Auckland schoolgirl lands record marlin in Northland

Madeleine Green, aged 10 from Auckland, nabbed the New Zealand junior record for landing a 122.8 kg striped marlin on a 37kg line.

An Auckland schoolgirl is still on a high after a reeling in a whopping 122kg striped marlin at the weekend and breaking the record for her age group.

Madeleine Green was fishing with her family out from Whangaroa in the Far North just before midday on Saturday when a marlin hooked on.

Not only was it the first one the 10-year-old had ever caught, but it also broke the record for the heaviest striped marlin for up to 11 years old on a 37kg line, with her catch coming in at an impressive 122.8kg.

The St Thomas's School student spent an hour wrestling with the large game fish.

Proud dad Simon Green said she did an awesome job and kept going even when she started tiring near the end.

"There's always a bit of chaos once the marlin strikes. You have to clear all the other rods away and we had to get Maddie into her fighting harness. It was all a bit of chaos to begin with, but then you settle into the fight."

"We had a look at the record books online and knew we had to beat 111kg and then when we got it in the weigh station it went 122kg, so she beat it by 11 kilos," Green said.

Madeleine Green, 10, from Auckland, nabbed the NZ junior record with this 122.8 kg Striped Marlin on a 37kg line, at the Whangaroa Sports Fishing Club on February 20 on board the fishing boat Dealne

The marlin was weighed at Whangaroa Sport Fishing Club just before 5pm on Saturday and Madeleine celebrated her big catch with a raspberry and lemonade.

She also has a lot of smoked marlin to share with her Auckland friends and family as a reminder of her big achievement.

Striped Marlin Facts:

The striped marlin is a highly migratory fish at the top of the food chain in the tropical and subtropical regions of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. It is a member of a larger family known as billfish, which gets the name from the upper jaw, which extends to form a spear. Because of their large size, marlin are prized sport fish. Striped marlin also support large commercial fisheries throughout the Pacific Ocean.

Striped marlin have long, round bills, small teeth, and a tall dorsal fin.

Their bodies are dark blue-black on the top and fade to a silvery white on the bottom. They have rows of blue coloured stripes made up of smaller round dots or narrow bands.

Striped marlin are smaller than other marlin species, but can reach a length of 3.65m and weigh more than 200kg.