From left, Josh Ivan, Capt. Sal Tarantino and Capt. Andy Payne with their 491.5-pound marlin.

LAHAINA – The Exact had a nice two-day, three blue marlin run by Capt. Sal Tarantino and deckman Capt. Andy Payne.

They started things off weighing a 491.5-pound blue for 14-year-old John Ivan. Andy saw the marlin rip the line down off the long corner rigger position and then run out 50 yards. It turned and came charging in toward the port side of the boat. Sal could see it, just under the surface, as it came streaking by 40 feet off the stern.

The marlin got tangled up in the long rigger and long gone lines, pulling them along with it. It then went down, with Sal kicking the boat around toward the direction of the fish. Sal thought for sure the marlin was going to cut the long rigger off. As Andy began to unwrap the lines, the marlin exploded from the water, jumping 150 yards off the starboard side.

Andy finally got everything unwrapped and in the boat. Sal chased after the marlin for ten minutes, losing line the entire time. They were halfway into the spool before it finally stopped its run. The fish headed straight down, slowly rolling the 100-test line off the spool.

Andy pushed up the drag and put the reel into low gear. Sal planed the marlin up for about five minutes, until John could get into a rhythm of lifting the rod. After that, Sal kept the boat in neutral as John worked his fish up over the next 30 minutes.

From left, Capt. Sal Tarantino, Mike Kliparchuk, Josh Turnipseed and Capt. Andy Payne with their 267.5-pound and 318.1-pound marlin caught on The Exact.

Once the marlin started to come up, it came all the way up. It popped up at double line and rolled onto its side. It was done. The marlin didn’t put up any form of a struggle as Andy pulled it in, with Sal getting it secured.

The next day, the Exact headed out with Captains Tarantino and Payne, landing two blue marlin. The first one weighed 267.5 pounds by Josh Turnipseed. They were 140 fathoms off Manele Bay, Lanai, heading out in the morning, getting their strike on the short rigger Steve Coggin lure.

The marlin pulled out half-a-spool of 100-test line as it headed deep. It took Josh about 30 minutes to work his fish up. It came in pretty easy at leader as Andy hauled it up.

On their way back in on the charter, they raised a 318.1-pound blue for Mike Kliparchuk four miles off the Manele hotel. It engulfed the long gone “General Jet” lure and went nuts. The marlin climbed straight up out of the water on its tail, like a ballistic missile, then fell right back into the hole it made.

It made the same up and down vertical maneuver again and then stopped dead in the water. It shook its head a few times as it threw its stomach, trying to dislodge the hooks. The marlin made a big circle behind the boat and then jumped straight up and down several more times.

The marlin wasn’t pulling out any of the 60-test line, so Sal had to motor the boat ahead away from it to keep the line tight. That was about as much line as it took before it went straight down.

They had the marlin to double line in about ten minutes. Sal told Andy, “It’s here already.” Andy had just gotten the second fly gaff set up. Sal motored away from the fish, because they weren’t quite ready for it to come to leader. “It came up surprisingly quick,” mentioned Andy.

The marlin came right to the boat, with no problems at leader and gaff. It was hurt, with both hooks stuck in its belly after swallowing the lure. It also had a long line hook embedded in the corner of its jaw.