A weary captain spoke of his struggle after a crew of five in Texas took on a 676-pound bluefin tuna that broke the rod in half during a two-hour struggle.
Captain Tim Oestreich was on the fishing boat Dolphin Express with his crew and 16 fishermen on March 24 in the Hoover Diana oil fields, about 130 to 160 miles from Port Aransas.
The trip started in rough seas with waves of six to eight feet, Osterreich said, but the yellowfin tuna had the nibble.
After an exhilarating 2.5-mile chase, the fish snaps the captain’s 30-pound rod in half.
Since everyone took turns lowering the fish, Oestreich told Sport Fishing Magazine, some were only able to last for two to three minutes before they got tired.
Pictured: crew members next to a huge tuna. Captain Tim Osterich (left) and a crew of five in Texas took on a 676-pound bluefin tuna that broke the rod in half during a two-hour struggle
Pictured: 676-pound bluefin tuna. “It took me two hours to ride the bluefin tuna, and the rod broke at the end,” Osterreich said.
When a fisherman finished, he said, I would demand ‘fresh meat on the reel.
The captain said the bait was only in the water for about 10 minutes before the bluefin took it and submerged it, taking 800 yards of the bait with it.
“That’s about a half-mile straight in about a minute,” Osetreich said.
Forty-five minutes later, the fishermen returned the tuna to the 95-foot side of the boat, but it took off again.
The captain tried to keep the fish moving to drain its energy.
“You can’t chase a big tuna in deep water or you’ll be fighting it for hours,” Osterreich said.
The boat follows the running tuna for 2.5 miles.
After 45 minutes, the fish was again next to the boat.
She took off again, snapping the penis in half.
Pictured: tuna fish at Dolphin Dock. Dolphin Dock’s Deep Sea Fishing calls the 56-hour excursion ‘Texas Safari’
Osterreich grabbed the broken rod and pulled the fish 40 feet with his hand.
He said it took eight people to get the tuna out of the water and into the boat.
“It took me two hours to board a bluefin tuna, and I broke the rod at the end,” Osterreich told the Houston news outlet Kron. He also noted that the penis cost $1,000.
“Regulations for fishing for bluefin tuna in the Gulf of Mexico are strict with only one per boat. It is not common to get caught by one because they are targeted and this big.
During the 56-hour trip, the fishermen also caught three yellowtail tuna and 11 wahoo fish.
“The anglers did a great job,” Dolphin Docks Deep Sea Fishing said in a Facebook post.
“When my arm recovers, I’d love to go again….as soon as I find a bigger fridge,” one guest wrote on Facebook.
Pictured: a fresh catch at Dolphin Dock. During the 56-hour trip, the fishermen also caught three yellowtail tuna and 11 wahoo fish.
Commenting on a fishing charter’s Facebook post, one user wrote: ‘Yay Tim! You are a fish killer!
Another posted: “Nice capture guys!!”
One of the photos in the post shows the crew posing with a huge bluefin tuna, which is five men long.
Another photo shows tuna hanging for display on the dock.
On an average trip, the boat catches three yellowfin per person.
“I would probably move 1,100 tuna every four or five months,” Osterreich said.
Dolphin Dock’s Deep Sea Fishing calls the 56-hour trip “Texas Safari.”
After the huge fish was brought back to shore, it was cut up and divided into 14 customers, according to Crohn.
A different boat out of Port Aransas caught a 750-pound bluefish just a few days later.
The bluefin tuna is the largest species of tuna in the world with dimensions ranging from six to 10 feet. They can weigh up to 1,500 pounds and live for an average of 35 years.
They are predators, hunting down schools of fish such as herring and mackerel, and even eels.
According to the National Fisheries Institute, about 1 billion pounds of tuna are eaten annually.
