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Fishermen slammed by giant wahoo, record breaking king mackerel

dan radel, asbury park press
·4 min read
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It was a wild week on the ocean as far as the big game fishing went. Fishermen put the collar on several elusive bluefin tuna but perhaps the most thrilling catches were a giant wahoo and a potential record-breaking king mackerel.

A party of four fishermen on the Christy-J, a 30-foot Grady White private boat out of Barnegat Inlet, were on their way home from the Hudson Canyon on Tuesday with a good haul of yellowfin tuna, a longfin, a swordfish and several tilefish when they stopped 15 miles from the inlet to troll a promising stretch of 75 to 77 degree water.

Randy Halat, of Wayne, left, holds an estimated 100-pound wahoo landed on the private boat Christy-J. On the right, Dominic Vricella of Medford, holds a potential New Jersey record king mackerel caught on his 36-foot Luhrs. The fish weighed 67.45 pounds.
Randy Halat, of Wayne, left, holds an estimated 100-pound wahoo landed on the private boat Christy-J. On the right, Dominic Vricella of Medford, holds a potential New Jersey record king mackerel caught on his 36-foot Luhrs. The fish weighed 67.45 pounds.

Randy Halat, of Wayne, said they dropped some darts down and were trolling high speed when a 70-wide reel began to scream. They soon learned they had a wahoo, a fish with razor sharp teeth capable of bursts of speed that can reach 60 mph, making it one of the fastest in the ocean.

"It just took off. He pulled over 300 feet off the reel that was set on 25-pounds of drag. It was like a freight train," Halat said.

A half-hour later, the four man crew of Halat, his 13-year old son Ajay, Tom Black and captain Tom Winters had the speed demon in the boat. Halat said they never got the fish on the scale because they collared it at sea to preserve the meat. They did, however, get a tape on the fish and it measured almost six feet in the length and 26 inches in girth. Halat estimates the fish weighed 100 pounds.

More: Flashy, king mackerel bites after Saturday's storm blows out to sea

Meanwhile, two days prior and a little further up the coast Dominic Vricella and his son Joe, of Medford, hooked into 67.45-pound king mackerel trolling a pair of wide trackers and pair of Clark spoons five miles from Manasquan Inlet. They had just lost an engine on their 36-foot Luhrs a couple of hours earlier while chasing bluefin tuna on the Tolten Lump and were limping in. They decided to run lures out for a shot at a Spanish mackerel or bonito as they slowly headed home.

Around 3 p.m., when they were about a mile east of the Axel Carlson Reef one of the Clark spoons got hit and while they didn't know exactly what fish they had on the line at first, it nearly spooled an Avet MXL reel, twice. Dominic was on the reel. Their first thought was that it was a tuna or wahoo. At one point the fish stopped its run and the line went slack. Dominic quickly gained the line back onto the reel and when it came tight again the fight was back on.

More: Tuna boats corral yellowfin tuna in deep blue water 70 miles offshore

It wasn't until the fish was close enough to hit it with the gaff that they saw they had a king, and a very large one at that. At a little over 67 pounds, the fish is 13 pounds heavier than the current state record that was set back in 1998. The fish was weighed at Hoffman's Marina in Brielle. The Reel Seat in Brielle filled out the paperwork with the state's Fish & Wildlife and the two are awaiting the news. If it all pans out, there could be a new king of the kings, in these waters, at least.

"I've never seen a king this size before and I've caught them before in Florida. At first we bled the fish preparing to to eat it, so it lost some weight," Dominic said.

The bluefin tuna have not been easy to catch. Fishermen have zig-zagged across many of the lumps, circled the wrecks and come home empty-handed more often than not. However, just enough have been landed to keep fishermen in pursuit.

Capt. Dave DeGennaro on the Hi Flier, his son Max, and friend Dave Flood finally hit pay dirt this week after several trips that resulted in donuts. DeGennaro said they fished with the tuna fleet that was working an area about 20 miles from Barnegat Inlet that was holding massive schools of squid. They rigged the squid for bait and on their second drift a 30 International in the bow of the boat when off. He said it was a no doubter. Thirty minutes later they had a 49-inch bluefin tuna in the boat.

When Jersey Shore native Dan Radel is not reporting the news, you can find him in a college classroom where he is a history professor. Reach him @danielradelapp; 732-643-4072; dradel@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: NJ fishermen deck giant wahoo, record breaking king mackerel