For Benton, 20, and Whelan, 25, catching the huge fish in the tiny boat was actually all part of the plan.
The pair had shot out off the coast of New Plymouth at 6am on Monday with one goal in mind.
And unlike the famous short novel The Old Man and the Sea, where an elderly fisherman battles a marlin for three days before it’s eaten by sharks, the pair successfully brought the 112.4kg fish home.

But it wasn’t easy.

Benton said the pair, who work for Greymouth Petroleum, ran out of gas twice while they were out on the water.

Luckily they had brought along several spare tanks, so their fishing adventure was soon back on track.

A couple of hours after they hit they water the action began.

“We saw little fish swimming around, and saw a bill come out of the water,” Benton said.

Whelan then saw the marlin hit the lure, and so started his hour-and-a-half-long fight, with the marlin easily towing them around.

“We were looking for marlin, we wanted one.”