‘It didn’t even look real’: Destin fisherman recalls reeling in 888-pound bluefin tuna
DESTIN, Fla. (WKRG) — The Flat Dangerous fishing boat second mate John Balters didn’t expect to catch much on a Wednesday morning shakedown trip.
That all changed about 67 miles off the coast of Destin when Balters and the five others he was with on the trip saw a “big blue flash” about 30 yards away from the boat.
Destin crew reels in 888-pound Bluefin Tuna
The boat’s Sonar system, which Balters called a “game changer,” pinged several large-sized objects, which one of the crew members was confident were bluefin tuna.
Quickly, the crew began to drop their lines hoping to catch a bluefin tuna.
Then, there was a bite, which led to a 2-minute fight, but ultimately the fish broke the line. The same thing happened moments later.
“So we were 0-for-2 at this point,” he said.
Soon, the group would be 0-for-3 after a 45-minute struggle with a tuna ended with the hook simply pulling out of its mouth.
After rounding up some more bait, the crew was ready to give it another attempt.
This time, the unexpected happened.
Balters said he dropped a roughly 8-pound blackish tuna as bait. Soon enough, about a dozen bluefin tuna began attacking the bait, with one flying through the air, missing it.
A bluefin tuna eventually hooked on, and a 5-hour fight began between the tuna and the six-man crew.
“Inch-by-inch-by-inch,” Balters said the crew was reeling the tuna in during that time.
At first, Balters said it was about 6 inches of line with each pull, which turned into 1 foot and then 1.5 feet per pull.
Two crew members held the rod up on their shoulders with all of their weight throughout the fight.
A trip that was supposed to be routine quickly turned into something none of the six people onboard The Flat Dangerous had even thought of happening.
Eventually, the tuna’s tail had wrapped up in the line and died after fighting for so long. At this point, the crew was fighting dead weight.
A high hook return
It took all six crew members to bring the tuna onto the boat.
“It didn’t even look real when it got on deck,” Balters said.
After getting out on the water at 5:30 a.m., the crew aboard The Flat Dangerous around 9 p.m.
The tuna weighed a whopping 888 pounds when the group returned to the dock.
“It was 109 inches to the fork of the tail,” Balters said.
It’s the largest bluefin tuna caught off the coast of Florida, but it is disqualified from any records because it took several people to reel the fish in, News 5 has learned.
The crew iced the tuna overnight before filleting it on Thursday.
According to Balters, the crew could have got $25 a pound for the fish, but they weren’t interested in selling it.
Balters said they donated some of the fish to Boshamps Seafood and Oyster Bar in Destin and dispersed the rest to friends, family and among themselves.
Balters, 19, has been fishing since he was 8 years old. He’s worked off and on with this same crew over the past couple of years.
“We just came back from the Bahamas after a couple unsuccessful fishing trips,” he said.
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