While there have been bigger marlin landed commercially and by recreational anglers not in accordance with IGFA rules, pictured below are the leading big fish, officially speaking. These are the certified all-tackle world records for black, Atlantic and Pacific blue, striped and white marlin. They represent the ultimate benchmarks for anglers chasing the world’s biggest fish.
Special thanks to the IGFA for providing the photos. For more information on fishing for world-class marlin, check out the links at the bottom of the page.
Black Marlin
Weight: 1,560 pounds
Angler: Alfred Glassell Jr.
Location: Cabo Blanco, Peru
Date: Aug. 4, 1953
Notes: Glassell Jr. of Houston boated this behemoth after a 1 hour and 45 minute fight. The 174-inch fish fell for a mackerel trolled in the once-legendary Black Marlin Boulevard off Cabo Blanco.
Pacific Blue Marlin
Weight: 1,376 pounds
Angler: Jay de Beaubien
Location: Kaaiwai Point, Kona
Date: May 31, 1982
Notes: This Hawaiian blue took a Kita lure and succumbed in less than one hour. Jay de Beaubien caught this 193-inch fish using a Fin-Nor 12/0.
Atlantic Blue Marlin
Weight: 1,402 pounds, 2 ounces
Angler: Paulo Amorim
Location: Vitoria, Brazil
Date: Feb. 29, 1992
Notes: Amorim’s 162-inch fish ate a pink-and-white Mold Craft Super Chugger and is the most recent record-breaker on our list. (Big photo is a replica mount)
Striped Marlin
Weight: 494 pounds
Angler: Bill Boniface
Location: Tutukaka, New Zealand
Date: January 16, 1986
Notes: Boniface, a New Zealand native, fed this once-in-a-lifetime fish a kahawai.
White Marlin
Weight: 181 pounds, 14 ounces
Angler: Evandro Coser
Location: Vitoria, Brazil
Date: Dec. 8, 1979
Notes: Coser (of Brazil) trolled dead bait to land this 107.5-inch fish.
For More Information
The Blue Marlin List
A comprehensive list of the baits and lures used to catch record blue marlin
Video: Better Than a World Record
An angler gives up a potential record to tag a monster black
The World’s Best Grander Spots
Six (and then some) of the top places to pursue big marlin
Hank Sibley Bluewater Yacht Sales 