InTheBite

Elizabeth Arn To Achieve Junior Blue Marlin Record

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Chase Travers, Randy Baker, Scott Murie, Stephen Hall, Elizabeth Arn, and Jonathan Arn posing in front of the marlin.

From left to right, Second Mate Chase Travers, Capt. Randy Baker, Capt. Scott Murie, First Mate Stephen Hall, Elizabeth Arn and Jonathan Arn.

On May 31, 12-year-old Elizabeth Arn reeled in a 624-pound blue marlin off the coast of São Vicente, Cape Verde. Her catch will mark the new pending world record for the Female IGFA Junior Angler category.

Her angling was “outstanding,” says her father, Jonathan Arn. Upon getting a bite from the marlin, Elizabeth pushed the drag up to 25 pounds to ensure it was hooked solid. Then, she backed off the drag and moved the rod and reel into the fighting chair.

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2022 Cajun Canyons Billfish Classic Winners

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The Crawgator team with their first place 492.6-pound blue marlin. 

This year’s first place title at the 2022 Cajun Canyons Billfish Classic went to Southern Charm, Capt. Landon Bell. Mon Chari, Capt. Matt Coppoletta, took second with Amigo, Capt. Brad Schoenfeld, taking third.
Heaviest marlin went to Capt. Erik Chandler and the Crawgator team with their 492.6-pound blue marlin.

Top Captain Landon Bell and Top Mate Connor McLeod, Southern Charm.

Expert Insight To Blue Marlin Fishing Hook Sets

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blue marlin

Photo: Joe Byrum

By Joe Byrum

When it comes to fishing for blue marlin with lures, the hook set can often be an overlooked part of the equation when things are going right and a heavily scrutinized element when they’re not going so well. Typically, when the latter comes into play a fish has just come off or you had a bite that didn’t translate into a hookup. The deliberation gets even heavier when these things occur in multiple instances during a short period of time. The truth is that some marlin aren’t going to be hooked no matter what we do.

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Quantified, Skin Deep Take First at Gulf Coast Masters

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gulf coast masters

Capt Justin Drummond, mates Matt Driscoll, Cyler Pape, Matt Reed, Juan Garcia.

First place release at the 2022 Gulf Coast Masters went to the Quantified with Capt. Justin Drummond at the helm. Second place release went to Bandito, Capt. Bobby Wade, with third place release going to Mollie, Capt. Jeff Shoults. Capt. Kyle Smith and the Skin Deep team took first place for their 702-pound blue marlin.
Gulf Coast Masters

Blue Marlin Blast Fishing Tournament

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blue marlin fishing tournament

Photo: EFSA European Championship Big Game Fishing Tournament

By Toine van Ierland, Tournament Director

Cape Verde on fire!

In both 2020 and 2021, we were forced to postpone the tournament thanks to COVID-19, but on the night of April 24, 2022, we finally kicked off the 2022 EFSA European Championship Big Game Fishing Tournament, AKA The PENN Challenge.

And what a tournament it was.

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Sea Genie II Boats 942.5-pound Blue at 2022 Lazy Marlin Hunt

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Photo: Teddy Hoogs

Capt. Keith Robinson and the Sea Genie II team won largest marlin at the 2022 Lazy Marlin Hunt with their blue weighing in at 942.5 pounds.

Most releases in order from first to third:
2 tags – Capt. Tracy Epstien Last Chance
1 tag Capt. Tony Clark Mauna Kea
1 tag Capt. Mat Bowman Sweet Sadie

Kona, Hawaii: Scientific Lure Fishing

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kona lure fishing

ITB Staff

While it has been years since most places in the world succumbed to the dink ballyhoo revolution, Hawaiian captains still proudly pull plastic. In some of places where lures still appear, their selection is haphazard…the old, “Grab that one over there and throw a hook in it” type thing. In Kona, lure fishing is equal parts science and applied engineering with a healthy dose of aesthetic appeal mixed in.

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30th MidAtlantic Wraps Up with Potential State Record Blue Marlin

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Photo courtesy MidAtlantic Tournament

MidAtlantic Tournament, August 23, 2021—It was indeed a tournament for the ages! The 30th MidAtlantic wrapped up last night and saying it was one for the record books would be an understatement! Records were set in several categories including two before the first day of fishing when a tournament record field of 203 were entered breaking the previous record of 183 set last year.

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Skin Deep, on Feeling Nauti, Takes First at Blue Marlin Grand Championship

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Photo courtesy Blue Grand Marlin Championship

Blue Marlin Grand Championship, July 29, 2021—Thirty minutes after the fifty-eight tournament teams entered into the 2021 Blue Marlin Grand Championship at The Wharf departed Orange Beach, all but one was headed to their first stop in hopes of winning The Greatest Show in Sportfishing. One boat, Skin Deep, a 63’ Ricky Scarborough, suffered a major mechanical failure and began limping
back toward Perdido Pass. After a haul-out revealed a broken prop and a damaged strut, it seemed their tournament weekend was all but over.

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Grander-sized Pacific Blue Marlin Caught off Coast of Oahu

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Photo courtesy Boom Boom Sportfishing

On June 22, Captain Tony Brown with Boom Boom Sportfishing and his crew caught an impressive 1,040-pound Pacific blue marlin four miles off the coast of Oahu, Hawaii. The experience was especially memorable for Tony and his crew because their deckhand’s family was the charter group that day.

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