There are many achievements an angler can strive for. For captains, though, it’s simpler. It’s all about being the first and catching the most.

The race for the most billfish in a single year has been hotly contested over the years, and it began with Captain Mike Aman and anglers Hank and Gretchen Manley in 1984.

They wondered if it was possible for one boat to catch 1,000 billfish in 12 months. The trio, along with a handful of guest anglers, beat their goal with 1,111 fish, catching 752 sailfish, 333 white marlin, 24 blue marlin and two swordfish.

It all happened aboard the Escapade, fishing off the east coast of Florida, the Bahamas, the Yucatan Peninsula, St. Thomas and La Guaira, Venezuela.

Inspired by the Escapade’s success, Captain Brenden Burke eclipsed the record aboard Magic off Costa Rica in 1991, catching and releasing 1,414 billfish.

Captain Bubba Carter on the Tijereta, also in Costa Rica, responded with 1,443 releases two years later. Realizing that if he was going to set a record that would stand, he’d have to do it in a big way, Captain John LeGrone established 2,000 fish as a goal in 1995.

Fishing off Costa Rica and Guatemala with anglers using both conventional and fly tackle, LeGrone almost doubled the Escapade’s record with 2,140 fish for Artmarina’s Magic. His catch average: 11.2 billfish releases per day.

Other notable mosts:

The boat with the most blue marlin in a day — 20 Atlantic blue marlin by Captain Trevor Cockle on the Hooker. The date was June 6, 1997. The place was Sao Vincent Island in the Cape Verdes off the north coast of Africa. Here, Cockle and First Mate Randy Baker managed 20 out of 28 bites for an unheard-of, one-day marlin fishing binge.

Another one for the record books: in 19 days that June, they caught and released 146 blue marlin.

The angler with the most blue marlin in a day — Ralph Gilster caught nine aboard One Bull with Captain Jack Morrow, fishing St. Thomas in 1976. That record stood for close to 13 years until Ralph Christensen and Captain Bill Harrison on the Pescador matched it while also fishing off St. Thomas.

The boat with the most blue marlin in one year — Captain Dave Noling’s Courtesan, which produced 287 blues in 1996. The fish were all caught off Venezuela and St. Thomas.

In the Pacific, the high numbers to beat come from Kona, Hawaii.

Captain Bart Miller broke the 100-blue marlin mark in 1968 and did so again in 1972 with 111 blues.

The first to beat his record was Captain Bobby Brown, who in 1979 posted 126 blue marlin catches on the No Problem. Of those, more than 70 percent were released.

The angler with the most blue marlin in one year — Damon Chouest of Louisiana, who in 1996 caught 168 blue marlin fishing on his own boat, Freedom, and aboard the Courtesan. Of special note, Chouest tagged and released 129 of the 168 fish.

The most career marlin by a man — 452, caught between 1965 and 1998 by Ralph Christensen of Puerto Rico. Most of the fish were released.

Most career blue marlin by a woman? In October 1998, Marsha Bierman recorded the catch and release of her 300th blue marlin. Her log shows that from 1971 to 1998, she caught and released more than 2,000 billfish.