Fishing in the ladies and juniors ‘Tammy and Richard Kirkby Memorial Charity Day’ event on Tuesday, a 137.2 kilogram blue marlin latched onto the lure at the end of Thompson’s 37kg line.

The blue marlin lives in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and are more widely pursued by sport fishermen than any other marlin species, according to experts from the Australian Marlin website.

Their wide distribution in tropical oceanic waters and seasonally into temperate zones makes them available to many anglers, and their potential to reach great sizes and spectacular fighting ability makes them a highly desired catch to some anglers.

While she admits she has caught one other fish that was bigger, this is the biggest non-catch and release fish she has caught.

“This one was captured for the capture category and I hope it will be big enough to get me the title for the Ladies Day,” she said.

“It took me an hour and five minutes to get in and it was definitely bigger than we thought.

“It was the hardest fight I’ve ever had with a fish. He almost spilled us on the first run of line, and I thought we could have lost him, but luckily we hung on.”

The marlin stayed just below the surface and sat there for a long time, but with the aid of the boat driver Thompson and the rest of her crew aboard the ‘Milo’ boat dragged him in.

“Sometimes you can get the fish in really quick, but sometimes they sit for an age like this fellow did,” the Port Stephens Game Fishing Club member said.

“He stayed with the current so he was really tough to get in. Credit to the boat driver who plays a big part and gets at the right angle.”

Conditions in the water were not ideal to start the tournament, but Thompson said it improved after the first day.

“The water has been pretty good. Tuesday was the best day out on the water, but day one was tough,” she said.

“We’re aiming for the biggest catch of the tournament (over 150kg). We were runners up last year so we want to go one better this year.”