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Marlin (Blue)
OpenMakaira nigricans
The NC rulebook, translated for the Banks.
The Short Version
North Carolina sets the keep floor at 99" lower jaw fork length (LJFL) — measure carefully, short fish go back. The daily creel is 1 per boat per trip, and the fishery is open through the whole calendar year.
Keep Size
99" lower jaw fork length (LJFL)
Size fish must clear to be kept
Run the tape from the snout to the far edge of the tail pressed flat together — a pinched tail adds the half inch that decides a citation.
Daily Creel
1 per boat per trip
What one angler may take per day
Counts are per person unless the rule says "per boat," and they aggregate across everywhere you fished that day — sound, surf, and ocean all land in the same tally.
Season Window
Year-round (federal)
When harvest is legal
Open through the year unless an emergency closure posts.
Where It Stands
Open
Harvest is legal; emergency in-season shutdowns are rare but do happen — glance at the DMF proclamations page anyway.
Billfish off the Banks
The Outer Banks is the closest US port to the Gulf Stream north of Florida, and the billfish off Oregon Inlet prove it every summer — white marlin on the 100-fathom drop from June to September, with blue marlin in the spread all season. The fleet culture here is catch-tag-release: photos at leader, a tag in the shoulder, and a clean release at the transom.
A blue over the 99" lower-jaw-fork minimum is a once-in-a-lifetime fish for most OBX crews; the boat limit is one per trip and almost nobody takes it.
The Fine Print
- •99" lower jaw fork length (LJFL) is the keeping minimum.
- •One fish per boat per trip — the limit is per vessel, not per angler.
- •This is federal water, federal rules: the HMS Angling permit covers it, not the NC CRFL.
- •Releasing blues at the boat is standard practice on the Oregon Inlet and Hatteras fleets.