scores of sportsmen to the Island, according to game fishing officials and enthusiasts.

The 1,195-pound fish, the biggest ever caught in Bermuda waters, will prove a boon to tourism, Game Fishing Association secretary Mr. Tom Smith said.

Exposure in sports fishing magazines and other media is expected to be huge, though "anywhere where there are blue marlin fishermen, they already know about this fish,'' charter boat owner-operator Capt. Alan Card said.

Mr. Smith said the Island had long been known as "the light tackle fishing capital of the world,'' for species like wahoo and yellowfin tuna.

But, "it's only recently that we've developed a reputation for marlin fishing.'' The excellence of Bermuda waters for marlin fishing is underlined by the fact the monster landed by Mr. Don Hunt in a boat skippered by Capt. Card on July 4 was the third "grander'' Capt. Card had caught.

"I am the only person in the world to catch more than one of these,'' the captain said of fish that weigh more than 1,000 pounds.

The first one, which weighed 1,130 pounds and was landed in 1982, now greets visitors at the Civil Air Terminal.

The second one was caught three years ago and weighed 1,190 pounds, just five short of the Bermuda record.

Capt. Card believes sport fishing means big money for Bermuda. Five sport fishing boats that stayed from about June to September last year together contributed about $300,000 to the Island's economy, he estimated.

The owners and their guests stayed in hotels, maintenance and other work on the boats was required, and tens of thousands of dollars were spent on fuel alone.

"After catching this fish, we should next year create a lot of interest among boats that are capable of travelling,'' he said. "One is here right now.'' But another charter operator, Mr. Allen DeSilva, said Bermuda would never reap the fishing benefits that it should until the Department of Tourism began promoting the sport better.

"Bermuda is probably one of the better blue marlin spots in the world, but most people don't even know it,'' Mr. DeSilva said. "(The Department of) Tourism doesn't push it at all.

"It's ridiculous. They really miss the boat.'' Dedicated sportsmen spend $900 a day to go fishing, and "people with that kind of money stay at the best hotels,'' he said. But "very few'' visitors come to Bermuda only to fish, "because they don't know anything about here.'' Mr. Hunt's big blue, which measured 14 feet, two inches, took first place in the July 4 Blue Marlin World Cup, a worldwide competition.

The biggest blue marlin ever caught weighed more than 1,400 pounds. Of 227 billfish caught in Bermuda waters in 1992, 221 of them were released, Mr.

Smith said.

MR. DON HUNT with his 1,195lb. blue marlin.