During a recent optimal weather window, Carson Deer put together a group of buddies to head offshore to target blue marlin and yellowfin tuna. Deer captained the Catillac, a 46′ Invincible Cat owned by his dad, Marc. The crew ran about 160 miles out of Tiki Island in a southerly direction into the Gulf.
While bump-trolling for marlin, they ended up unintentionally hooking up with a massive bluefin tuna. After a 5-hour battle with the impressive fish, the crew was finally able to land it. They knew they had accomplished something special, but it wasn’t until they got back to the dock that they realized how large the fish was. The beast weighed 884 pounds.
Bluefin tuna are protected in Texas waters by NOAA Fisheries; however, anglers with the proper permit can catch a bluefin tuna 73 inches or longer if it was caught unintentionally and reported within 24 hours. Deer and crew possessed the necessary
permit and followed all reporting requirements for the fish.
David Esslinger is the angler who hooked up with the fish and fought it throughout the grueling battle. The rest of the crew, aside from Deer at the helm and Esslinger on the rod and reel, included Brad Hildebrandt, TC Swetman, Jeff Young, and Colby Denbow.
Esslinger said catching a fish of this size is definitely a team effort.
“First off, for those that have never landed a fish that’s the size of a car, let me just say that this is a full-meal deal,” Esslinger said. “No man or woman will ever do this without a team.”
Deer said their trip started off slow. Once they arrived to the area they planned to fish, they had trouble finding consistent action.
“We pressed on further and finally found a rig right at sunset that seemed to have a lot of life around it,” Deer said. “We spent the night fishing for yellowfin tuna and ended up only landing one.”
After hours of very little action and fishing all night without much to show for their efforts, Deer and his crew spent the next morning catching bait. They ended up catching some small blackfin tuna to use for bait, and started bump-trolling.
At about 9 a.m., the right rigger went off and Esslinger set the hook.
“The fish ran about 10 seconds, and then spit the hook and bait,” Esslinger said. “My heart sank. I came up on the drag and gave the reel about 10 cranks. As soon as I engaged the clicker again, the giant fish piled on hard for a second time. That’s when the first 3/4 spool run at 35 pounds of drag on the 130 wide reel started.”
Deer positioned the boat, and the long battle began. For the next five hours, Esslinger took a minute-by-minute approach to the fight, as the rest of the crew kept him hydrated and encouraged him. At one point, they pushed the drag on the reel to 52 pounds in order to slow the fish down.
“My body was shaking, and by the time the fish was boat side, my hands were nearly inoperable from fatigue,” Esslinger admitted. “Everyone played a major role in us successfully landing the fish. Deer kept the boat positioned correctly throughout the entire battle. Swetman manned the leader while Young and Hildebrandt gaffed the fish. Denbow secured the tail rope and I was finally able to make my way to the side of the boat and take a look at her.”
They iced the fish on all sides, covered it with towels and bean bags, and headed in.
“The shear size of the fish was mind blowing,” Deer said. “It was literally like putting a car on the boat. We knew we had a big bluefin onboard, but none of us really thought we had a potential record-breaking fish.”
The fish was officially weighed at Pelican Rest Marina in Galveston, where numerous folks were eager to give Deer and his crew a hand with the giant tuna. When the scale finally settled at 884 pounds, none of them could believe it.
The fish became the pending new Texas state-record bluefin tuna. The previous record was 876 pounds caught on April 13, 2021 by Troy Lancaster.
