Delawarean Breaks North Carolina Bluefin Tuna Record

On March 17th Capt. Dennis Endee of Wanchese, NC owner of A-Salt Weapon Sportfishing Charters out of Pirate’s Cove Marina in Manteo went out with a party of eight for trophy tuna fishing.  Retired Army Brigadier General Scott Chambers, from Townsend, Delaware was among that group of anglers.  

north carolina, record bluefin tuna,
877-pound bluefin tuna caught by retired Brig. Gen. Scott Chambers fishing with A-Salt Weapons Sportfishing Charters on March 17 … photo courtesy of Capt. Dennis Endee

Once they reached about forty miles off Oregon Inlet, they began marking fish.  It took some clever maneuvering on Captain Endee’s part to get the fish they were marking to bite.  They were on the troll marking fish, but not having much luck.

When he got the long rigger baits to drop deeper on the fish they were marking, two of the rods got hammered.  They knew immediately they had hooked into two bluefins.  When they realized the size of the fish Retired Army Brigadier General Scott Chambers had on his rod, they took the time to get the other smaller tuna in and released.  Then Chambers got into the fighting chair and spent almost two hours fighting this beast of a tuna. He didn’t feel the full brunt of this fish until he started to bear down on it from the chair.

“It’s just a big blur,” said Chambers. “But, the thing I remember most is just the power of the fish pulling. That’s one thing I’ll never forget.” 

After two hours of fighting the fish and another ninety minutes just to get it in the boat.  Chambers had caught a 877 pound bluefin tuna.  Which is now the official record for North Carolina.  Ousting the previous record in 2011 by Corey Schultz, at 805 pounds and also off of Oregon Inlet.

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The world record Bluefin tuna was caught in 1979, a gigantic 1,496-pound fish off Nova Scotia.

The official weigh in by the NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources … The bluefin tuna measured 113 inches to the curved fork length and had a girth of 79 inches, weighing in at 877 pounds.  It is now the new North Carolina state bluefin tuna record.

Congrats sir!  That is one hell of a fish and a memory for a lifetime.

Fish On!

Rich King

 

 

 

 

The world record Bluefin tuna was set in 1979, when a fisherman hauled in a gigantic 1,496-pound fish off Nova Scotia.

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