<< Back September 2005

Marlin Boulevard
By: C.J. Schexnayder

There is a place in the deep blue water of the Pacific about 35 miles off the coast of Northern Peru that was once known as “marlin boulevard.” During the 1950's a unique combination of ocean currents and underwater geography led the sleepy little fishing village of Cabo Blanco to become the nexus of the booming sport of deep-sea sport fishing.

Sport fishermen from around the world knew about the abundance of Peruvian waters as early as the 1930s, but it wasn't until after World War II that several Americans came and began looking and using scientific analysis. Texas oilman Alfred C. Glassell, Jr. proved the theories right on April 7, 1952 when he caught a a 1,025-pound black marlin that was the first fish ever caught that weighed more than 1,000 pounds.

The first 1000-pound fish ever caught. Photo by C.J. Schexnayder

The catch, referred to by billfishermen as “the world's most important fish” broke the previous record that had stood more than 30 years. The richness of the waters off Cabo Blanco proved too much for the record, which fell four months later when Tom Bates brought in a 1,060 -pounder. Then Glassell regained the record again two weeks later with a 1,090-pounder.
To take advantage of this unique fishing opportunity, Glassell and several other sport fishermen, including Tom Bates and S. Kip Farrington founded the Cabo Blanco Fishing Club in 1951. Membership cost $10,000 and it was not open to the public. The Honorary President was the Peruvian, banker Enrique Pardo Heeren, and Farrington rigourously maintained the membership list (reportedly once turning down a $50,000 offer from a desperate fisherman.

The club building, which was completed in early 1953, consisted of a resort with ten spacious rooms to cater to the club members and their invited guests. Three fishing yachts built in Nova Scotia and shipped to the spot including Glassell's 40-foot Miss Texas. None of the boats had radios because the fishing was so good they didn't need them.

Over the next several years, the club saw numerous record catches in almost two-dozen categories recognized by the International Game Fishing Association. In all, club members caught a total of 32 black marlin weighing more than 1,000 pounds, which they referred to as “granders.”

The fish that made Cabo Blanco famous is a black marlin Glassell snared on August 7, 1953 the largest bony fish ever caught with a rod and reel. It weighed 708 kilograms (1,560 pounds) and was 14 feet, seven inches long. The record still stands today.

Glassell's great marlin took an hour and forty-five minutes to bring on board using a Tycoon rod, Fin-Nor reel and Ashaway 39-thread line. It jumped 49 times. While he was fighting this fish, Glassell claimed to have seen another marlin swimming with it that he estimated to be at least 1,000 pounds as well. The feat put him on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

Glassell later donated the marlin to the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C., where it remains on display. President Lyndon B. Johnson attended the unveiling of the display in 1968 and more than 2 million people saw it the first year

Cabo Blanco Fishing Club today. Photo by C.J. Schexnayder

There are many stories in Peru today concerning various celebrities flocking to the site during its heyday such as Jimmy Stewart and John Wayne, but it is almost impossible to verify who did and did not visit the club. Baseball player Ted Williams did catch a grander in December 1954, but the most famous visitor to the club was Ernest Hemingway, who was here for several weeks during April 1956.

There are various versions told of the writer's connection to the site, but he was only at the resort one time with a team from Warner Brothers studios making the movie version of his book, “The Old Man and the Sea.” Hemingway did do a great deal of fishing during his stay, catching three large marlins, the biggest weighing 910 pounds.

The writer's visit created a sensation in the country, and the club had to constantly keep onlookers off the premises while he was there. On three occasions, stowaways hid in the heads of the fishing boats when they went out to fish.

Alfred C. Glassell Jr. And one of his black marlin catches

Hemingway later wrote of the experience: “We fished 32 days, from early morning until it was too rough to photograph and the seas ran like onrushing hills with snow blowing off the tops. If you looked from the crest of the sea toward the shore, you could see the haze of sand blowing as the wind furrowed the hills and scoured and sculptured them each day.”

When the military government took control of Peru in 1968, it was the end of the big fish era. American businesses and their owners were not welcomed, and Glassell and his friends stopped coming. Several years later, the currents offshore changed and the large fish left as well.

Due to commercial long-line fishing, it is not believed there are many gigantic marlins left in the sea and it is almost certain that there is no location on the planet that can match the sheer abundance of gigantic fish that once populated the waters of “marlin boulevard.”

The club building still stands just south of Cabo Blanco, but it is in a grievous state of decay. Glassell's first 1,000-pounder still hangs over the fireplace, still quietly majestic despite the scars of the years and the ruin around it.

<< Back