Man hauls in record breaking 884 pound Bluefin Tuna
The bluefin tuna is trophy fish that’s historically championed among anglers for its mammoth size and high quality meat that can be sold up to $40 per pound locally.
BEAUMONT, Texas — A Port Arthur man and his friends reeled in their ‘white whale’ last week, well in this case a massive bluefin tuna that one would be forgiven in mistaking for a whale.
The Bluefin Tuna is trophy fish that is historically championed among anglers for its mammoth size and high quality meat that can be sold up to $40 per pound locally.
David Esslinger was fishing in the Gulf April 10 with a group of friends, when one of these behemoths hit his line like a freight train. Little did he know he was about to be in for the fight of his life.
Luckily for Esslinger had several friends ready to help him bring in the catch of his life.
“Let me take a second to break the day and events down. First off for those who have never landed a fish the size of a car this is a full meal deal. NO man or woman will ever do this without a team,” Esslinger wrote on Facebook.
The group hit the water the early hours of Friday morning after loading the boat a plethora of gear.
By 9 a.m. after fishing for a couple of hours signs of tuna schooling began to break through the surface of the otherwise placid waters.
Suddenly right rigger on the boat came down hard with a bite, and the battle had begun.
Esslinger initially thought the fish had spit out the hook, but that’s when the first 3/4 spool at 35 pounds of drag started to run.
As realization hit, the group of men wasted no time getting into position preparing for the fight that was about to take place.
“I had to come to 45 pounds of drag on the Tiagra to slow her down, which she responded with a race to the surface. Carson at the helm with Brad, TC, Jeff, and Colby keeping all communication from the cockpit to the helm in rapid working order we got the fish up to the surface in a little over an hour,” Esslinger wrote.
After a grueling five hour battle of wills, Esslinger and his team had managed to finally reel the massive fish to the boat.
Colby Denbow was the first one able to lay eyes on the full size of the beast as he loudly exclaimed “Oh my god!”
“Carson holding the boat in position with the giant fish on the side, Colby secured the tail rope. With shaking body and inoperable hands I made my way to the side of the boat and screamed with utter shock, ‘what a giant Bluefin!'” wrote Esslinger.
Giant indeed, tipping the scales at 884 pounds, the massive Bluefin is officially a new state record for largest Tuna caught in Texas. Eclipsing Troy Lancaster’s 876 pound Bluefin caught back in 2021.