Fisherman Richard Brackett has had experience with Atlantic Blue Marlins before. The fish are large, weighing up to 1,500 pounds, and can put up deadly and ferocious fights that could last for hours on end, earning them the rightful term "fighting fish."
But Richard Brackett's latest Blue Marlin haul is perhaps one-of-a-kind. He did not catch the biggest Blue Marlin, the heaviest Blue Marlin, or the most aggressive.
Richard Brackett caught the cutest Blue Marlin ever recorded.
He used a bucketful of water to catch the baby fish, and he says that despite is young age and itsy-bitsy disposition, it was "crazy aggressive," attempting to fights its way out of his hands as he attempted a photo-op.
The Billfish Foundation described the encounter as increasingly unlikely. "The chance in encountering a Blue Marlin is quite a feat, but seeing this small one is extremely rare."
The itty bitty Blue Marlin had at first been thought to be a baby Sailfish; Adult Sailfish famously have broad dorsal fins, and the featured little critter had a large blue dorsal fin on its back as well. It was later revealed to be normal; as baby Blue Marlins spend their younger years with such a dorsal fin. Baby Sailfish also have a similar-looking fanlike fin, but have longer, swordlike bills.
Brackett and a companion, Joey Cagle, were on their way to swordfish waters, having battled it out with two particularly angry Sailfish, before spotting the teeny weeny Blue Marlin hovering about the transom lights (presumably trying to pick a fight).
The two fishermen scooped the little fish out wherein in tried to fight with their hands, posed for a picture with it, before setting it free.
It's a big ocean with thousands of other big, mean fish, but Brackett and Cagle maintain high hopes for their tiny little friend to survive into maturity, to become a large top-level predator.
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