Father, son combine to catch 1,000-pound tuna of record size

A father and son, with help from others, landed what might have been a record-size bluefin tuna, despite a reel handle that wouldn't turn.

A father and young son, with help from others, reeled in what might have been a North Carolina record for bluefin tuna had it been a qualifying catch and weighed properly, but it was impressive nonetheless, considering the reel broke during the 2½-hour battle.

Josiah VanFleet of Virginia was fishing with his 9-year-old son Zeke on his 22-foot Grady-White boat about 45 miles out on the Outer Banks of North Carolina last week when they hooked up at around 8:15 a.m. while trolling, according to The Virginia-Pilot and WAVY-TV.

VanFleet and four others took turns reeling with the rod firmly planted in a rod holder.

“That went on for quite a while,” VanFleet told the Pilot. Until the reel malfunctioned three-quarters into the fight.

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The handle would no longer turn. So the crew had to take a second reel, quickly strip a bunch of line off and then attach the line with the fish onto the line from the new reel to finish the job.

“We’re literally holding a 1,000-pound fish with our hands on the line while the lines together,” VanFleet told the Pilot. “We finally got the fish to the surface, where we pretty much harpooned him.”

It took nearly as much time to get the bluefin tuna into the boat as it did to catch it, as reported by The News&Observer. It took two hours to haul the fish aboard, thanks to some help from friends who accompanied them on the trip to the Outer Banks in another boat.

Back at Oregon Inlet, the scale was broken, but the U.S. Coast Guard helped measure the bluefin tuna and estimated its weight as 1,000 pounds. It was 9½-feet long with an 83-inch girth.

North Carolina’s current state record for a bluefin tuna is 877 pounds caught in 2017. But since multiple anglers participated, it wouldn’t have qualified as a record even had it been weighed on a certified scale.

Still, it was an impressive catch for the fishermen who reeled it in, the others identified as Steve Hux, Steven Griggs and Frank Amato by Carolina Sportsman.

“I was absolutely in awe,” VanFleet told WAVY-TV. “I had no idea; I was not expecting on catching, like, an almost 10-foot-long fish. I mean, I just never dreamed of it. I knew we’d catch a big one. I was thinking maybe or 400 pounds. You know, because when you’re watching ‘Wicked Tuna,’ I mean those inches that size fish is, like, very rare on that show. And I’m like there’s no way we’re gonna get something like that. And lo and behold.”

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They had packed the fish with 200 pounds of ice and later spent two hours filleting the fish.

“We gave it to lots of friends, because what are you going to do with that much fish?” he told the Pilot. “We just kind of spread the love around Virginia.”

Photos courtesy of Josiah VanFleet.