A San Diego fishing crew has landed an extraordinary prize: a blue marlin weighing 648 pounds.
Captain Alec Stockfelt, 32, was leading the anglers aboard his sportfishing vessel off the San Diego coast when they hooked the enormous billfish.
The marlin was about as heavy as an adult male grizzly bear and became the largest fish ever recorded on the scale at Fishermen’s Landing in San Diego. Stockfelt estimated that the previous mark at the landing was approximately 598 pounds.
The 65-foot boat’s crew made the remarkable catch Monday, roughly 40 miles offshore. Because of the fish’s sheer size, nearly everyone aboard was needed to help haul the record-setting blue marlin onto the vessel.
The news comes less than a week after two San Diego fishermen brought in a 500-pound bluefin tuna that appeared destined to break a record. The fish was not eligible, however, because it had been caught commercially; fishing records are reserved for sport-caught fish.
Although the tuna could have set a new California state record under different circumstances, Stockfelt’s blue marlin surpassed it by nearly 150 pounds.
Tommy Gomes, owner of Tunaville Market, told FOX5 that this fishing season could produce even more unusual catches. El Niño weather conditions are bringing a wider variety of exotic marine life into the area, he said.
