It was 58 years ago  today that Alfred Glassell Jr. appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated with a massive black marlin taken off of Cabo Blanco, Peru.

On August 7, 1953, Glassell earned a place in fishing history and lore by boating a 14-foot, 7-inch,  1,560 pound black marlin. The fish would be recognized as the largest bony fish ever taken on rod and reel. That’s a record that still stands.

It took Glassell an hour and forty-five minutes to land the fish using a Tycoon rod, Fin-Nor reel and Ashaway 39-thread line. Reports say that the fish jumped 49 times. Glassell also claims that while he was fighting the grander-plus, another 1000-pound plus marlin came swimming by. 

Glassell donated his record marlin to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. You can still see it there today. In 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson attended the unveiling of the display. More than 2 million people saw the fish the first year it was housed there.

FISH ON!

 

fish, Fishing, marlin

By Sid

---

---