willardguy - 6-20-2013 at 11:06 AM
some folks just aren't interested in records I guess? story to follow.
willardguy - 6-20-2013 at 11:09 AM
The recent Southern California catch of an enormous mako shark generated fierce criticism, much of it directed at Texas angler Jason Johnston for
killing such a majestic creature for the sake of a possible world record.
This week, Temecula angler Ron Burgess is at the center of a different kind of story.
While fishing on Sunday out of La Paz, Mexico, he reeled in a roosterfish estimated by local captains to weigh at least 135 pounds.
That would shatter a world record--114 pounds--that has stood since 1960.
But Burgess said he did not care about records, so after posing for photos he released the roosterfish and watched it swim safely away.
He was fishing in the Sea of Cortez off Las Arenas, a remote Baja California region southeast of La Paz, utilized by Tailhunter International
Sportfishing.
A 30-mile stretch of coastline from Las Arenas to the south has for years been referred to as the "Roosterfish Capital of the World."
These exotic-looking and extremely powerful members of the jack family, with their broad black stripes and comb-like dorsal fins, patrol coastal
waters in search of sardines and mullet.
They're sometimes easy to find; but not always.
Burgess and his group, however, found a shool of huge roosters Sunday, while fishing aboard several pangas. They had caught and released roosterfish
in the 70-plus-pound range before the big one bit.
"I stupidly threw another bait in the water right after this and hooked another huge rooster and felt like crying," Burgess recalled. "I was already
in pain. What was I thinking?"
Jonathan Roldan, who runs Tailhunter International, said this was by far the largest roosterfish he has seen in 20 years of operating in the region.
The fishery remains in good shape, mostly because roosterfish flesh is not considered good-eating. Recreational fishermen almost always let them go.
But perhaps not as many would releaae a potential world record. Burgess, to be sure, is to be commended.
sd - 6-20-2013 at 01:56 PM
Great that it was released!
mike odell - 6-20-2013 at 04:14 PM
The angler is commended for a spectacular catch, but not for
pulling this big ole boy in the boat, much less GAFFING him in the
mouth, if you don't care about records,go for a water release,
with photos at the water line, IMHO.
baitcast - 6-20-2013 at 05:05 PM
Not real keen on that gaff also,hellva fish tho,can't amagine!
Rob
willardguy - 6-20-2013 at 05:08 PM
true, but there was one happy fish to escape with just a hole in the lip!
Cardon Man - 6-21-2013 at 07:00 AM
Awesome fish. Terrible release technique. They could have easily pulled up on the beach and taken an even better photo without beating up the fish so
much. Based on almost every experience I've had in a panga...count on the fact that the panguero also pulled the fish into the boat by grabbing it by
the gills. That seems to be the standard method for roosterfish.
