The 2022 marlin season has launched a magnificent start to the year, with three of the monster fish landed weighing in at over 200 kilograms each.

Usually the marlin season usually runs from November through to April, and this year there seems to be an unusually big number of huge marlin caught, noted the president of the Cook Islands Fishing Association Don Beer, who was not too sure what the factors were.

Marlin feed on a variety of pelagic fishes, such as dolphin, tunas, mackerels and flying fish and can dive deep to feed on squid; “the marlin could be following schools of pelagic fish,” he said.

Beer also noted the catches of yellow fin tuna, “but it’s not the average catch - they’re not in large numbers, there have been large numbers of bait fish for the them (yellowfin tuna) to feed on, so they are not really taking to the lures.

“But, they’re certainly catching at the Panama FAD (Fishing Aggregate Device) and the Rarotongan Hotel FAD, there has been good tuna caught there and it looks like the tuna are evening bites about sunset - they’re taking the laser…” Beer said.

Reelaxing Fishing Charters operator Corey Fisher was “stoked” to land a 204 kg blue marlin on Sunday - while fishing solo.

Fisher had hooked the monster fish six miles out on the north side of Rarotonga about midday on Sunday, landing the fish around 1.30pm, “it was pretty crazy out there with the thunder and lightning,” he noted.

Last week Nigel Maclaurin a visitor from New Zealand hooked a large blue marlin and happily returned home with vacuum packed kilos of the fish.

On Friday - Akura Fishing Charters celebrated their first day back in the water with a successful double charter with Brent York and his kids that landed two marlins; the monster marlin weighed in at 235kg and a smaller one about 80kg.

Just two days ago, Claudette and Daniel Masterson braved the rain and were happily rewarded with a 42kg yellowfin Tuna.

And earlier last month on January 4,  John Beasley and his crew of Tiki Tetava and Jack Charlie weighed in a 210 kg Blue Marlin.