iStockphoto / Whitepointer
There is a new pending state fishing record in Texas after a Houston-based angler on an overnight trip out of Galveston landed an 884-pound bluefin tuna. Once certified, that fish will break the existing Texas state fishing record for bluefin tuna by 8 pounds, a record that has stood since 2021.
Angler David Esslinger was fishing aboard the Catillac in search of blue marlin on an offshore trip and spirits were low because they had gone 30 hours of fishing without one single bite, but things changed in an instant and the trip ended with a record-setting bluefin tuna.
Esslinger recently shared details of his record-setting fish with SportFishing Mag, including how it went from the slowest possible fishing trip to a record-setting outing. They were 30 hours into the trip and 160 miles offshore fishing around a floating oil rig with zero action when all of a sudden a yellowfin tuna burst from the water.
He told SportFishing Mag “it must have gone 25 feet in the air. I’ve never seen anything like it. But it wasn’t feeding. It was trying to escape something.”
Shortly after, something massive hit one of the baits they had in the water. 5 hours later, they would get the massive bluefin tuna to the boat and later that day they’d weigh it on a certified scale back in Galevston where it tipped the scales at 884-pounds, a Texas state record.
Here is that fish back at the scales with his board certifying the catch and weight:
Catillac captain Carson Deer said they “looked like we could have been out there for a week-and-a-half” when they left the docks with his 46′ Invincible catamaran loaded up with every type of gear they would possibly need while fishing out in the Gulf. The target species was blue marlin which ultimately proved to be of benefit because they were fishing with heavy tackle. Had they been rigged up for yellowfin tuna or wahoo they might not have had heavy enough tackle to bring in the state record 884-pound bluefin tuna.
The fish was landed using a Shimano Tiagra 130A reel wrapped up with 130-pound test Amilan line, a 180-pound leader and 12/0 circle hook according to SFM. Wildly, the tuna peeled off 1,400 yards of line during the fight. Think about that for a second… This fish was a full 14 football field lengths away from the boat during the fight. That’s unreal.
During the fight, they believe the fish died from exhaustion 3 hours into the 5 hour battle. Then they had to spend 2 hours bringing the fish up “inch by inch.” Often times when this happens, the boat will get up to slow-to-medium speed to bring the fish up to the surface but depending on the size of the species/specimen this isn’t always possible and this also leaves the fish completely vulnerable to sharks/predators down below.
Capt. Deer told SFM “I think I almost cried” once they got it into the boat, adding “we were hugging and high-fiving” but then they realized the ice bag for the fish wasn’t large enough so they had to slice up the bag, lay it over the fish, and cover it in ice while they headed back to the marina.
On the way back to the scales, they estimated the bluefin tuna was around 650-pounds. That’s a HUGE fish but no state record. Imagine their surprise when it tipped the scales at 884-pounds and is now a pending state fishing record in Texas!
Another wild aspect of this catch was this particular fish was previously tagged not once but twice. Once off Nova Scotia and once off Liverpool. Now, the angler will go through the process of certifying the catch and waiting on the state to make it official. For more details, follow that link above and head on over to SportFishingMag.