Young Angler’s First Blue Marlin is a 1,058-pound Beast
OutdoorHub Reporters 02.23.15
A 16-year-old from New York City set a high bar for himself last week when he caught a 1,058-pound blue marlin off the coast of Hawaii.
Though it was Kai Rizzuto’s first blue marlin, he is hardly a stranger to saltwater fishing. The teenager said he has been fishing since he could walk and apprenticed as a deckhand on another charter boat two years ago. In fact, Rizzuto was visiting with his grandfather, famed author and fisherman Jim Rizzuto, when he caught the huge fish.
“He has quite a bit of experience in big game fishing, but this was the first time that he has been the guy on the rod and reel for a blue marlin,” Jim Rizzuto told CNN, adding that the biggest fish his grandson caught up until that point was 55 pounds.
Some anglers speculate that Rizzuto could be the youngest fisherman to have ever caught a blue marlin over 1,000 pounds, otherwise known as a “grander.” According to the International Game Fish Association, the current world record stands at 1,376 pounds, just over 300 pounds more than Rizzuto’s catch. That record was set in 1982 by angler Jay de Beaubien in Kaaiwi Point, which is only miles away from where Rizzuto was fishing.
“It was a 30-minute fight. I’ll tell you it was the hardest 30 minutes I’ve ever fought a fish,” Kai Rizzuto told HawaiiNewsNow.com. “When I saw that fish at the end of line I was just thinking, don’t break off. Do not break off.”
Rizzuto was chartering with Ihu Nui Sportfishing, which encourages catch and release, but the marlin could not be revived. It took four people to bring the heavy fish aboard the boat.
“By and large, we try and release every blue marlin we can as a conservation measure, but sometimes in a hard fight the fish dies and there is nothing you can do,” said Jim Rizzuto.
The anglers said the marlin did not go to waste. At 1,048 pounds, the meat from this massive fish will feed a few hundred mouths once it is cleaned and processed.
You can see footage of the catch below.
Ihu Nui Grander • Feb 18, 2015 from Farish Media on Vimeo.
