DavidE
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3814
Registered: 12-1-2003
Location: Baja California México
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Mood: 'At home we demand facts and get them. In Mexico one subsists on rumor and never demands anything.' Charles Flandrau,
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Baja World Record Tuna Caught!
[Cut & Pasted from San Diego Union Tribune]
Long-range fishing’s most coveted record, one that has lasted more than 33 years, was shattered Monday.
Pending approval by the International Game Fish Association, Mike Livingston’s 405.2-pound yellowfin tuna will be the IGFA’s new all-tackle, world
record. He caught it off the Baja California coast Nov. 30, with help from the crew of the Point Loma-based sport boat Vagabond.
The previous record was the 388-pound, 12-ounce yellowfin caught April 1, 1977 by Curt Wisenhutter aboard the Royal Polaris, owned then by captain
Bill Poole.
“This is a fish of a lifetime for Mike, for our crew, for me and the entire fleet, really,” Vagabond Capt. Mike Lackey said after the giant yellowfin
was weighed in on Point Loma Sportfishing’s certified scale.
“When I think of all the captains like Bill Poole, Frank LoPreste and all the others who paid their dues down here, it’s just an honor to be part of
catching such an incredible specimen. The whole fleet shares in this. I’m still in awe of this fish. It just sets the bar that much higher.”
Livingston, 63, of the Sunland neighborhood of Los Angeles, is a longtime angler who retired recently as a school superintendent. He called the fish
“a fish of a lifetime” and thanked Lackey and the crew for the job they did.
Lackey said the giant yellowfin was caught last Tuesday at midday.
“Mike was one of the fortunate ones to get bit, and the fight was on,” Lackey said. “He fought it for 2 hours and 40 minutes, and we were fortunate to
get a gaff in it.”
Livingston’s tuna not only is the largest ever landed, but it also is the largest ever caught without any backup reels or assistance from the crew.
The IGFA’s strict angling rules usually trip up potential record fish caught by anglers on San Diego-based sport boats. But Lackey believes
Livingston’s tuna will pass the test and be the new yellowfin king.
“Mike fought it in a harness, and the fish fought hard,” Lackey said. “It only circled the boat once, but went over the anchor. It went out, came in,
went out, came in and then went out again before Mike reeled it in. We almost had to go to a backup reel, but never did. Mike handled it really
calmly. He did an amazing job fighting this tuna.”
Lackey said Livingston used 100-pound test monofilament that he tied straight to a 6/0 Owner Super Mutu hook. He used a Penn International 30W reel.
Lackey said he’s fairly certain Livingston used 100-pound Spectra backing, but won’t know until they check the reel. The IGFA requires a sample of the
line used to catch the fish.
“We’ve saved everything from the catch,” Lackey said. He said Livingston plans on pursuing the IGFA’s all-tackle record.
It has been a season of big fish for the San Diego sport fleet.
In November, Oregon’s Greg Koonce caught a 379.8-pound yellowfin tuna aboard captain Tommy Rothery’s Polaris Supreme. It was the third yellowfin of
more than 300 pounds caught in the young season. Earlier, Utah’s Dan Nagy landed a 345.2-pounder aboard captain John Klein’s Qualifier 105.
Koonce’s giant tuna qualified as the sixth-best ever landed by the fleet, according to records started by Rich Holland and kept up by Bill Roecker of
fishingvideos.com. But it didn’t qualify as an IGFA line-class world record for 130-pound test line because the fish wrapped around the sport boat’s
anchor line and busted loose. A deckhand gaffed the fish as it was ready to swim off, but IGFA rules prohibit the free-gaffing of a fish no matter how
long it had been hooked or the circumstances that caused the fish to get off the hook.
Koonce said he was fishing a double sardine rig off a kite when the big tuna hit. He said the huge fish then took him on a dance that sent Koonce
circling the boat’s rail three times before it settled in for a battle at the bow.
Koonce had the fish at deep color when a fur seal came up to take a look at the action. That sent Koonce’s tuna scampering, and it tangled around the
anchor line. The hook in the fish’s mouth broke off. The fish was one tail kick from escaping when deckhand Mark Clark managed to get a gaff in its
tail. That allowed four other crewmen to gaff it and haul it aboard the storied Polaris Supreme.
But IGFA rules don’t allow the gaffing of free-swimming fish, so the yellowfin won’t qualify for world-record status.
Koonce’s catch came nearly 18 years to the day that Mark Gasich landed a 399.6-pound yellowfin tuna aboard Rothery’s Polaris Supreme. That catch also
was disallowed as an all-tackle record because Gasich’s original reel was spooled, and a backup reel was spliced to his line and used to land it. IGFA
rules prohibit the changing of the rod or reel while the fish is being played. The Florida-based clearinghouse for all fishing records also doesn’t
allow splicing, removing or adding to the line while the fish is being fought.
Also, in February of 1993, attorney Dave Manella caught a 394-pound tuna aboard the Royal Polaris. But that catch also was not approved as an
all-tackle world record because it was determined that a deckhand touched the rod and reel. And Dick Minor, who also was fishing on Rothery’s Polaris
Supreme, caught a 363.9-pound yellowfin tuna.
That 1992-93 season produced four yellowfin over 350 pounds. This season already has turned up three over 345 pounds, and it’s only December.
“The fleet has a chance to get an ever bigger one,” Lackey said.
But it’s doubtful because so much has to go into the catching of such a giant yellowfin tuna. Everything has to work just right, from the simple knot
tied to the hook to the long fight and the final gaffing of the fish.
“I use the KISS method on the boat, and it seems to work out well,” Lackey said of the acronym for Keep It Simple Stupid.
Lackey said the Vagabond was fishing below Magdalena Bay at a bank that now will have to be renamed.
“We need to call it the 400-pound Bank,” Lackey said. “I always wondered what it would be like to be part of something like this. It’s great for our
sport, great for our industry.”
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bajaandy
Senior Nomad
Posts: 769
Registered: 2-7-2004
Location: North County
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Mood: Adventurous
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http://www.bloodydecks.com/forums/fishing-chit-chat/293661-p...
subvert the dominant paradigm
"If you travel with a man, you must either fall out with him or make him your good friend."
JBL Noel
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Woooosh
Banned
Posts: 5240
Registered: 1-28-2007
Location: Rosarito Beach
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Mood: Luminescent Waves at Rosarito Beach
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yes indeed!
http://www.10news.com/news/26041055/detail.html
\"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing\"
1961- JFK to Canadian parliament (Edmund Burke)
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BajaNomad
Super Administrator
Posts: 4999
Registered: 8-1-2002
Location: San Diego, CA
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Mood: INTP-A
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http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=49462
When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people.
– Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel
We know we must go back if we live, and we don`t know why.
– John Steinbeck, Log from the Sea of Cortez
https://www.regionalinternet.com
Affordable Domain Name Registration/Management & cPanel Web Hosting - since 1999 |
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durrelllrobert
Elite Nomad
Posts: 7393
Registered: 11-22-2007
Location: Punta Banda BC
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Mood: thriving in Baja
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| Quote: | Originally posted by DavidE
He caught it off the Baja California coast Nov. 30, with help from the crew ....He called the fish “a fish of a lifetime” and thanked the crew for
the job they did.... it also is the largest ever caught without assistance from the crew. ... Dave Manella caught a 394-pound tuna was not approved
as an all-tackle world record because it was determined that a deckhand touched the rod and reel. |
 I know
this was cut and pasted from the UT, but there appears to be a conflict as to wether or not the crew helped
Bob Durrell
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mcfez
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8678
Registered: 12-2-2009
Location: aka BN yankeeirishman
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| Quote: | Originally posted by durrelllrobert
| Quote: | Originally posted by DavidE
He caught it off the Baja California coast Nov. 30, with help from the crew ....He called the fish “a fish of a lifetime” and thanked the crew for
the job they did.... it also is the largest ever caught without assistance from the crew. ... Dave Manella caught a 394-pound tuna was not approved
as an all-tackle world record because it was determined that a deckhand touched the rod and reel. |
I know
this was cut and pasted from the UT, but there appears to be a conflict as to wether or not the crew helped |
They are talking about two different fish as reference to the "rules" of catching record fish. One cannot ever lay the rod on the rail while bringing
in the fish..that disqualifies the record too. Lots of rules for record fish :-)
Old people are like the old cars, made of some tough stuff. May show a little rust, but good as gold on the inside.
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rdrrm8e
Nomad
Posts: 252
Registered: 5-14-2007
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The IGFA rules were designed for bragging rights for East Coast yachties. They allow them to back down and chase fish on all kinds of light tackle.
The boat driver plays a big part of these catches.
This fish was caught from a more or less stationary vessel with stand up gear. San Diego long Range fishing is a whole different ballgame.
Whether IGFA recognizes this catch or not, it is a monster fish and is the biggest on record for this style of fisihng.
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capt. mike
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8085
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Location: Bat Cave
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Mood: Sling time!
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amazingly enuff - this made the phoenix evening news a few days ago......that's what i call a slow news day.
formerly Ordained in Rev. Ewing\'s Church by Mail - busted on tax fraud.......
Now joined L. Ron Hoover\'s church of Appliantology
\"Remember there is a big difference between kneeling down and bending over....\"
www.facebook.com/michael.l.goering |
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