Striped Marlin fishing

Striped marlin (Kajikia audax) can be told apart from blue marlin due to their “stripes” of blue that run vertically down their bodies. Striped marlin is lighter than blue marlin, but their body shape and even colouring remains the same aside from the stripes. Striped marlin features a blue upper body and a white or silver lower body.

They are a highly migratory species and can travel long distances. They live up to 20 years and stick to water that is 20 to 25 degrees Celsius. They use their bills to charge through large schools of baitfish and then target any of those baitfish injured or stunned by their bills. They feed on mackerel, sardines, anchovies and more. 

Striped marlin is usually found near the surface of the water. They’re found in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. They make their way toward the equator around winter and further from the equator during summer.

They weight 250-450 pounds and grow up to 14 feet in length. They are known to spawn in the central Pacific and near central Mexico. After birth, young striped marlin moves toward the Mexican shore and can be found in dense populations near the Baja Peninsula. Striped marlin can withstand colder water temperature ranges compared to other marlin species, which makes for their large travel range. Striped marlin attack baitfish in more of a group than other marlin species. This is because they’re smaller in size and they make up for this lack of size with numbers. The striped marlin utilizes their shape, lightweight, and narrow-body to be the third fastest fish in the world, swimming at up to 80 kilometres per hour, only behind its cousin, the black marlin, and sailfish.