From left, Captains Marlin & Jeff Kahl, Luke Thomas and Deckman Danny Wike with their 570-pound marlin caught on Piper. PHOTO BY DONNELL TATE.

MAALAEA — The Piper, chartered out of Maalaea Harbor, made the 500-pound marlin club with a 570.0-pound blue by Luke Thomas. He was fishing with Captains Jeff and Marlin Kahl, and Deckman Danny Wike.

Jeff was fishing the backside of Maui in the Luala’ilua Four Hills area in 400 fathoms of water. He saw the marlin come up on the long corner position, Joe Yee Super Plunger, behind the teaser. He shouted out, “Long corner!” The fish missed the lure.

Jeff made a turn, with the marlin coming back in and eating the lure without hesitation. It took off down the pattern, dumping 500 yards of 130-test line, before it started greyhounding and tail-walking for another 150 yards.

Marlin and Danny did a quick job clearing the lines as the marlin finally settled down. As soon as the boys got one side cleared, it opened up a hole for Jeff. He started reversing after the fish for about ten minutes, trying to slow the spool.

Jeff stayed after the marlin, getting it close, with double line on the rod tip in about 40 minutes. Their intention was to release the fish. They already knew it was going to be a tough fight, so they were just trying to get as much leader back, grab the lure and then cut the leader close to the hook.

The marlin started digging really hard, trying to get in front of the boat. Jeff throttled the boat ahead to keep the fish off to the side. Marlin just needed to get a few pulls on the line, but the fish was really feisty, swimming from side to side, and just wouldn’t give him the six feet he needed. The fish started to dive down to about 600 feet and then stopped.

Jeff said, “That’s it. She’s gone down for her last dive.”

Once they knew the fish was done, Jeff put it off the port side stern corner and let the fish do most of the work. They stayed in the current, kept tension on the line and let the marlin get pushed up faster than the boat could, trying their best to gain line.

Jeff maneuvered the boat on the marlin, pulling up on it, getting an angle and then backing down until they were straight on top, getting about 50 feet each time. They worked this planing maneuver at least 15 times over the next 25 minutes.

Once they had it close, if it was dead, then it would just pop up. It did come up right off the stern, dead and tail-wrapped. Marlin used a stick gaff in the tail to secure the fish. They spun it around, grabbed the bill and pulled it through the stern door into the boat.