Angler lands 405.2-pound yellowfin tuna, likely new world record
December 6, 2010 | 5:30 pm
Two-hundred-pound tuna have long been referred to as "cows," and 300-pounders are "supercows." Now there may be the need for a new category created, after angler Mike Livingston boated a yellowfin tuna weighing in at 405.2 pounds, likely a new all-tackle world record.
"When the scale hit that number it was like the Super Bowl here," Livingston, 63, a retired school administrator from Sunland, Calif., told Pete Thomas Outdoors in reference to cheers from a crowd of nearly 200 which gathered to witness the weigh-in.
The 80-foot sportfishing vessel Vagabond returned to Point Loma Sportfishing on Monday after a 10-day expedition in search of huge tuna. Livingston's catch was made Tuesday west of Magdalena Bay on the southern Baja California peninsula.
The fish, which measured 85 3/4 inches from nose to tail and had a girth of 61 1/2 inches, took almost 3 hours to land. It will be submitted to the International Game Fish Assn. for approval as an all-tackle world record.
Vagabond Capt. Mike Lackey said IGFA rules were followed so the catch likely will replace the current record, a 388-pound, 12-ounce specimen, caught by Curt Wiesenhutter in April, 1977.
-- Kelly Burgess
