Fisherman are notorious bullshitters. Exaggerating the truth to make for a better story back at the dock is standard protocol. But not this guy. Matt Santora has no need to lie because he just caught a 662-pound Blue Marlin off of San Diego – that’s the biggest Marlin caught off California since 1931.
It took Santora two hours to reel in the beast and judging by the looks of the thing, it wasn’t easy. The record for Blue Marlin in California comes from a man named A. Hammon – he angled a 692-pounder off of Orange County’s Balboa Island in 1931. Whoever this Hammon character was, he sounds like a badass.
The strange thing about it though is that not many Blue Marlin have been caught off California since 1931 and now. It’s not typically a fish native to the area. They are usually found in warmer waters like off Hawaii and Mexico. But because of the strong El Niño predicted for this year, the California coast has been experiencing abnormally warm water. And with that comes abnormal waves, weather and wildlife.
“We were fishing for marlin and wahoo, especially marlin, when it hit the lure,” Santora told The San Diego Union Tribune. “We had a good feeling we were going to get a marlin, and when it bit, we knew it was a marlin. We just didn’t dream it was this big.”
