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A large and festive crowd gathered to greet the Vagabond on Monday morning to witness the unloading and weighing of the heaviest yellowfin tuna ever caught by an angler.
The behemoth, landed by Mike Livingston of Sunland, Calif., weighed 405.2 pounds; it's girth was 61 1/2 inches and it measured 85 3/4 inches from nose to tail.
The catch, made on 100-pound-test line after nearly a three-hour fight, will be submitted to the International Game Fish Assn. for approval as an all-tackle world record. Capt. Mike Lackey said IGFA rules were followed so the catch likely will replace the current record, a 388-pound 12-ounce specimen, which has stood since 1977 |
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"When the scale hit that number it was like the Super Bowl here," said Livingston, 63, a retired school administrator, in reference to cheers from a crowd of nearly 200, gathered to witness the weigh-in.
The Vagabond, an 80-foot deluxe sportfisher, had been on a 10-day expedition in search of "super cows," or tuna weighing 300 pounds or more. Livingston's catch was made last Tuesday west of Magdalena Bay on the southern Baja California peninsula.
Lackey had estimated the tuna's weight at 390 pounds, using a tape-measure formula that is not always accurate. He then froze the fish to preserve it until the boat returned to its home port at Point Loma Sportfishing. |
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