From left, Terry Kipker, Capt. Randy Evans and crewman Rich Lynch with their 462.2-pound blue marlin caught aboard the Start Me Up Das It. Photo by Donnell Tate.

LAHAINA — The Start Me Up Das It added another fish to the Top Marlin stats with a 462.2-pound blue by Terry Kipker. He was fishing with Capt. Randy Evans and crew Rich Lynch.

Randy headed to the buoys off the southwest corner of Lanai. As he came up on the K-Buoy, there were already two boats there baiting, catching small tunas. In the distance, he saw some porpoise splashing about two miles south of the buoy. He headed toward the action.

About 200-300 yards from the porpoise, they had a strike on the short corner position. The marlin took 40-50 yards of 130-test line and came off. Only its bill was stuck in the bend of the hook, and it came off once the marlin turned its head.

Rich cranked the lure in 10-15 yards, and the marlin came back up in the middle of the pattern. It turned, raced up to the short corner position again and grabbed the lure. Rich felt a tug on the rod and gave the reel a quick crank to set the hook.

The marlin ran out past the long rigger position before it jumped. It went ballistic off the port side — leaping 3-4 times in one direction — then turned heading back across the pattern. It made several series of jumps before it settled down 300 yards away.

The marlin came back up on the starboard side 100 yards from the boat jumping toward them and putting a big bow in the line. Rich had the short side cleared as Randy reversed toward the line. Randy saw the fish heading up the side, so he stopped the boat and let the loop come back across. As Terry cranked it straight, Randy idled the boat around toward the marlin.

Rich got the rest of the lines cleared, then got Terry into the harness as Randy reversed after the fish. The marlin stayed up, giving them a good angle on the line. Terry got into a rhythm and started gaining solid line.

Thirty minutes into the fight, they lost the angle on the line. Randy positioned the fish and boat down-swell. The marlin kept taking line off the spool in a give-and-take, yo-yo move as it swam straight up and down for the next 20 minutes.

After a final dive, the marlin must have died. Randy came down, grabbed the line and started pulling. Feeling no movement from the fish, Rich put on his gloves and started hand-lining. He kept it up for about ten minutes, then switched off with Randy. For the next half-hour, about every 5-10 minutes, they traded places.

The last ten minutes Randy handled the line as Rich took over the helm. Randy got into a good rhythm with Terry. As they both pulled up, Randy would hold the line as Terry cranked down.

The marlin came up on the port side corner and headed forward. Rich bumped the boat ahead. Randy saw that the hook was buried in the corner of the mouth. The marlin just sat there as Randy grabbed the leader and pulled it back behind the boat. As the fish came to the open stern door, Rich reached down, grabbed the bill and got a half-hitch around it. They hauled it into the boat to end the hour-and-20-minute fight.