From left, deckman Sam Thies, Carlo Canty, Rob Dyke and Capt. Fuzzy Alboro with their 485.6-pound marlin caught on Die Hard 2. PHOTO BY DONNELL TATE.

LAHAINA – The Die Hard 2 weighed the largest blue marlin for Lahaina Harbor in over five weeks: a 485.6-pound fish by Rob Dyke and Carlo Canty. They were fishing with Capt. Fuzzy Alboro and deckman Sam Thies.

They had been fishing the backside of Lanai at the NASA-Buoy, catching only one mahi. Fuzzy left the buoy, picking up a spearfish not too far away. He headed down the 1,000-fathom ledge toward the MC-Buoy, raising a marlin three miles off the backside of the MC-Buoy in 1,300 fathoms.

The marlin hit the long rigger position first, taking some quick line, and then disappeared. Fuzzy came off the helm and started to crank on the long rigger, trying to tease the fish to strike. Sam saw a big splash behind the long gone position, with a fish pushing water behind that lure.

Fuzzy went back to the helm as Sam began to tease the long gone lure.

He continued working the reel for 20-30 seconds, with everybody seeing the marlin behind the lure. Sam shouted, “Eat it, eat it, eat it!” Sam took a couple more cranks on the reel before the marlin finally engulfed the lure.

The marlin never jumped at the strike but ran out the 125-pound test line about 500 yards and then stopped. It didn’t run like a big fish – more like a 150-pounder, mentioned Fuzzy. He was in and out of reverse, thinking it was a small blue, as Rob started to work it in.

The marlin started pulling off line a little quicker, so Fuzzy pushed up the throttles, keeping straight on the fish. The rod was in low gear, with Rob playing catch-up. Once the marlin stopped taking line, they started to gain a lot back until they got straight up and down on it ten minutes later.

Fuzzy was fighting the marlin neutral to idle ahead to keep the line tight. They were thinking it was a small blue foul-hooked. About 20 minutes into the fight, Rob switched out with Carlo in the chair. Fifteen minutes later, they had the fish almost to double line, 50 yards back.

Fuzzy saw a shadow and said, “It’s not that big; couple hundred.” Fuzzy pushed up the drag lever to the button. The marlin must have felt the change in pressure on the line, and it suddenly took off on a 200-yard run straight down.

They got the marlin back up a second time in about 15 minutes, with Fuzzy pushing up the drag lever past the button. As he started to reverse on the fish, they started gaining line, but it was a yo-yo, give-and-take, tug of war for Carlo, as the fish took off on a 150-yard run.

Carlo ran into a stalemate as the fish dug in, and he started to tire. Fuzzy told Carlo to hold the rod tip up and let the rod fight the fish. With the drag lever as far as it would go, Carlo held on with everything he had. Fuzzy motored the boat forward, trying to plane the marlin upward. The line started to come up, with the fish still slowly pulling off line.

As they started to get a good angle on the marlin, Fuzzy went full reverse after it. Carlo was barely able to keep up the pace. They chased the fish for 30 minutes into the swell, filling the back deck with water, finally getting it close to double line.

With Carlo exhausted in the chair, Sam started to “Portuguese pull” the fish upward, but he was worried about pulling the hooks if it was foul-hooked. He let go of the line as the marlin took off again. With the fish straight up and down 100 yards, Sam tried to “pull and crank” a few more times, as he tried to give Carlo a quick rest.

The marlin came up a fourth time in about ten minutes. They never saw how big the marlin was until it came to double line. It wasn’t lit up, and the water was dark and rough. They were still thinking foul-hooked small blue, and they were surprised at how big it looked.

Sam shouted out, “Double line, double line!” He didn’t touch the line but waited for the leader. The marlin came up the port side exhausted. Sam grabbed the leader, took wraps and pulled the marlin up without any problems or resistance. Fuzzy left the helm to help secure their catch.