Teen catches marlin weighing in at more than 1,000 pounds

HAWAII (WABC) -- Imagine catching a fish so big it takes you 30 minutes to reel in. Well that's what happened to a teenager from Brooklyn Heights when he snagged a massive blue marlin in Hawaii.

"We knew we had the fish of a lifetime," Kai Rizzuto said.

He has been fishing most of his life, which is only 16 years, but he never came in close to reeling in something this size.

"Before this, the biggest fish I caught was probably a 50-55 pound striped marlin," Rizzuto said.

Rizzuto and his family were in Kona, Hawaii, charter fishing when he hooked a blue marlin weighing more than half a ton.

"I'm not sure I'm ever going to feel something that strong again, because it's 1,000 pounds of pure muscle just pulling and pulling," he said.

The teen worked every single muscle to reel the beast in.

"You're straightening your legs to pull up the rod tip, and then you wind down, so you're creating a little slack, and then you pick it up," Rizzuto said.

In the end, Rizzuto won the battle with the 1,058 pound fish, though his arms were a little tired.

"It was immediate relief," he said. "It was immediate joy and excitement."

No one could be prouder of the 14-foot fish than his father, a Hawaii native.

"To see him standing there next to that fish is unbelievable and very humbling," he said. "The ocean gives you beautiful things in Hawaii."

The entire experience has Rizzuto even reconsidering his life after high school.

"Now this experience with the fish makes me consider into marine biology," he said. "So I can study and work more closely with all the creatures out there."

The fish is expected to feed about 200 people in Kona.