He said the U.S. Coast Guard helped measure the fish when he docked his boat at the Oregon Inlet, putting it at an estimated 1,000 pounds. They also said the fish’s girth around its belly was about 83 inches.

North Carolina’s current state record is 877 pounds for a bluefin caught in 2017, according to the Department of Environmental Quality, but an estimated weight is not enough to get into the record books.

VanFleet caught the fish and loaded it onto his 22-foot Grady-White boat about 45 miles offshore. It took seven adults and a second boat to get the job done, he said. His 9-year-old son, Zeke, was there too.