We're pleased to have him contributing to this issue as he is one of the pioneers of the Kona big game fishery. We can teach the technique, but they have to bring the staying power. Big black and blue marlin will usually fight for a long time. Unfortunately, fish that fight that long frequently die on the line and sink before they are beaten. Once that happens, there's no way you can raise the fish, on any tackle, in the deep water we're fishing in.
All big fish are different and can react differently once hooked.
There's no telling what an individual fish will do, but most put on quite a show. Most of the time I like to have the drag set at about one third of the breaking test of the line when trolling. That's my normal strike setting. I'll jack the drag up if we are missing a lot of strikes, fish coming up and hitting a lure but not getting hooked up. Then, I'll back it off to a little less than one third once the fish is on early in the fight.