‘Marlin’ Mike Olsen hooks Catch of the Day

‘Marlin Mike’ Olsen did a pretty fair ‘Old Man and the Sea’ impression recently when he visited the Bay of Islands on a fishing trip.
Using only a groper rod, Mike hooked a striped marlin, taking around 40 minutes to reel it in.
Mike’s wife Marg was the driver, and Bill Morrison was the gaffer. “Bill didn’t know what a leader was but he did really well!
“We could not back down due to jet units and dinghy so we drove forward and fished from the side.
It did the tail walking and jumping.”
Mike said it was nearly the story of the one that got away when the marlin got off the hook.
“I wound the line in quite fast and it took it again.”