From left, Terri Borden, Capt. Anthony Riccio and Deckman Michael Burke with their 495.5-pound blue marlin caught on Start Me Up Too. PHOTO BY DONNELL TATE.

LAHAINA – The Start Me Up Too weighed a nice 495.5-pound blue marlin for wahine angler Terri Borden. She was fishing with Capt. Anthony Riccio and Deckman Michael Burke.

Anthony was working the Palaoa Point Lighthouse off the southwest corner of Lanai when he raised a fish on the short corner position. As he watched the short corner, the marlin missed the lure on its first try. Michael went to tease the fish to strike, but Tony told him to “leave it be.”

Anthony saw the marlin turn back around and hammer the lure for a solid hook-up. The fish screamed off the 130-test line straight down the pattern for 700-800 yards before it went ballistic back and forth across the surface.

The marlin made a big U-turn back toward the boat. It popped up about 40-50 yards off the port side and started jumping again down the side. Once Anthony saw that the marlin had made a U-turn, he turned the boat to starboard and started heading the other way.

He motored the boat for about 30 seconds, trying to get the bow out of the line and the line tight again. With them both heading in opposite directions, the line came tight pretty quick. The marlin was still 800 yards away.

Once the line was nice and tight, Anthony started backing down toward it. The marlin went straight down and dirty at that point. Anthony reversed on it until he had a nice smooth angle on the fish.

Anthony started working the marlin, maneuvering the boat back and forth, as he planed it up over the next hour- and-a-half. The seas were pretty bumpy as Anthony backed through the swells.

Terri was in the chair the first 45 minutes before she began to tire. Once she was done, Michael put the rod into the port side chair rod holder. He kept cranking on the reel from there, keeping the line tight for the next 15-20 minutes.

To keep Michael from wearing out, Anthony had him come up to the helm and drive. Michael continued to maneuver the boat as he worked the fish. Anthony took over on the reel for the next 20 minutes, getting the marlin close to the surface about 20 feet down and close to the boat.

Anthony went back to the helm as Michael took over on the reel on more time. A few minutes later, the marlin made another run of 80-100 yards down. Anthony got Michael into the fighting chair and hooked into the harness.

The marlin got into a tug of war with Michael for the next 30 minutes, with him finally getting it up just out of double line range. The fish stayed near the surface as Anthony maneuvered it closer to the boat.

The double line was on and off the rod tip for the next five minutes, pulling 5-6 feet each time. The marlin finally turned toward the boat and started swimming with them. At that point, with the rough seas, Anthony headed the boat with the waves and down current.

The marlin finally let Michael get the double line to the rod tip one more time. Anthony quickly left the helm, grabbed the double line and pulled the fish up as Michael got the double line on the spool.

As Michael cranked in the double line, Anthony grabbed the leader and took wraps. The marlin made one initial lunge forward. Anthony held on to his wraps as it headed up the starboard side, then turned back around the stern to the port side, and then back to starboard. At that point, it was fairly docile, barely kicking and not trying to get away. It went belly up on them as they got the fish secured, and they pulled it into the boat.