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Start Me Up joins 500-pound marlin club

By BY DONNELL TATE/Harbor Report - | Jun 11, 2021

From left, Deckman Summer Smith, Ryan Langborg and Capt. Jukka Hyytia with their 525-pound blue marlin caught on Start Me Up. PHOTO BY DONNELL TATE.

LAHAINA — The Start Me Up joined the 500-pound marlin club with a 525.0-pound blue by Ryan Langborg. He was fishing with Capt. Jukka Hyytia and Deckman Summer Smith.

Jukka was on the way out to the Kahoolawe Shoals. Just as he crossed the 100-fathom ledge on the Kahoolawe side of the LA Buoy marks, they raised the fish. The marlin came up on the long rigger taking a couple of swipes at the lure. It tracked behind it for about 30 seconds, making big wakes behind the lure, which were pushing it out of the way as it tried to eat it.

Summer thought about teasing the marlin to strike, but it was too aggressively trying to eat the lure, so he just left the reel alone. Finally, it made a lunge, grabbing the lure. It made one jump and then took off out of the pattern to the starboard side.

The marlin didn’t take much line — less than 100 yards. It came up jumping across the pattern, from the port to starboard side, giving everyone a good look at it. Jukka and Summer were both calling 400.

The marlin settled down and just sat there, not pulling any line, as Summer got the rest of the lures out of the water. A few seconds later, the fish started taking line at a pretty good rate for another 150 yards. Jukka started backing the boat after it.

Jukka was full-throttle reverse for almost five minutes before they finally caught up to it. The marlin went deep about 200 yards and settled in. Jukka got up-and-down on it in about ten minutes. The fish didn’t want to budge, as Ryan got into a bit of a stalemate.

Jukka and Summer watched Ryan for a couple of minutes before they decided to plane the fish up. The marlin was about 100 yards down at that point. Over the next ten minutes, Jukka and Ryan got into a rhythm. Each time Jukka motored forward to get an angle on the fish, and then reversed hard on it, they gained a bunch of line.

Summer was watching the line off the transom, making sure things stayed clear as Jukka reversed on the fish. As soon as Ryan felt the tension on the line loosen, he started pumping and cranking, keeping a good bend in the Rod. He did a great job, taking things real smooth and steady.

Finally, they had the rubber band up. The marlin came in on the starboard side. Summer felt a slight tug as he handled the leader. No problems — just a couple of tail kicks before it rolled over onto its side. The fish was pretty much pau, as Jukka got the marlin secured in less than 30 minutes.

For catching a marlin over 500 pounds, Start Me Up Sportfishing gave Ryan his trip for free. They also donated $300 to a local charity as part of their charity donation program for a marlin caught over 500 pounds on one of their boats.