157LB Bluefin from a kayak

[2nd mate]

Not Me.
Just saw this and thought it might be a good read. Fucker must have gone for one hell of a ride.
By CAPE COD TIMES
November 06, 2009
PROVINCETOWN — After a Nantucket sleigh ride off Race Point, Dave Lamoureux landed a 157-pound bluefin tuna yesterday — from his kayak.

"I fought it for about three hours," Lamoureux said. "It probably took another hour to paddle back in."

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Lamoureux, a trader from Chicago and part-time Yarmouth resident, has been tilting at kayak fishing records since August. That means paddling a 12-foot-long hunk of plastic out into the open ocean and targeting tuna.

Why tempt fate and powerful fish? "I'm an adrenaline seeker," he said.

And tuna don't give up easy.

"It fights till it dies," said Lamoureux, who added that a tuna once towed him (and his kayak) more than five miles offshore.

"You go for a sleigh ride," Lamoureux said. "At high speed first, and then you slow down. It becomes a vertical fight after that, and then periodically it runs, you know, and you go with it."

He pulled the sea-beast to shore, then a boater helped him tow it to Fisherman's Wharf.

Lamoureux was aiming to beat the world record for unassisted paddle-out kayak fishing for any species, which he believed to be 187-pounds. The Cape Cod Times was unable to verify any official records by press deadline last night, but it was enough to impress Austin Proudfoot of the Goose Hummock Shop, the Orleans sporting goods store where the tuna was officially weighed.

"It's unheard of," Proudfoot said. "To harvest a fish of this size and quality, it really is a special thing."

Proudfoot said Lamoureaux landed the tuna using a seven-foot Van Staal rod and a Fin-Nor offshore reel, considered a heavy spin fishing combo.

"He's setting himself way, way far out of the crowd with what he's doing. It's great," Proudfoot said.

Lamoureux plans to eat the tuna, with help from friends, and perhaps some wasabi.

Staff writers Mary Ann Bragg, Jason Kolnos and Eric Williams contributed to this report.

[DEVO]

Myself and one of the parents of a kid on the soccer team I coach were talking about this today. Is this legal? We both thought you had to be in a registered boat to fish tuna. Pretty cool regardless....and I thought get getting towed around by a 32" striper was fun..

[axelkeitz]

not sure about the registered boat law??? maybe in some places. but i guess then again not many people catch fish in that area outa anything else.

[CaddyDaddy77]

Had to see it, thats a big freakin fish out of a kayak.
http://www.kayakangleronline.com/blo...na-record.html

[warthog]

Man, I don't know about anyone else, but towing 157 lbs of dead meat behind a little kayak must be unsettling. I noticed he had help bringing it in. We routinely see sharks attack Tarpon here. I can't imagine trolling for shark in a kayak.

[Sagamoron]

Myself and one of the parents of a kid on the soccer team I coach were talking about this today. Is this legal? We both thought you had to be in a registered boat to fish tuna. Pretty cool regardless....and I thought get getting towed around by a 32" striper was fun..

yeah you need to get an HMS permit to fish for Tuna and other Pelagics. I did read on another forum where guys manage to register a kayak as a boat so they can get the permit.


Very ballsy to hang that off a kayak, especially since an outfit from Scituate hooked a monster mako that had eaten half tuna they were hooked into this august.