Blue Marlin Photos & Golden Tile

[frankypettolina]

Dorsal fins on blue marlin do retract- pec fins on black marlins do not.

Body depth and the lack of pointed pecs indicates white marlin- at 120 ish pounds the blue would have a "thicker/broader" look to it.

[Hucklebuck]

Dorsal fins on blue marlin do retract- pec fins on black marlins do not.

Body depth and the lack of pointed pecs indicates white marlin- at 120 ish pounds the blue would have a "thicker/broader" look to it.

Add to that the lack of the large pointed anal fin (in the flip shot) as well......

[capt. jakeg]

I have heard of at least three of these over the past two weeks. Look like a white but too big for a white, and not exactly a blue. Kind of rounded, kind of pointed fins. Short bill and extended lower jaw. Id be interested to see what the story would be if one were brought in and had some scientific work done on it.

[marlin magnet]

Dorsal fins on blue marlin do retract- pec fins on black marlins do not.

Body depth and the lack of pointed pecs indicates white marlin- at 120 ish pounds the blue would have a "thicker/broader" look to it.

I'm not sure. I've looked at loads of pictures, and tried to research the truth. here is what Wikipedia has. Note it discusses the Caudal and pectoral fins. I'm not an expert here as I've only ever released 1, but seen many. I 'm still thinking Hatchet or huge whitie. Non the less, Great catch and she looks to have giving you a great time.

The Atlantic blue marlin has two dorsal fins and two anal fins. Its first dorsal fin (going from front to back) has 39 to 43 rays,[11] which are bony spines that support fins, and its second dorsal fin has 6 to 7 rays.[11] Its first anal fin, which is similar in shape and size to the second dorsal fin, has 13 to 16 rays,[11] and the second anal fin has 6 to 7 rays.[11] The pectoral fins, which have 19 to 22 rays,[11] are long and narrow and can be drawn in to the sides of the body. The pelvic fins are shorter than the pectorals, have a poorly developed membrane, and are depressible into ventral grooves. Its first anal fin, along with its pectoral and caudal fins, can be folded down into grooves. This makes the fish more streamlined and thereby reduces the drag.

[marlinrojo]

WOW good job on that sailfish!!

[frankypettolina]

Marlin Magnet- please trust me on this one- Blue marlin Dorsal Fins do retract. (i am not claiming to be an expert either- but I have been involved in catching a pile of them- and missing my share too.) And to be clear- i was never arguing in favor of it being a blue- i was just saying that the argument of the retracting fin is flawed.

I am not doubting that the fish is a whitey, or maybe a hatchet, or maybe a roundscale spear (all of which have been recognized as being white marlin for years).

[BlueH20Boss]

forget about the dorsal....look at the pic of it nose diving and all you see is body and tail. That tail is a white marlin tail. Vesus a blue marlin tail which has less of a crecent shape, the blue marlin tail looks more like a T for lack of a better description. It is thicker in the fork. White tails, like the one in the photo, have more of a sweep about them. Anyone? Anyone?

[frankypettolina]

Again, I always said whitey-

I think the body shape as a whole is the biggest factor (that we have to go with)- tough to judge scale (no pun intended) but the author estimated the fish to be in the 110 to 120 pound class- given a 15% error factor still a 100 pound class fish- and 100 pound class blue marlin tend to look like scaled down versions of the grown up model. I have caught 1 blue marlin that was estimated at 50 pounds in venezuela, and that one was a tough call until it RAISED its dorsal fin at the boat, and at that point Blaine Champlin, Eric Blanks, Robby paquette and myself all called out blue one, and when we pulled it in the boat every last fin was pointed (blue marlin traits)
2nd big factor is rounded pec fins.

I have to think about the tails BH20B- but I think you are on point (that pun is intended)

[Fritz]

look at the anal fin. If its rounded, its a Whitey or Round scale. If its pointed, its a Blue. Problem is the anal fin is not visible in the pics.

[BlueH20Boss]

haha good one Franky, Oh and In no way was me saying forget the dorsal a jab at your I.D.'ing method, after reading it over it sounds like i am just pissing on your dorsal fin comment (sorry) Just so you know i totally agree with you about it, i was just saying to ditch the dorsal talk for a moment and check out the perfect pic we have of the tail. Anyhow, you, and a lot of the guys chiming in here have probably leadered many more marlin than i have, so i am just taking in all this knowledge and trying to throw in the little piece that i might have haha! Whatever fish it is, it was a great catch& photos. This is why i love fishing, don't you guys!?!