Falmouth, Mass. – On Wednesday, a charter fishing crew from the town of Falmouth made marine‑history when they landed a 1,260‑pound Atlantic blue marlin, the biggest ever caught off the U.S. East Coast. The fish, more than 11 feet long, was hauled aboard Captain Damon Sacco’s boat Castafari after a three‑hour battle on the waters of Atlantis Canyon, an underwater canyon about 100 miles off Cape Cod.
Local anglers achieve a once‑in‑a‑generation catch
Captain Sacco, a veteran charter captain who has spent decades guiding anglers in Massachusetts waters, first thought the giant silhouette breaking the surface might be a shark. “Then I got a better look at it and thought, dang, that thing’s pointed,” he recalled. “But that’s too big for a marlin.”
His client, Walter Chapman, a retired fisherman from nearby Plymouth, was the one who fought the fish on rod and reel. “I wasn’t going to eat a 1,200‑pound fish all by myself,” Chapman said, noting that the marlin’s meat will be shared among about a dozen people and likely end up in a hearty fish chowder.
Scientific significance and rarity
According to Walt Golet, director of the University of Maine Pelagic Fisheries Lab, catching a blue marlin of this size in New England waters is extraordinary. The species prefers warmer waters, and the cold Atlantic waters off the Northeast limit their seasonal presence. “The water is too cold for them in the Northeast most of the year, making the window to catch a big one very narrow,” Golet explained.
Golet’s team will examine the fish’s head to estimate its age, which he believes could be between 25 and 30 years. He added, “I don’t suspect there will be a whole lot of blue marlin caught in the Atlantic in general that are going to top 1,200 pounds for the next several years.”
Community celebration
When the boat returned to the Falmouth dock, a crowd gathered to witness the weighing of the massive billfish. Onlooker Katie Curran described the scene as “spectacular,” adding, “People fish their entire lives and never come close to a catch like this. Hats off to Captain Damon Sacco and the crew on the catch of a lifetime.”
The marlin’s weight falls just 142 pounds short of the world record for an Atlantic blue marlin, which was set off Brazil in 1992, according to the International Game Fish Association.
What’s next for the record‑breaker?
While the fish’s head heads to the University of Maine lab for scientific study, the rest of the catch will be divided among the crew, Chapman’s family, and local supporters. The event underscores the enduring appeal of charter fishing in New England and highlights the skill of local captains who navigate the challenging Atlantic environment.
For anglers in the region, the story serves as a reminder that, even in colder waters, extraordinary opportunities can arise when experience, patience, and a bit of luck converge.
Original reporting: Herald-Standard – latest news for Uniontown, Pennsylvania — read the source article.
