Richard Brackett went to South Carolina looking for swordfish

Sep 23, 2013 08:34 GMT  ·  By

A tiny Atlantic blue marlin has been caught near Charleston, South Carolina. The catch was landed by angler Richard Brackett, who was on the hunt for swordfish.

Brackett does not mention the size of the fish, but it doesn't look larger than a few inches. The baby marlin is described by Grind TV as possibly one of the smallest ever fished.

In the past, fishermen have broken records by bagging giant marlins weighing hundreds of pounds.

Brackett mentions going on a fishing trip with his friend, Joey Cagle, and spotting the small billfish. He had no dip net on him so he opened the transom door and placed it in a bucket filled with water.

“After an hour or so, I saw what we thought to be a juvenile sailfish in the transom lights. Being such a last-minute trip, I forgot the dip net so I had to resort to option two.

“I filled the bucket with water, opened the transom door, and scooped him up with my hands and set him in the bucket,” he says.

He describes the billfish as quite aggressive and trying to bite him after the capture. It was only let out of the water for a quick snapshot.

“I have to say even at this small size they are crazy aggressive. I got him in my hands in the bucket … and we snapped a quick picture so we could release it as quickly as possible,” he recalls.

The marlin was released soon after, and Brackett hopes that it will grow up to be large enough to survive. The Billfish Foundation dubs the capture a once in a life time opportunity.

“The chance in encountering a blue marlin is quite a feat, but seeing one this small is extremely rare,” they say.