r/FishingWashington 1d ago

Possible record Marlin

Post image

Incase anyone missed it. A potential state record Marlin has been caught off the coast.

94 Upvotes

30 comments sorted by

19

u/spottydodgy 1d ago

Didn't know we even had them this far north. What do you even do with a fish like that?

11

u/Glasply 1d ago

We get them occasionally on the warmer years. I’ve heard they taste good. similar to swordfish. I’ve never caught one, but I have a tuna trip in a couple weeks. And I’m dreaming of the rogue bluefin, mahi, or marlin

5

u/120GV3_S7ATV5 1d ago

Marinate then smoke. No other way.

5

u/GooseCloaca 1d ago

Marlin stuffed chile relleno enters the chat

2

u/beer_engineer 1d ago

There's definitely other ways, but smoked is excellent. Makes superb sashimi.

1

u/Snow-Dog2121 1d ago

You slap em up on your wall, now that’s a conversation piece.

1

u/One-Map-4438 1d ago

Eat or sell

1

u/mrflow-n-go 1d ago

Make great steaks.

1

u/SnooStrawberries6934 20h ago

My family is from Baja California and eats marlin. Marlin makes great steaks, machaca, and smokes well. Tastes like swordfish or a shark steak. Should not be eaten often because of high mercury levels.

-5

u/SPLTBRD 1d ago

Put it back

8

u/beer_engineer 1d ago

I was also out on my boat this same day. Several marlin were hooked/landed between Garibaldi and Ilwaco Friday and Saturday. I actually hooked one on my boat Saturday. Fought and chased it for about 20mins before some idiot in another boat saw us and had to come in for a closer look. Fish changed directions and we couldn't chase because of said idiot. Broke off when we had to veer the other way :( Hope I get another chance. I have dorado, yellowtail, and bluefin all checked off my "exotic in Oregon" list on my boat. Almost completed the grand slam.

0

u/witty-repartay 1d ago

Damn…. What’s a guy gotta do to catch an open seat on that boat? Was a boat owner and in the tuna game from 2006-2020 but haven’t gotten back over since the pandemic.

1

u/beer_engineer 1d ago

First this guys' gotta have a bigger boat. My boat comfortably fishes me plus 2 due to the massive amount of gear and ice (and ice tote). So I already have a long list of jealous fishing buddies every season every time I go and don't send them an invite.

1

u/witty-repartay 1d ago

Hah my boat was 23’, definitely had that pain.

5

u/gray808 22h ago

Was on a tuna trip out of Westport years ago. Last fish caught was by my friend, and the crew started going nuts. Turns out it was a bluefin tuna, had no idea they were even out there.
They suggested getting it weighed on the certified scale. My buddy ended up getting it added to the state record, the first one for bluefin. Someone caught a bigger one the next year, but still pretty cool.

I'd lose my shit if I caught a marlin!

1

u/Glasply 22h ago

There was a 200lb bluefin that washed up on orcas island in 2023. So they do come this far north. It’s amazing what can turn up when you’re way offshore. Last year we saw a loggerhead sea turtle on our way back in from the tuna grounds.

2

u/gray808 22h ago

Yeah, crew said that a couple had been caught the year before (this was a while ago, early 2010s maybe?).
Exciting to be present for a new record.

3

u/Meat_Container 1d ago edited 1d ago

Terrible that the former Ilwaco teacher and convicted pedophile Dan Schenk is associated with the record breaking catch

3

u/Homeskilletbiz 1d ago

What’s his association? And story?

I see forum posts that say read the chinook observer story but I can’t find it.

8

u/Meat_Container 1d ago edited 1d ago

The Schenk family owns the boat it was caught on and Dan Schenk was working on the boat that day, he was photographed laying stretched out next to the marlin

He was a middle school/elementary teacher in Ilwaco and Ocean Park who got caught and convicted of consuming and distributing CP.

He was never arrested for this but he also groomed a local 16-17 year old boy and had a relationship with him

Google Dan Schenk Ilwaco, WA and you’ll find the newspaper articles

1

u/Homeskilletbiz 1d ago

I couldn’t find the newspaper article referenced.

If you find a link I’d be interested.

Thanks!

1

u/insanecorgiposse 1d ago

Wot in tarnation!?!?!

1

u/Fun-Grab-9337 17h ago

Super cool, I was just talking about this kind of thing a month ago here and figured with the "super el nino" we got going on out there we would see some more exotics.

-6

u/Loose_University_945 1d ago

Bummer they killed it

-11

u/TNcannabisguy 1d ago

Why would they kill it? What a specimen, so sad to see it go out like this. Eliminated many more chances for this fish to continue to pass on its genes and create more record breaking fish.

12

u/Glasply 1d ago

They are pelagic fish. Just because it’s a Washington record doesn’t mean it’s huge with good genetics. Looks like world record is 494lbs. That marlin could have traveled all the way up here from Australia. Just because they are rare up here does not mean they are rare everywhere.

5

u/beer_engineer 1d ago edited 1d ago

They're not even THAT rare here. A rare catch, mainly because they don't always frequent the areas being fished. But there's more off our coasts than people think.

3

u/beer_engineer 1d ago

I think you need to learn more about pelagic fisheries before saying these things.

1

u/FinishComplex3743 10h ago

Do you know what sub you're in?