This trio of anglers got more than they bargained for when they hooked a 240-pound bluefin tuna off San Diego.
Just how hard did they fight to land this monster fish? They fought the bluefin for 8.5 hours while it dragged them 15 miles from their starting point before they reeled it in.
The anglers, Zach Zorn, Seth DuBois and Joseph Anders, started their fight at the “43 Spot,” 50 miles west of San Diego.
It’s impressive that these guys in their 20s were able to eventually land the fish. While they came prepared with live mackerel and 80-pound-test monofilament, their small boat wasn’t designed for big-game fishing. Lacking high rails, they weren’t able to leverage their rods and gain the advantage over the massive tuna.
“That boat’s meant to be used for bass in the bay or along the shore on kelp beds,” Zorn said. “They’re not designed to go 50 miles off shore and catch a couple-hundred-pound fish.”
They thought they’d bring the fish in relatively quick, but the tuna had other plans.
“We were thinking two or three hours, four-max,” Zorn told the San Diego Union-Tribune.
The group had to take turns reeling it into have any chance at success.
“You have to basically peel your fingers off the rod to hand it to the next guy, because you’re holding on so tight,” Zorn said.
At the end of the battle, there was a mixture of utter exhaustion and overwhelming excitement.
“Exhausted is the right word,” DuBois said. “But also excited out of our minds. To get it into the boat was a triumph, more than anything.”
After all was said and done, the friends smartly notified the Coast Guard of their situation and remained on the line until they wee close to shore.
