A fisherman in Kona, Hawaii, got the new year off to a hot start Sunday by catching a 507-pound blue marlin in an unconventional—but sometimes unavoidable—fashion.
David Setniker, fishing aboard his boat called Maverick with Captain Trevor Child and crewman James Bach, landed the behemoth marlin in 45 minutes.
“Another awesome fish for the boss today,” Maverick Sportfishing Kona reported on Facebook. “Unfortunately, the fish got tail-wrapped and came up backwards, so we had the smoke master ready.”
This was the third report recently of a blue marlin hitting 500 pounds or more in Hawaii.
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Reported on New Year’s Eve by the Lahaina News, Capt. Rod Quam and his wife Janice landed a 510.4-pounder, the fourth-largest blue marlin for Lahaina in 2020. This, too, was tail-wrapped and died on its way in, prompting the fishermen to keep the catch.
And in mid-October, Capt. Jonny Keiley and his dad, Capt. Deli, landed a 546-pound blue marlin, the second-largest for the harbor at Ali’I Kai, Lani, the Lahaina News reported.