Teenaged angler Stefan Olsen will have plenty to tell his fellow classmates when he returns to school in Connecticut next semester.

The 17-year old Oxford Academy student landed a 865 pound blue marlin and along with his teammates aboard Captain James Robinson's 37 foot boat, Wound Up, pocketed what is estimated to be over $400,000 in prize earnings for winning the revered Blue Marlin World Cup and the Bermuda Blast Billfish Tournament over the weekend.

The young Bermudian hooked the blue monster on 130 lb test line at 1.41 p.m. last Saturday and successfully landed the catch- of -the- day following a nearly two hour battle pitting man against beast in choppy seas.

"It's a once in a lifetime thing to catch a grander and win the World Cup. The World Cup is one of the biggest tournaments you will ever fish and I really can't express my feelings," an elated Mr. Olsen told The Royal Gazette.

"It feels so good and I have accomplished what I planned to accomplish in my life.

"I planned to catch a grander and I caught one last year and also planned to win a World Cup or a tournament at least and now I've accomplished that as well."

From the moment the blue marlin took the bait Mr. Olsen knew he was on to something big. "I knew it was a big fish because I saw it jump and that's when I saw the short, stubby bill.

"James looked down at me and said 'is it a kill fish' and I replied 'definitely yes, we are not releasing this fish'," Mr. Olsen continued.

"I just knew it was a big fish because I have seen a lot of them in my life. It was a very stressful battle and I am still aching with pain. I've been pretty much wounded since I caught that fish."

Mr. Olsen first began fishing with Mr. Robinson at the tender age of six and has worked under the latter for the past three summers.

"Stefan started working with me right after he turned 14. This is his fourth year working with me and it is still a work in progress trying to get the teenager out of the teenager, which is not an easy task. But I'm very tolerant and have a long fuse," Mr. Robinson smiled.

The veteran fisherman attributes the fine seamanship of his crew for the team's recent success.

"This is the ultimate team sport and what it all boils down to is teamwork — every man has a job to do," he added. "Stefan was actually not going to be a primary angler but he was letting the line out of the rigger when the fish pulled it down. "The rules state that only one person can touch the rod when the fish is hooked and he was right there. He did an phenomenal job."

The Blue Marlin World Cup, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, specifically targets blue marlins and attracts some of the world's elite offshore anglers and crews who compete across the world's oceans to see who can catch the single heaviest blue marlin over the 500 lb minimum weight.

Each angling team will fish in their respective region and time zone from 8.30 a.m. until 4.30 p.m. with no restrictions placed on where teams can fish.

Some of the popular hot spots for large blue marlin include the west coast of Africa, Canary Islands, Cape Verde Islands, Azores, Madeira, Ascension Island Island, Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Caribbean Islands, Costa Rica, Mexico, the US east and Gulf coasts, Hawaii, Australia, the South Pacific islands and Bermuda.

Mr. Robinson and crew, the fifth local team to win the prestigious Blue Marlin World Cup in the past seven years, currently lead the Bermuda Triple Crown Billfish Championship points standings with a total of 1,865 points with two events (Bermuda Big Game Classic and the Seahorse Anglers Club Billfish Tournament) remaining in the series. When asked what they plan to do with their cash, crew member Mike Henri, replied: "It's an investment issue, I guess. We just have to sit down and work things out."