A massive 1,260-pound Atlantic blue marlin caught off the coast of Massachusetts on Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026, is believed to be the largest ever landed in U.S. East Coast history. The historic catch was made by a Massachusetts charter fishing captain and his client, who spent hours battling the giant billfish in the deep waters of the Atlantic.
Damon Sacco, a veteran charter captain who operates the vessel Castafari, and his client, retired Plymouth resident Walter Chapman, reeled in the enormous creature. Measuring more than 11 feet in length, the marlin weighed in at 1,260 pounds (571.5 kilograms) upon the crew's return to Falmouth, Massachusetts. The weight places the catch just 142 pounds shy of the all-time world record for an Atlantic blue marlin, which was set off the coast of Brazil in 1992, according to the International Game Fish Association.
The capture of such an immense fish in the waters of New England is particularly unusual. Walt Golet, the director of the University of Maine Pelagic Fisheries Lab and an associate professor at the university's marine sciences school, explained that the region's cold waters limit the window for catching large blue marlin. Because the species is highly migratory, it only visits the Northeast seasonally when temperatures permit. Golet noted that catching a blue marlin of this size in the North Atlantic is an exceedingly rare event, predicting that few fish exceeding 1,200 pounds will be caught in the Atlantic over the next several years.
The encounter took place at Atlantis Canyon, a deep underwater canyon located on the edge of the continental shelf, roughly 100 miles off Cape Cod. Sacco described the moment the fish first rose to the surface, recalling how its massive fin initially led him to believe they had hooked a giant shark. Upon closer inspection, Sacco realized the fish had a distinct pointed bill, though he initially doubted a marlin could grow to such a size in those waters. He remarked that the fish looked like a "glimmering blue spaceship" as it emerged from the deep.
The grueling battle to land the marlin lasted approximately three hours. Chapman, a lifelong fisherman, fought the giant billfish using a rod and reel. Sacco joked that his own primary responsibility during the struggle was to steer the boat and direct the crew. The marlin did not go down easily, leaving what Sacco described as "war marks" on the boat's transom, where its sharp bill punctured the wood.
After the successful catch, the crew returned to Falmouth Harbor, where a large crowd had gathered at the docks to witness the weighing of the giant fish. Katie Curran, a Falmouth resident who watched the spectacle, praised the achievement, calling it the "catch of a lifetime" and noting that many anglers spend their entire lives without ever coming close to such a feat.
The massive marlin will also contribute to scientific research. The fish's head has been sent to the University of Maine Pelagic Fisheries Lab, where Golet and his team will analyze it to determine its exact age. Golet estimated that the specimen could be between 25 and 30 years old.
Meanwhile, Chapman is figuring out how to handle the massive amount of meat. He shared that the marlin has been divided among about a dozen people, and he is actively researching recipes, with some of the fish likely destined for a traditional fish chowder. Chapman noted that he certainly had no plans to consume a 1,200-pound fish by himself.
“Then I got a better look at it and thought, dang, that thing’s pointed,” he said. “But that’s too big for a marlin.”
The fish’s head was on its way to the UMaine lab to determine its age, said Golet, who speculated that it could be in the range of 25 to 30 years.
