Awesome Story for a First Marlin

During two seasons fishing Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, Soto learned what an 800-pound-class fish looks like long before it reaches the transom. That experience paid off during the recent 2026 Mobile Big Game Fishing Club’s Ladies Tournament when the Code Blue, a 60-foot Hatteras GT based in Orange Beach, Alabama, hooked what would become the current Gulf Coast Heavy Hitter—a 788.6-pound blue marlin. 

“We marked the fish on sonar, dropped a bait back, and almost immediately it was bit,” Soto recalled. “When it came up on the leader the first time, I told the crew, “Get the gaffs out.” The marlin never jumped but Soto could see the silhouette of a big marlin right from the start.

The crew hesitated.

“Aren’t we going to measure it?”

Soto’s answer was immediate.

“No. Get the gaffs.”

From what he’d seen there was no doubt.

Ironically, the biggest blue marlin of the tournament turned out to be one of the most cooperative giants Soto has ever fought.

The fish never made the spectacular aerial display most anglers expect from a blue marlin. It never jumped. It came to the leader only twice, and after roughly 30 minutes, it was alongside the boat. Even after the leader was dumped the first time, a moment when many giant marlin explode into a blistering run, the fish remained surprisingly calm. 

The marlin had engulfed the bait, but the 14/0 BKK circle hook found the perfect corner-of-the-mouth placement. Fishing a 130-class reel with approximately 30 pounds of drag and a 300-pound leader, the crew never had to apply extreme pressure. 

What made the catch even more remarkable was the angler.

Sydney Prince had never caught a billfish before

Looking back, Soto said, “had it made repeated jumps or settled into a drawn-out fight, the outcome could have been very different.” Instead, Sydney kept her composure, kept the pressure on the fish and capitalized on the opportunity to land the first billfish of her life.

Once the marlin hit the deck, excitement erupted aboard Code Blue. Prince, the crew, and the owner’s family celebrated a catch few anglers ever experience.

For Soto, the moment reinforced something years spent chasing giant marlin have taught him.

Sometimes the biggest fish don’t act like the biggest fish.

But when they do show themselves, experience tells you exactly what you’re looking at.

The 788.6-pound blue marlin now leads the InTheBite Captain of the Year Heavy Hitter standings in the Galati Gulf Coast Division and earned 500 Heavy Hitter points for the Code Blue team. 

Note: Deckhands included Stephen Toomey and Kessler Park

Follow the Crew

Captain Alex Soto @alexgili2000

Mate Alex Amaya @alexamaya_s

Kessler Park @kessler_park10

Sydney Prince @sydneyprincee

Photo’s and video courtesy of Team Code Blue

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