‘It was awesome’: Blue marlin weighing over 500 lbs caught during SC Blue Marlin Invitational

MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (WCBD) – Fishermen near Mount Pleasant hauled in a blue marlin weighing over 500 pounds into Toler’s Cove Marina Friday afternoon.

The marlin was 507.4 pounds and reeled in on the ‘Pipe Down’ boat. The record blue marlin caught in South Carolina saltwater weighed 881 pounds.

The catch comes as the men compete in the South Carolina Blue Marlin Invitational. The tournament began May 1 and will run through June 8, offering over $500 thousand in prize money.

This marlin is the first to be weighed during the tournament.

Pipe Down Captain Jeff Crabtree described the experience and how the catch came about.

“It was awesome, it’s kind of cool when everything comes together like it’s supposed to. We had seven guys on the boat who had never fished together before, kind of thrown together last second….” Crabtree explained. “We were fortunate enough to make it happen in the first hour of the day, so it was really cool.”

Angler Gavin Gonzales said reeling in the massive catch was not easy.

“Yeah, it was challenging; I mean, we fought it for a little bit and finally got it up to the boat,” Gonzales said. “It took us an hour.”

Happening soon, the next tournament in Mount Pleasant is the Carolina Billfish Classic at 20 Patriots Point Road from June 19 to June 22.

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