Coromandel anglers land 384.9kg black marlin in Billfish Classic record

The crew from CorBlimey with their 384.9kg billfish. Photo / Billfish Classic

A group of men have reeled in a record catch off the coast of the Coromandel Peninsula as part of the annual Billfish Classic in an 8.5m boat.

On day one of a tournament at the Mercury Bay Game Fishing Club, the crew on board CorBlimey captured a 384.9kg black marlin after a three-hour tussle in choppy waters.

Angler Jason van Esch was credited with the catch, while Mark Phillips was the skipper on board.

A video shows the crew lifting the fish on board as the boat rocks around on the water, while another video was shared by Blues hooker Kurt Eklund.

Once the boat returned to shore, a digger was needed to lift the billfish off before being weighed.

The catch earned the team an automatic $30,000 prize for the heaviest haul of the day and put them in contention for the biggest catch of the tournament, which comes with a $400,000 prize.

The overall winning team pockets a further $200,000.

The heaviest billfish caught on day two was 252.4kg.

The fish caught by CorBlimey was donated by the crew to help to support the establishment of the first Youth Development Centre in the Mercury Bay area, a project being driven by the Whitianga Community Services Trust.

About 192kg of the marlin will go up for auction on Friday, while the rest will be donated to the local community food bank.

The Billfish Classic is an annual, premier game fishing tournament held in Whitianga and more than 400 boats compete.

A record 470 boats took part last year and the heaviest fish caught weighed in just under 320kg.

The biggest billfish officially recorded in New Zealand is one weighing 473.2kg and caught by Alain Jorion off the coast of Gisborne on February 9, 2002.

The last day of competition at the Billfish Classic is on Saturday.