When your catch weighs nearly 100kg, normal transport rules go out the window. 

One Hokianga man proved this true when he strapped his first marlin to the roof of a car for the short drive home. 

After an epic 40-minute fight to reel in the 96.1kh fish, Luke Land and his mates chose an unorthodox solution to get the fish home. 

While using his mate’s ute was a possibility, Land said strapping it to the top of his car was their chosen option. 

“The back of the ute was way hotter than the car. It was an overcast day so the car wasn’t that hot and we hosed it off to cool it down more … and we thought it would be quite funny. Turns out it was.” 

He said it was a quick drive home, about 10 minutes, and the fish was put in the chiller before being processed. 

Land did not expect the picture would go viral and draw the interest of so many people. 

Luke Land after catching his first marlin, with his mate Gilly Ford. 

Before the picture was posted on social media, he said some drivers did a double-take during the fishermen’s short trip home. 

“You could see people going ‘what the?’ when they saw it.” 

Once home the fish was put straight into a chiller to be smoked, a process Land said takes several days from start to finish. 

“You put it in a brown sugar and salt brine with ice for a day or two, then it goes into a smoker for about seven to eight hours. Once done we will vacuum pack it and share it out.” 

Julian Ford, 5 (left), Gilly Ford, Luke Land and Dylan Hogg, the skipper and boat owner. 

He said he reckons there will be enough to share between at least 20 to 30 people. 

“It’s delicious. Smoked marlin is absolutely amazing. It’s lovely on crackers or smoked fish dip or anything like that.” 

He said he goes fishing often and has helped land a marlin before, but this was the first one he had landed himself. 

“It’s a bucket-list fish for most fishermen, so it was pretty epic to finally tick it off. It’s great to tick that one off and hopefully it’s the first of many, but we’ll see.” 

He had a missed opportunity about an hour earlier, with one marlin managing to get away after being hooked. 

“We actually got one about an hour before but it managed to get off. They quite often do spit the hook out, because they do these big jumps. But, yeah, this one managed to stick good and got it in.” 

He said after reeling the fish in and having it weighed, the next step was to get it back to his mates’ place. 

He said they have no plans yet for their next fishing trip but he hoped to be out on the water again soon. 

“We live in the Hokianga, and we have a big bar to cross, so it’s all very much dependent on the weather. When everything aligns, I will grab some mates for a fish.” 

His friend Jeremy Mitt, who posted the photo, said it was nice to see the picture getting attention. 

“It has been a popular picture, and it epitomises the spirit of our community, I reckon. 

“I have been fishing with Luke for years and he has been trying to catch a marlin for a long time, so it was a momentous catch for him.”