bluefin from beach
 

I know this will sound like the ultimate fish story, but a board member can and I hope will confirm this for the record.....

After work I was headed out to Marblehead Neck to my favorite spot. Just after passing the first house on the right I see a commotion in the water, very close to the beach. So I pull into a driveway and jump out with rod and bag in hand. The commotion was gone, so I cast out beyond the chocolate drops as the tide hits dead low. nothing doing.

Then I see Ari, a familiar face during the fall run, but mostly I see him jogging. He had seen the commotion too, but had located its new position. By the time I reach him he had taken a 50-60 lb (my guess) bluefin tuna out of the low water WITH HIS HANDS!!!! It was still alive, though in its final struggle. We surmise that it had gotten caught in the tidal flats as the tide dropped. Eyes were clear, bottom of tail fin scrapped up pretty good from the rocks, no hooks, but bleeding from mouth and gills.

After waving down a well known fisherman locally, who was driving by, we proceeded to quarter the fish and split up the soon to be tuna steaks! Cooler and ice from my brothers house and where's the wasabi?!?!

Thanks for guidance on cleaning tuna. The tail is going on Ari's garage. Strange aint it?

Isn't that a felony :hidin:

-spence

We discussed it on the beach. Permits are issued to the boat. And the boat is sold. We did not target the fish, as the authorities say when they call me to ask about tuna periodically. Have you ever heard of a shore/surf tuna permit?

What would you do?

I would enjoy the steaks!..

Good for you Ross...

I'd call the EPO and ask them if I can keep it, you know, finders keepers :)
Can't get any fresher than that. Did you try to revive it in deeper water? or was it too far gone?

It was pretty well gone Bruce. I did have to laugh when Ari came back though. He was wearing a white shirt and had run back across the causeway to get his car, in a very bloody shirt!!! And this was before we cleaned the fish. People probably thought he had just killed someone on the Neck!

Thanks Don, I will enjoy, at lunch tomorrow. Going to Sox tmw night with son.

Two or three summers ago a guy cought a 70lb bluefin off of Humarock beach in the middle of the day.

Thats a great story!

A few years ago a guy muggled a 50 lb bass with his hands in gansett..


even if it was illegal, YOU CAUGHT IT WITH YOUR HANDS!!! its not like you were targeting the species.....

Yup, and he was told by authorities it was illegal to keep it. Although they didn't press charges.

I gotta tell you, I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't see it with my own eye's! I drove by the beach and the two them were standing there (covered in blood) holding a tuna.

if i remember correctly, a couple seasons ago a guy took a decent tuna off east beach RI. i think the fish attacked a surface plug in the wash and beached itself. the guy kept the fish, and brought it to a tackle shop to weigh and tell the story. i think that it was deemed an illegal catch, but, rather than get bad publicity, no charges were filed.

i know i would have a tough time relesing fresh sushi if i ever catch a tuna...... :drool:

Felony? Wow, I'd figure that would be a misdemeanor at the most.

Anyhoo, I think if you go to the NMFS website, you'll see that tuna permits are only issued for boat anglers.

It is illegal to fish for them from a stationary oil rig or the shore.

Having said that, I would find it hard to resist a fresh sushi dinner if the opportunity presented itself closer to the beach. :love: :drool:

That's awsome. I was out there the two previous nights and took last night off to pack and prepare for next week's trip to the cape-I would have loved to have seen that.

i was also out there the last few nights...would have loved to see that...instead, i had the good fortune of hooking a 35" striper...seems small potatoes in comparison though...

I too will become a law breaker because if I catch a tuna from shore I'm keeping it, chances are it would never survive after the battle even with the tuna gear I fish from shore.

lots of things are illigal if you get caught. I would have kept it.
Did it have an 8/0 ringed mutu in its jaw? because thats about the size of the one we lost boatside this weekend.

2004 thread.
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ohh jeez :smash:

There was a couple of guys who did this somewhere a few years ago. It was on tv. The feds got involved because they saw it in the water and then trapped it up against something and got it out of the water. They went to court. So I wouldn't let anyone see any evidence of the fish.

That's good---the statute of limitations has expired. :D

Back in the early 1990s, a guy in South Jersey saw a 180-pound bluefin in the wash in the Cape May area, a little further north. He grabbed a beach towel and wrestled it in ... not sure what happened to him, if the "cops" bothered him ... but it was cool.

I believe it was an 80lb. yellowfin caught from shore at Humarock.
According to the story the angler was issued a permit on the spot because it was an incidental catch and the fish was not going to survive. I believe the man in question called the authorities/harbormaster (I'm not sure who) to ask what he should do since the fish was dying.

Although it is a rare occurrance, I would say if it does happen, at least make a call so that you TRIED to reach the proper authorities.



Then follow your own instincts........:drool::drool::drool:

Thats not the one I was talking about. A couple of guys saw a bluefin in close to shore. It wasn't legal size. They got it out of the water and paid dearly later on. I want to say it was in CA. somewhere. I believe the circumstances are quite differewnt with this one that started this post.

Yeah, by five days.... But you've put my mind at ease, Mike.:grins:

Couple guys trapped one in Ptown, that one?

There was a youtube video, not sure if it was taken down

I guess it happens a little more frequesntly than I thought.

I'm sure some of the "incidents" are not reported, so who knows how many times a tuna is caught from shore?

I know a couple of years ago a kid caught one surfcasting from the beach at Hither Hills state park in Montauk. Its is illegal to keep the fish.

How can some say, with a straight face that they weren't targeting the fish when they caught it with their hands? !! That like saying "I didn't mean to punch you in the nose"!

this one?

Bluefin Tuna Wrestling on Cape Cod - YouTube

Nice swim cap
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yeah thats the one, think they got fined