Fisherman dragged 3km by blue marlin

A spear gun fisherman dragged three kilometres by a huge blue marlin off New Zealand's Great Barrier Island says he never thought of giving up the fight. When 18-year-old Nick Dobby speared the 213kg marlin last weekend it began a battle which lasted two and a half hours and carried him three kilometres.

He said when he speared the fish from a distance of five metres it took off with an "explosive power" - dragging him and the buoy attached to his spear through the water.

He stayed above the water for most of the battle as his friend, Mark Colville, followed on their boat, encouraging him and making sure he did not get tangled in the line.



He never thought of abandoning the fight. "If you're an idiot for pulling the trigger, then you have to stay with it." After two hours he fired his fourth and final shot at the marlin when it rounded on the boat.

"It was thrashing its bill and wanted a piece of us, too. That's when it started to get a little bit out of control. The bill would slice you up, too." But the thought of injury never crossed his mind. "The adrenaline was going though," Dobby said

It was only when the fish was hauled onto the boat he realised its size. "I knew it was a record because I knew there had never been a blue marlin speared in New Zealand before." He said he would have the marlin's head mounted and the rest of it chopped up ready to be smoked.