From left, Jeremy Johnson, Deckman Andy Payne and Capt. Jay Rifkin with their 666-pound marlin caught on Die Hard 2. PHOTO BY DONNELL TATE.

LAHAINA – The “Number of the Beast that comes out of the sea” blue marlin weighed in at 666.0 pounds from the Die Hard 2 with angler Jeremy Johnson hauling in the fish. He was fishing with Capt. Jay Rifkin and Deckman Andy Payne.

They were 200 fathoms off the Palaoa Point Lighthouse on the southwest corner of Lanai when they had a strike on a Steve Elkins blue-back/red striped aku pusher at the long corner position.

The marlin ran straight down the pattern for about 50 yards before going crazy, greyhounding back and forth across the surface for several minutes, kicking up a lot of whitewater.

The marlin then headed back toward the boat, cutting across from side to side, as Andy cleared lines. It then suddenly turned around and headed away from them. The marlin was about 50 yards away when it went deep.

Jay aggressively backed up on the fish in about 20 minutes, with it making 50- to 75-yard runs back and forth parallel to the boat in a give and take struggle. They couldn’t seem to stop it. Andy kept pushing up the drag.

Jeremy started gaining a lot of line during the next 15 minutes. It was about 20 yards deep and away when it spotted the boat and took off again. With all the action, the marlin seemed to die on them about 300 feet down.

With the fish straight down dead weight, Jeremy got into a stalemate. They decided to put the rod into the port side gunnel.

Over the next 40 minutes, as Jay planed the marlin, Jeremy and Andy switched off every five to ten minutes “Portuguese pulling” the line, gaining five yards at a time.

As the marlin started to surface, Jay backed up to it. It was done as it popped to the surface 20 feet out and rolled over.

Andy grabbed the leader and pulled it to the starboard corner. Jay just needed a stick gaff to secure their catch.

This is the second largest marlin of the year and third largest since June 2017.