A New Zealand fisherman spent more than an hour reeling in a 146-kilogram marlin, then towed it to shore as it was too big to fit on his boat.

Josh Roberts, 25, was on board his four-metre tinny, Rocket 1410, when he made the whopper catch on Friday.

"I've caught other fish but I've never caught a striped marlin. I've been targeting one for the past 10 years," he said.

The marlin was too big to pull into the boat and was towed to shore.

"It was pretty awesome to go out and catch my first one," the Whangarei man said.