North Carolina Wildlife Officials Shut Down Outer Banks Bluefin Tuna Pier Fishing After Some Monster Catches

Death, taxes, and wildlife officials shutting down the fishing when the bite is at its hottest… Those are the three certainties in life, or at least that’s how people recently catching Outer Banks bluefin tuna off a pier in Nag’s Head must’ve felt.

Last week on TikTok I started to see videos of people reeling in huge bluefin tuna from a fishing pier. Apparently, the fish showed up on the last day of March and hung around for a while. At the time, I assumed it was Southern California because there are rare times the (smaller) Pacific bluefin tuna come in close enough for anglers to catch them. But you know what they say about ‘assume,’ how it makes an a– out of u and me…

Update 1.0: I saw this video last night and had to add it to this post because it is truly phenomenal. Look at this fish!

As it turns out these were Outer Banks bluefin tuna being caught from Jennette’s Pier, a fishing pier in Nag’s Head. These are LEGIT fish. One guy went viral for catching a 140-pound bluefin tuna in his kayak off of Jennette’s Pier:

If you’ve been bitten by the fishing but like I did as a little kid then these videos on TikTok of people reeling in these Outer Banks bluefin tuna are pretty darn cool:

Officials Shut Down Outer Banks Bluefin Tuna Fishing From Nag’s Head Pier

Over the course of several days at the Nag’s Head fishing pier a 140-pounder was caught on April 4th by 22-year-old Stefan Turko of Kitty Hawk. The next day a 154-pound bluefin tuna was caught by angler Aki Min in a kayak. He’d later tell the local bait shop “I decided it was the sort of opportunity I could not pass up. I would regret it if I did not try.” Then the very next day, a 64″ bluefin tuna was caught off the very same Jennette’s Pier.

That’s when the fun police showed up, according to North Carolina’s MyFox8. A message from the group that manages the Jennette Fishing Pier in the Outer Banks read “A NOAA law enforcement officer visited Jennette’s Pier this morning and advised management that it is illegal for our customers to fish for bluefin tuna.”

NOAA law enforcement also allegedly went so far as to ask the pier to remove ALL mentions of bluefin tuna and Outer Banks bluefin tuna fishing from their social media, according to MyFox8.

The pier later shared a message on its Facebook page about the bluefin tuna fishing, saying “It is a violation to fish for, catch, possess, retain, or land Atlantic bluefin tuna, blue marlin, white marlin, or roundscale spearfish without a valid permit or endorsement.”

I’m ALL for fishery conservation but c’mon, let the people catch tuna from the pier! Opportunities such as this rarely if ever come around. It was the thrill of a lifetime for those involved though. For more on North Carolina fishing regulations and to ensure you never run afoul of Johnny Law, you can visit the state’s website here.