From left, deckman John French, Capt. Chris Cole and Reyes Elizondo with their 491.2-pound blue marlin caught on Jun Ken Po. PHOTO BY DONNELL TATE.

LAHAINA – A week after winning the Halloween Shootout Tournament, the Jun Ken Po weighed a 491.2-pound blue marlin by Reyes Elizondo. He was fishing with Capt. Chris Cole and deckman John French.

Chris was fishing in 250 fathoms of water in the middle of the Kealaikahiki Channel between Lanai and Kahoolawe. John had just switched out lures on the short rigger when one of the charters told him, “There’s something back there.” He saw the head of a marlin lunge out of the water behind the short rigger position, but it didn’t break the rubber band.

John looked back as the short corner reel started screaming out the 130-test line that had an Elkins purple Bonzoid lure on it. The marlin took out 100 yards before it broke the surface. It went ballistic, jumping away from them, side to side. It then made a circle toward the port side, almost jumping on the line, and then disappeared.

The marlin continued to rip off line. John cleared the short rigger and then the long side pretty fast. As soon as all the lures were in the boat, Chris went after the fish, just as they were getting down to the Dacron backing, with it 600 yards away.

The marlin dug down like a big fish. Chris turned the boat toward the starboard side to cut off the angle and gain some line. John had to unclip the rigger line to get it out of the way and then turned the chair. Chris backed the boat around the line.

The marlin kept switching directions each time it dug down (the next time to the port side, with Chris cutting off the angle). As the marlin zigzagged off the stern, Chris kept creating his own angle on the fish so Reyes could gain line. This maneuvering took about ten minutes, with it about 200 yards deep at this point.

Reyes stayed on the fish, getting in a rhythm as he slowly brought it up.

When the marlin finally came to the boat, it was swimming away from them showing color. As the double line came up, there was a glare on the water, with Chris having a hard time seeing the fish.

John stood on the transom as the marlin came up on the starboard side, swimming away off the corner. Before he could think about getting its head turned, the marlin pulled off the double line 5-10 yards. It then did a nice slow spin to the port side, circling away from them.

Chris had one engine in gear as they got the head turned, with it swimming with them off the port corner. As soon as Reyes got the leader up, John started taking wraps. John mentioned that the tail was lit up neon blue.

The marlin was swimming nice and easy for John, laying out perfect for Chris to get it secured right behind the gill plate. John grabbed the bill and the fish was done, ending the 25-minute fight.

This marlin was barely hooked. The hook went around the top of the bill, with the shank laying parallel to the underside. Just the tip was barely stuck into the bone but not the barb. As soon as John touched the hook and changed the angle, it fell off the bill.