Youngster claiming world record marlin

A 35kg Northland boy has caught a 131.2kg striped marlin and is claiming a world record.

"Wow," was Cee-Jae Taylor-Mackie's first word when the marlin emerged from the ocean on the end of his straining line in the Poor Knights Islands region.

The Ngunguru 10-year-old hooked the fish in teeming rain from his grandparents' 10.6m boat Voi at 2.50pm on Monday. About an hour later it was lying in the bottom of the boat.

"My arms were sore and it didn't want to come up so I just kept winding and winding," Cee-Jae said.

The big catch is believed to be a world record for children aged 10 and under, eclipsing the previous biggest 121.2kg marlin caught by Bay of Islands youngster Andrew Johnson in 2003.

The Whangarei Deep Sea Anglers Club is sending details of Cee-Jae's catch to the sport's world governing body to get the record ratified.

Cee-Jae started fishing when he was five but had never caught a marlin before.

Now he has boasting rights over his 13-year-old brother Jesse, who landed a 72.8kg marlin a month earlier.

- NZPA