{"id":508888,"date":"2026-02-28T03:37:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T03:37:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/508888\/"},"modified":"2026-02-28T03:37:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T03:37:13","slug":"nervous-wait-for-jurien-bay-boy-who-hauled-in-potential-record-breaking-270kg-marlin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/508888\/","title":{"rendered":"Nervous wait for Jurien Bay boy who hauled in potential record-breaking 270kg marlin"},"content":{"rendered":"

A West Australian schoolboy with multiple fishing records under his belt may have secured yet another after reeling in a marlin weighing more than 270 kilograms.<\/p>\n

\"Father<\/p>\n

Rhys has also caught a black marlin more than twice his height.\u00a0 (Supplied: Brett Martin)<\/p>\n

Twelve-year-old Rhys Martin caught the 272.2kg blue marlin in his home town of Jurien Bay, 220 kilometres north of Perth, last week.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The catch \u2014 which was being verified by Game Fishing Association of Australia as a national record \u2014 was 10kg bigger than that of the previous junior record-holder.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rhys said it was a good feeling to bring the massive marlin in, despite a bit of struggle.<\/p>\n

His father Brett Martin skippered the boat at the time, and said the catch took about one-and-a-half hours.<\/p>\n

“It all happened pretty quick,” he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“It was a good effort, a big effort, that’s for sure.”<\/p>\n

The young angler was no stranger to the record books, with four under-11 Australian records under his belt and two more junior records pending.<\/p>\n

\"Four<\/p>\n

Rhys already has a number of awards and records to his name. (ABC Midwest & Wheatbelt: Chloe Henville)<\/p>\n

Mr Martin said he had been fishing his whole life, and Rhys followed in his footsteps from about two years old.<\/p>\n

“He’s got the bug as well,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Him and his mates, they’re fanatical now. They ride their bikes down the Hill River and go bream fishing in the afternoons.”<\/p>\n

Rhys said while breaking records was rewarding, he was drawn to the challenge of fishing, as well as spending time on the ocean.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The 12-year-old has been fishing for most of his life. (ABC Midwest & Wheatbelt: Chloe Henville)<\/p>\n

Mr Martin said the family would continue to support Rhys’s love of fishing.<\/p>\n

“If he enjoys it, we’ll keep doing it,” he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Everyone loves getting a record.”<\/p>\n

Mr Martin said Rhys secured his first record at just eight years old, pulling in a “pretty tough” 14kg amberjack fish.<\/p>\n

“That was a two-and-a-half hour fight as an eight-year-old. That was pretty impressive,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"Rhys<\/p>\n

Mr Martin says the family will support Rhys’s fishing, as long as he enjoys it. (ABC Midwest & Wheatbelt: Chloe Henville\/ supplied)<\/p>\n

The Martin family recently went to Exmouth so Rhys could chase the black marlin record, but he could not hook one heavy enough during the 10-day trip.<\/p>\n

The disappointment was short-lived, as Rhys caught a potentially-recording breaking black marlin, weighing 195.8kg, during his first fishing trip back at home.<\/p>\n

That catch was also in the process of being verified by the Game Fishing Association of Australia.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Rhys’s parents, Brett and Kristina, say no part of the big marlin was wasted. (ABC Midwest & Wheatbelt: Chloe Henville)<\/p>\n

Mr Martin said the Jurien Bay community was always supportive of Rhys’s achievements \u2014 especially when it meant some fresh fillets would be shared around.<\/p>\n

He said none of the fish were wasted, with fresh and smoked cuts being given to friends and family.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Obviously, we catch and release wherever we can,” he said.<\/p>\n

“But when we’re catching pelagics, and especially if you’ve got a record or a potential record, there’s no harm in taking a fish.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A West Australian schoolboy with multiple fishing records under his belt may have secured yet another after reeling…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":508889,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,143441,255245,255244,255241,145007,255243,255239,108326,44,86,2330,142789,59794,255240,255242],"class_list":["post-508888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-record","tag-black-marlin","tag-blue-marlin","tag-good-fishing-wa","tag-jurien-bay","tag-marlin","tag-massive-marlin","tag-midwest-news","tag-news","tag-perth-news","tag-record-breaking","tag-recreational-fishing","tag-sport-fishing","tag-teenager-breaks-record","tag-wa-record"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=508888"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508888\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/508889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=508888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=508888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=508888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}