I was immensely saddened to learn that Peter B. Wright, my friend, former colleague, and one of the best blue-marlin fishermen of all time, just died at his home in Stuart, Florida. Peter passed away a few days after his 79th birthday, with his wife, Erin, and daughter, Bimini, at his side.
Peter grew up in Fort Lauderdale and started fishing when he was 11 years old, working on charter boats out of Hillsboro Inlet. He never stopped. In 1968, after college, with degrees in marine biology, he went to Cairns, Australia, and caught his first grander (a marlin weighing more than 1,000 pounds) off the Great Barrier Reef.
He was hooked. He also was good. Peter fished the Great Barrier Reef for the next 40 consecutive seasons, while fishing the rest of the year in marlin grounds all over the world. During that time, he caught more 1,000-pound marlins than anyone else in history (capturing 77 and releasing many more). At one point, he caught a 1,442-pound black marlin, the largest ever landed in Australia; at another, he became the only person ever to catch three granders in one day
Peter was so good at what he did that he is the only person to be inducted into the IGFA (International Game Fishing Association) Hall of Fame, as well as the IGFA Captains and Crew Hall of Fame. He’s also in the Cairns Black Marlin Hall of Fame.
I met Peter in the late 1980s when he signed on as the sport fishing columnist for Motor Boating & Sailing, where I was the editor and publisher. He wrote for us for 13 years, and his column always scored as one of the most popular in the magazine. He had a large fan base; at boat shows, people often came to our booth, looking for Peter.
In the mid-‘90s he was visiting our New York offices when I mentioned that my oldest daughter, Katie, was getting married soon and was going to Cairns for her honeymoon. Peter had never met Katie, but he immediately asked for her phone number so he could meet her there and share some local knowledge. Peter did indeed get together with Katie and her husband at one of his favorite waterfront spots; they had a great time.
The last time I saw Peter was at a Lauderdale show, just before Covid. We caught up for a while, and he seemed exactly like his usual self, friendly, energetic, and one of the nicest people you’d ever meet.
It turned out that Peter passed away from dementia, a terrible, debilitating disease. It’s hard for me to believe that Peter is gone. He was one of the most alive people I’ve ever known.
