing. It is the best. But not everyone can afford a boat. My family was in the category when I was a little kid and just bitten by the fishing bug so we would fish on piers, the beach, and on head boats or as they are called in some parts, open-party sport fishing boats.
This 648-pound Blue Marlin caught out of San Diego is believed to be the largest marlin ever caught on an open-party sport fishing boat (or ‘head boat’) in California. Alec Stockfelt who co-runs Pegasus Sportfishing out of Fisherman’s Landing in San Diego told local news outlets this Blue Marlin set the record for the largest fish ever weighed at Fisherman’s Landing (of any species). He believes the previous record was 598-pounds, according to KTLA who ran this segment on the record-setting fish:
After the marlin hit the bait, Alec Stockfelt said “everyone was like holy smokes, what’s going on here? Everyone was kind of just in awe and everyone kind of got rod shy almost.”
Is this an ‘official’ state fishing record? No, but if you only read major media outlets you would certainly think it was because every headline from over the weekend called this the largest-ever Blue Marlin landed in California… But that record goes back a long time!
State Fishing Records
Somehow, the California state fishing record for Blue Marlin has stood for nearly 100 years. It was set on August 18, 1931. That fish was a 692-pound, 0 ounce Blue Marlin landed out of Balboa in Orange County.
That is the third largest fish species record in California. Shortfin Mako holds the record for the heaviest overall fish record in California at 1,098 pounds followed by the 663-pound Swordfish (2024). The only others to come close are the Thresher Shark (575 pounds, 2007), 563-pound Giant Sea Bass (1968), and the White Sturgeon (468 pounds, 1983).
All of that is to say, catching Blue Marlin in Southern California isn’t unheard of it is jut uncommon. Pacific Blue Marlin prefer to stay in water temperatures between 76°F and 82°F and as pelagic fish they will swim thousands of miles around the ocean in these temperatures but rarely venture into water that is either too hot or to cold for their liking.
This knowledge, of course, aids fishermen seeking out this game fish species. Fishermen can target specific water temperatures, depths, and signs of baitfish in the water to track them down in addition to the use of sonar and other modern fishing aids, but water temperature will always be a large indicator of species in the area as each fish species is uniquely adapted to certain living conditions.
Warm Water, Wild Conditions!
Elsewhere in Southern California, a sea turtle was discovered laying eggs on the beach this week. This is normal in Florida but virtually unheard of in Huntington Beach, California where these pictures were taken:
On Wednesday, September 16, Huntington Beach Fire Department Marine Safety lifeguards were notified of a possibly injured sea turtle near Surfside. They later discovered the turtle was laying eggs. Our lifeguards responded, established a perimeter, and coordinated with Seal Beach… pic.twitter.com/E6Codc6sGp
— City of Huntington Beach (@CityofHBPIO) September 22, 2026
This is an Olive ridley turtle which is among the smallest of the sea turtle species. They weight up to 100lbs which is still quite sizable but again, not something expected to be seen in this area given how cool the water typically is this time of year. But the Super El Niño waters are piping hot and causing all sorts of marine mayhem.