Footage shows a jubilant photographer as he realizes he has timed his shot of the approaching tuna perfectly.
Dramatic footage showing a giant tuna nearly leaping into a boat while chasing a bait is circulating this week via social media.
“Incredible capture by [Daniel Svensson Persson] of this bluefin fully launching itself right next to the boat,” BD Outdoors exclaimed Wednesday via Instagram. (See video below.)
The footage is compelling because the tuna approaches like a missile and is only yards from the vessel when it leaps. But the highlight might be a jubilant Persson’s reaction while communicating to friends that he had just timed a perfect shot.
The term applies only to yellowfin tuna weighing 200 pounds or more. More rare are “super cows” weighing at least 300 pounds.
A 208-pound yellowfin tuna was landed Sunday off Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, helping to signal the start of another big-fish season at the iconic resort destination.
“COW TUNA Yesterday hitting the Pisces dock!” the Pisces Sportfishing Fleet boasted via social media. “This 208-pounder was landed by anglers Diego Bribiesca & Jesús Rodríguez aboard the boat Scale House (not a Pisces boat). The fish hit on a yellow/orange lure 35 miles out.”
Late summer and fall are prime months for anglers seeking to battle massive and immensely powerful yellowfin tuna, along with blue marlin and other prized game fish.
A yellowfin tuna earns “cow” status at 200 pounds. More rare are “super-cow” yellowfin weighing at least 300 pounds.
According to the International Game Fish Assn., the current world record was set off Cabo San Lucas in September 2012 with the catch of a 427-pound yellowfin tuna.
Yellowfin catches topping 400 pounds are exceedingly rare.
The yellowfin tuna was hooked at Mexico’s Guadalupe Island, which is seasonal home to great white sharks.
A fishing-themed social media site on Saturday shared a “throwback” image showing an angler posing with the head of a large yellowfin tuna.
BDOutdoors’ Instagram description was somewhat predictable: “Paying his dues to the local taxman,” followed by a shark emoji.
The image was captured at Mexico’s Guadalupe Island before the designated biosphere reserve was ordered closed to sportfishing and commercial shark diving.
Guadalupe Island, 160 miles west of Ensenada, is seasonal home to dozens of great white sharks.
When long-range sportfishing vessels from San Diego were allowed to fish at Guadalupe, tuna were routinely snatched from hooks before they could be reeled to the boats.
The term “taxman,” however, is used around the world in reference to fish-stealing sharks.
Fiji angler Brock Harmer is left with only the head of prized game fish after shark swoops in to claim its share.
A sportfishing guide in Fiji has provided striking evidence of what can happen if a hooked game fish puts up too long of a fight.
“The emotional rollercoaster of chasing doggies,” Jana Crossingham stated via Instagram, referring to an image showing the severed head of a giant dogtooth tuna. “So close yet so far…”
Crossingham told FTW Outdoors that a shark claimed the body of the estimated 110-pound dogtooth tuna, leaving only the head for angler Brock Harmer.
Nathan Browne’s catch could signal an early start to the season for catching giant yellowfin tuna off Cabo San Lucas.
A report from Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, implies that the first “cow” yellowfin tuna of 2024 was likely caught Saturday after a two-hour fight in the Sea of Cortez.
“First COW of the season!? 270 POUND Yellowfin Tuna Caught Yesterday by La Playita local Nathan Browne on 50 lb test with live bait aboard his friend Miguel’s Panga,” Pisces Sportfishing Fleet announced Sunday via social media.
Cabo San Lucas has long been referred to as the marlin capital of the world, but giant yellowfin tuna attract international anglers every summer and fall.
A yellowfin tuna earns “cow” status if it tops 200 pounds. More rare are “super-cow” tuna weighing at least 300 pounds.
According to the International Game Fish Assn., the current world record was set off Cabo San Lucas in September 2012 with the catch of a 427-pound yellowfin tuna.
Yellowfin catches topping 400 pounds are exceedingly rare.
Anglers vacationing in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, on Wednesday brought to port a blue marlin that weighed an estimated 1,000 pounds and measured an astonishing 14 feet.
Anglers vacationing in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, on Wednesday brought to port a blue marlin that weighed an estimated 1,000 pounds and measured an astonishing 14 feet.
Pisces Sportfishing, whose fleet was not involved in the extraordinary catch, reported via Facebook that the Minnesota anglers were aboard Dream Maker with Capt. “Cheque” Cervantes.
“Happening NOW in Cabo. Another ‘out of season’ Blue Marlin today, weighing in at 660 lbs and measured out to 169 inches; 14 feet!” Pisces exclaimed.
Marshall Ryerson, who arranged the charter, told FTW Outdoors that the marlin was so long and heavy that only part of the fish could be hoisted onto a local dock scale. Based on its 169-inch length and 69-inch girth, Ryerson added, the marlin’s weight was estimated at 1,000 pounds.
Anglers pose with blue marlin estimated to weigh 1,000 pounds
That would rank as one of the top blue marlin catches in the steeped history of Cabo San Lucas sportfishing.
(For the sake of comparison, a blue marlin caught by Pisces in 2019 weighed 814 pounds on an official scale after measuring 167.5 inches with a 66-inch girth.)
The marlin was caught by Caesar Larson and Luke Fox, who were among five anglers on a charter in search of tuna and dorado. The massive billfish attacked their lures five seconds apart and they fought the marlin with both rods for 90 minutes before it was alongside the 34-foot boat.
Ryerson, who said the marlin was in no shape to be released, addressed the greater challenge of transporting such a large marlin back to port.
“It took seven of us and every bit of energy from each of us to get the fish in the boat,” he said, referring to the anglers and crewmen. “After several attempts and help from the waves we were able to get the fish up and into the boat.”
Luke Fox (left) and Caesar Larson pose with marlin they caught off Cabo San Lucas
Ryerson added that the meat was donated to a local charity that benefits impoverished children.
Tracy Ehrenberg, who runs Pisces Sportfishing, told FTW Outdoors that a 700-pound blue marlin was landed a week earlier. Both catches were unusual because prime fishing season for blue marlin is July through October.
“However, there is always one big blue caught in the first month of the year,” Ehrenberg said. “Two is exceptional. But if you go back and examine the archives, the biggest blue marlin in my memory are caught out of season, like April or May.”
The marlin was donated to a charity that feeds impoverished children
Ehrenberg said the fleets are currently focused on striped marlin, which are more abundant during the winter, along with dorado and other small gamefish.
Catch-and-release marlin fishing is strongly encouraged in Cabo San Lucas, and the vast majority of anglers set their billfish free whenever possible.
Rare footage shows an estimated 4,000-pound sunfish being hoisted aboard a vessel via crane during a successful entanglement rescue.
Rare footage captured off Africa’s north coast shows an estimated 4,000-pound sunfish, or moonfish, being hoisted aboard a vessel during a successful entanglement rescue.
The sunfish, believed to be a Mola alexandrini, became trapped in a net used to catch tuna off Cueta, a Spanish enclave in Africa. The footage was captured on October 4.
A crew from a marine biology lab run by the University of Seville participated in the rescue. The footage shows the massive sunfish being hoisted by a crane and swimming after it was set free.
Click on this link for more on this story and to view images captured by the rescue crew.
A 365-pound yellowfin tuna was landed after a marathon struggle Tuesday off Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, but the real battle was wrestling the massive fish onto the 22-foot skiff.
A 365-pound yellowfin tuna was landed after a marathon struggle Tuesday off Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, but the real battle was wrestling the massive fish onto the 22-foot skiff.
“I actually told the guys to make sure the bilge pump is on,” Eduardo Aripez, captain of the vessel Nicole, told Rebecca Ehrenberg of Pisces Sportfishing. “When we started pulling it onboard the boat almost tipped over and took on a lot of water, but we managed.”
Aripez and two other locals, Franciso Beltran and Inocencio Pina, landed the tuna after a 3.5-hour battle that lasted into the darkness at Outer Gordo Banks, north of Cabo San Lucas in the Sea of Cortez.
It’s at least the third “super cow” yellowfin tuna – weighing 300 pounds or more – caught at Gordo Banks in the past three weeks.
On Nov. 9, a 310-pound yellowfin tuna was landed just days after the end of the prestigious Los Cabos Tuna Jackpot competition, which produced only three fish topping 200 pounds.
On Nov. 12, a 370-pound yellowfin tuna was caught at Gordo Banks after a 60-minute fight aboard the vessel Hard Efforts.
For the sake of comparison, the all-tackle world record for the yellowfin tuna stands at 427 pounds. That fish was caught by Southern California angler Guy Yocom in 2012, 180 miles south of Cabo San Lucas.
The 365-pound tuna, caught on 80-pound-test line with a 130-pound-test leader, was weighed at La Playita, which provides close access to Gordo Banks.
Eric Brictson, owner of Gordo Banks Pangas, told For The Win Outdoors that the same fishermen have been targeting giant tuna in late afternoon, often returning in the dark. They also caught two black marlin this past week.
“I think we’re going to have a good December, with warmer conditions than usual,” Brictson said. “We had that about 10 years ago, when the cows bit all through December.”
–Image showing Eduardo Aripez, Franciso Beltran and Inocencio Pina posing with the 365-pound yellowfin tuna is courtesy of Pisces Sportfishing
A 367-pound yellowfin tuna was caught last Friday in the Los Cabos region of Baja California Sur, Mexico, after the massive fish devoured a smaller tuna used as bait.
A 367-pound yellowfin tuna was caught last Friday in the Los Cabos region of Baja California Sur, Mexico, after the massive fish devoured a smaller tuna used as bait.
The rare “super cow,” a reference to yellowfin tuna weighing 300 pounds or more, was caught aboard a 23-foot panga, or skiff, by brothers Jesus and Gerardo Banaga out of La Playita near San Jose del Cabo.
According to Eric Brictson of Gordo Banks Pangas, the fish was hooked on a medium-size skipjack tuna that was trolled near Inner Gordo Banks in the Sea of Cortez. The fight lasted 2.5 hours.
A Pisces Sportfishing Facebook post provides more detail:
“They looped around the area only once when this Super Cow Yellowfin torpedoed out of the water after their bait. The fish ran for an hour straight, with the guys in hot pursuit, trying to avoid getting spooled.
“After the run it headed down deep and the hard work began. Two-and-a-half hours after the hookup they had the fish at the gaff.”
Brictson said Jesus Banaga is a longtime captain in his panga fleet, and that the tuna was weighed by another local, who purchased the fish afterward.
Tracy Ehrenberg, who runs Pisces Sportfishing in Cabo San Lucas, told For The Win Outdoors that only a handful of “super cow” tuna are caught in area waters each year.
“With more sophisticated boats, new techniques such as kites, balloons, 360-degree radar, and boats being able to travel further, I do believe catches of these big fish has gone up,” Ehrenberg said.
“On the other hand, nothing can beat good old-fashioned skill. A lot of the panga guys out of La Playita are commercial tuna fishermen that also like to sportfish, so they know where they are and how to catch them – hence monster fish on tiny boats.”
Brictson said that on Saturday, Inner Gordo Banks was crowded with anglers hoping to latch onto a giant tuna, but there were no significant hookups.
“Still hit or miss,” he said.
While catches of super cow yellowfin tuna are rare, catches topping 400 pounds are exceedingly rare.
According to the International Game Fish Assn., the all-tackle world record stands at 427 pounds. The fish was caught south of Cabo San Lucas by Guy Yocom in September 2012.
–Images are courtesy of Gordo Banks Pangas and Pisces Sportfishing
A San Diego woman’s catch Wednesday of a 370-pound bluefin tuna placed her among a small group of anglers who have landed ’super cow’ tuna.
A San Diego woman’s catch Wednesday of a 370-pound bluefin tuna placed her among a small group of anglers who have landed ‘super cow’ tuna weighing at least 300 pounds.
“Skipped a cow and went straight to a super cow,” Sophie Gail wrote on Instagram, in reference to the “cow” label anglers place on 200-pound tuna. “So overfilled with happiness.”
Gail was aboard the Constitution out of H&M Landing when the charter encountered a school of giant bluefin. Hers was hooked with a dead flying fish dangled beneath a kite, and landed after a grueling 90-minute battle.
“It was a rough, hard fight with gruesomely hard head shakes,” Gail told For The Win Outdoors. “Like a fish I never felt before.”
Giant bluefin tuna are highly prized and incredibly powerful; difficult to land even with heavy tackle. In all, Constitution anglers boated eight bluefin. Besides Gail’s, they ranged from 122 to 257 pounds.
“They had some heartbreaks that go along with this kind of trip, with a couple in that super cow range managing to get away,” Constitution Sportfishing wrote on Instagram.
Gail, who used an Okuma PCH 4X rail rod and a Makaira 50W reel, said the experience left her humbled but overjoyed.
“I need to have some time to myself and recollect my thoughts after everyone saying their congratulations,” she said. “It was such an experience. It felt like a dream, waking up [the next morning].”
Neither Gail nor Constitution Sportfishing would pinpoint where they encountered the bluefin tuna school.
–Image showing Sophie Gail and her 370-pound bluefin tuna is courtesy of Constitution Sportfishing
