From left, Capt. Fuzzy Alboro, dad Chris, Chris Swedlund and Deckman Sam Thies with their 387.2-pound blue marlin. PHOTO BY DONNELL TATE.

LAHAINA – The Die Hard 2 boated a 387.2-pound blue marlin for 14-year-old Chris Swedlund. He was fishing with his dad, Chris, Capt. Fuzzy Alboro and Deckman Sam Thies.

They were fishing the HS Buoy – located in 650 fathoms, six miles southeast off Halona Point, Kahoolawe – for tuna. They had 87-, 77- and 71-pound yellowfin in the box when they lost one of their hand-made gaffs. They continued to work the buoy for another hour, picking up a few smaller shibi.

Once the sun came up, Fuzzy decided to head down-current to see if they could find the gaff. It was a custom hand-made gaff that Sam had made.

Instead of finding the gaff, they found the marlin about two miles southwest of the buoy.

It grabbed the short corner jet they had out for tuna, making a real casual run like a small fish. The marlin took them about 300 yards into the Dacron backing, with only 100 yards of 100-test line left on the reel.

Everybody was already tired from catching the tuna, so Sam got Chris into the chair, since he wanted to catch a marlin. Sam got the lines cleared as Fuzzy started to idle reverse the boat after the fish. Chris was gaining a little line when suddenly, the marlin exploded out of the water 150 yards away, jumping off the port side away from them.

Fuzzy couldn’t get too aggressive reversing after the fish, because any water flooding the deck would go into the deck fish box where the three ahi were, ruining the ice. So, Fuzzy had to turn the boat and chase after the marlin forward. Sam spun the chair to the port side as Fuzzy followed the fish. Chris wasn’t keeping up, so Sam started cranking, gaining 150 yards back in about five minutes.

Fuzzy got the marlin straight up and down on the port side, with it about 200 yards deep. It just sat there not moving, with Chris hitting a stalemate.

The marlin began making big circles behind the boat. Fuzzy decided to fight the marlin like a big ahi and started doing counter-clockwise circles around it.

Sam had to get Chris into a rhythm of lifting, dropping and cranking as Fuzzy spun the boat after the fish. Once Chris got the hang of it, he started to work the marlin up over the next 20-25 minutes.

After about 25-30 counter-clockwise circles, they ran into another stalemate. Sam stepped in a couple of times to take a few pull and cranks and gain some line. Fuzzy changed directions and maneuvered the boat clockwise on the marlin at least a dozen times, with the marlin starting to slowly come up.

Sam finally saw the marlin gradually rising up from the deep on the starboard side. Once at double line, he saw how big the fish was. The marlin was casually swimming with the boat, not showing any color and not pulling any line. When Sam grabbed leader, he took a couple of wraps and pulled the marlin right up for Tavesi Au to secure.