As an amberjack was being pulled into his buddy’s boat, an LCBA member captain admitted he was disappointed in the hopes that a tuna was on the other end of the line.
This disappointment lasted mere seconds, though, because this wasn’t just a regular amberjack.
In fact, at 140 pounds, it could go down as the biggest amberjack ever landed in Louisiana.
After chunking bonita on the East Lump in 230 feet of water, a fish took the line, and the roughly 30-to-45-minute battle began.
“It was going on some pretty good runs. At the beginning, it was tuna-esque runs – long, fast runs, taking a lot of line out,” explained our captain. “The fish just kept giving him hell.”
After centering up the fish and putting on a harness, a Shimano Tiagra 30 reel, a Shimano Terez bent-butt rod and an Eagle Claw 7/0 circle hook with a 50-pound Yo-Zuri fluorocarbon leader was used to beat the sea monster.
“When it came up to the surface, we were like, ‘Woah, that’s a really big amberjack. That’s the biggest one I’ve ever seen,’ so they were all fired up. I’ve caught them in the 80-ish range, and this one was substantially bigger,” our captain said.
If certified by the Louisiana Outdoor Writers Association, the amberjack will surpass the previous state record by one pound. The record is currently held by Bill Weldon, who caught a 139-pound jack in South Timbalier Block 300 in May of 2009.
Captains, let us know if you're associated with a record-breaking fish, and we'd be happy to recognize it in this newsletter.
Thanks to Our Captains who Showed Up and Spoke During Gulf Council's Public Comments Session
Thank you so much for showing up and speaking Feb. 1 in New Orleans.
It was the strongest showing Louisiana charter captains have had in many years, maybe ever, and they undoubtedly changed the Council’s final action on electronic logbooks.
Thank you so much for participating in the process.
