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Fishermen land record-breaking 494kg catch off WA coast

A group of mates have reeled in what is believed to be the largest blue marlin ever landed in Australian waters.

Skipper Eddy Lawler and keen angler Clay Hilbert were fishing off the coast of Exmouth in Western Australia when they pulled in the record-breaking 494kg beast on New Year's Day.

Slightly too large to throw in the esky, landing the enormous fish was only the start of the battle.

Those on board the charter had to keep the catch on the line, reel it onto the boat, move it onto a trailer, before using a crane to lift it off at the Exmouth Game Fishing Club (EGFC) clubhouse.

The charter landed what is believed to be the largest blue marlin ever found in Australian waters. Source: Facebook / Bluewater Tackle World Exmouth
The charter landed what is believed to be the largest blue marlin ever found in Australian waters. Source: Facebook / Bluewater Tackle World Exmouth
The beast will be sent to the Game Fishing Association of Australia to be tested. Source: Facebook / Bluewater Tackle World Exmouth
The beast will be sent to the Game Fishing Association of Australia to be tested. Source: Facebook / Bluewater Tackle World Exmouth

Then they needed to find a freezer big enough to store it before it could be sent to the Game Fishing Association of Australia to be assessed.

Jeni Gates, a former EGFC president and the owner of Tackle World Exmouth, said the energy around the club “was absolutely electric” following the monster catch.

Normally a fish of such size would be tagged and released, Mr Lawler had long been determined to prove that blue marlin granders (1000 pounds) did in fact exist in Australian waters.

Experts will now examine the fish’s otolith, a bone from the ear, to determine its exact age.

As for those that landed it, a fibreglass replica of the fish will now proudly be put on display in Tackle World Exmouth for all those to see.