Keilor Park is now officially home to the youngest angler with a world record catch.
Back in March, Star Weekly reported that it took 10-year-old Makayla Buttigieg almost two hours to reel in a 147-kilogram striped marlin 40 kilometres offshore from Merimbula in her father’s boat, Happy Hour.
It was believed at the time to be the biggest striped marlin caught by an angler under the age of 11, breaking the previous world record of 132 kilograms set in New Zealand in 2002.
Makayla’s hefty haul has now been officially approved as a world and Australian “small fry” record for a striped marlin by the International Game Fishing Association.
Her proud father, Darren, said the certification process was “strict, requiring the fish to be weighed on certified scales and photos of the rod, reel and fish, along with a signed statutory declaration, to be provided.
“The process then takes an agonising six months to be completed,” he said.
The fish was only four kilograms shy of the record for a senior female angler.
It’s now in the hands of a taxidermist and will hopefully be hanging in the family’s home by the end of the year.
Batemans Bay taxidermist Scott Mann said the job could take almost as long as the record certification, with up to two months needed just for the fish to dry out.
Makayla netted a heap of awards at the Game Fishing Association of Australia awards night in Cairns last weekend, and was acknowledged for another great catch – a 92.5-kilogram marlin captured on a 15-kilogram line.
