Capt. Terry Kellam (left) and Deckman Adam Campbell with their 578-pound blue marlin caught on Hinatea II. PHOTO BY DONNELL TATE.

LAHAINA — The Hinatea II, with Captain Terry Kellam and Deckman Adam Campbell, finished out the year with a late Christmas present, and also joined the 500-pound marlin club, weighing a 578.0-pound blue. It was the largest fish over 300 pounds since Sept. 12.

Terry was about three-quarters-of-a-mile from the MC Buoy, 13 miles off the southwest corner of Lanai, when he turned around as the long corner line snapped off the rigger.

The next time he saw the fish, it came up tail-walking, back and forth, 400 yards out. It leaped completely out of the water several times, with Terry seeing the full length and girth of the marlin.

He shouted down to Adam, “It’s a Big One!”

It went down, taking them about 200 yards into the Dacron. Terry kept the boat forward as the fish moved to the starboard side. He wanted to keep the line straight behind them as he maneuvered the stern toward the fish.

He slowed the boat, with the marlin coming up again, going crazy. It splashed around, shaking its head and kicking up whitewater as it tried to shake the hooks.

Terry backed down hard on the fish for about ten minutes as they played give and take — gaining a little and losing a little — getting it back to mono in around 15 minutes. With about 100 yards of mono back on the spool, they were finally able to settle into the fight.

The marlin wasn’t done yet. It came up jumping again, taking them back into the middle of the Dacron 400 yards out. The marlin settled down and went deep.

Terry backed up on it, but it was still 400 yards down. He didn’t have a good angle on the fish, so he idled the boat ahead, trying to plane the marlin up. It was give and take for about 40 minutes.

They had it about 200 yards away when it finally came up toward the surface. Terry was able to reverse after it, getting it to double line distance. The marlin didn’t like the boat and took off again for another 150-200 yards.

Terry stayed after it for at least ten minutes. It came up swimming back and forth across the stern, all lit up and digging down. It was almost to double line, with Terry starting to make clockwise circles on the fish. The double line was on and off the spool for the next half hour.

When the marlin finally popped up off the starboard side, it rolled over. Terry backed up to it as Adam grabbed the leader and held on. Terry was right there to secure the fish. They tied it off and idled forward to let it settle down before pulling it through the stern door.