Blue marlin potential NZ record for junior

Lucy Jensen, 12, with her winning 212kg blue marlin.

A 12-year-old Tauranga girl could not believe her eyes when she reeled a 212kg marlin on to her family boat on Saturday, five hours after the first bite.

Lucy Jensen was out with her dad Chris and older brother Sam, 14, for the Tauranga Game Fishing Club Game On Tournament when she pulled in the winner - and a potential record breaker.

The whopper catch took her about five hours to reel on the 700 metres of line.

The Tauranga Intermediate School student said the effort was exhausting but she was excited by the result.

She had needed help reeling in her first blue marlin catch on Friday after it died so Saturday's catch was the first she could claim as her own. "I just quickly got in the game chair [after the first bite] and the boys talked me through it.

"Once it died, Dad said 'oh no, you can do it this time'. He kept telling me 'keep going' and my brother was feeding me barley sugars."

Five hours later the winner came aboard.

"I couldn't really believe it. it was quite big."

The trio arrived back at the club to applause from other competitors acknowledging the mammoth catch from such a young junior.

"It was good because I knew it was my own," she said.

Club manager Rolly Bagshaw said it was "a heck of an effort" for a 12-year-old entered in the age 12 to 17 category.

"She got a big applause from everyone at the club because they all knew the huge effort that it would have required," Mr Bagshaw said. "It's an exceptional catch given her size."

Lucy's catch was "pending" as a New Zealand record for blue marlin caught in her age group and line weight class, he said.

The tournament coincided with a "really nice run of fish" thanks to warm and clear water and good currents, Mr Bagshaw said.