The Carolina Hake, caught by Johnny Boyd earlier this year, has been approved as the All-Tackle World Record for the species by the International Game Fish Association. Boyd’s fish weighed 5 pounds 10 ounces when it was weighed at the Virginia Marine Resources Commission. The fish was examined at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) to confirm the species identification. Boyd donated his fish to VIMS to be added to their fish collection.

Boyd was fishing out of Virginia Beach aboard the Healthy Grin. Johnny’s fish establishes the initial world record for Carolina Hake. It is the 11th All-Tackle World Record caught on the Healthy Grin.

Record Details
Angler Johnny R. Boyd
Weight of Fish 2.55 kg (5 lbs 10 oz)
Length of Fish 58.42 cm ( 23 in)
Girth of Fish 38.1 cm ( 15 in)
Location of Catch Virginia Beach
Date of Catch 2/1/2015
Type of Rod Custom
Type of Reel Avet
Type of Line Power Pro
Line Size 65 lb
Method of Catch Bottom fishing
Lure or Bait crab

A 606-pound bluefin tuna, caught on April 6, 2015 by Chase Robinson, of Virginia Beach, has been certified as the new Virginia State Record by the Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament. Robinson’s catch surpasses the existing record of 573-pounds, caught in June of 2007 by Frederick “Bo” Haycox of Virginia Beach.

Robinson hooked the record-setting catch nearly 80 miles SSE of Rudee Inlet around the 750-line, in 150 fathoms of water, while aboard the Ate Up skippered by Charles J. Dawson Jr. The 6-member crew left out of Rudee Inlet at 2 AM, hoping for a good early morning bite but that was not the case, as the morning turned to afternoon without a hook-up. Mid-afternoon a pair of school-sized yellowfin were landed. Shortly after, around 3 PM, one of the long-riggers, pulling a blue and white Islander rigged with a horse ballyhoo tied to a Shimano Tiagra 80 filled with 80-pound Suffix mono with a 130-pound fluorocarbon leader, went off like a shot. Robinson was the first to the rod and was quickly strapped into the fighting chair. The bluefin let the crew know what they were up against when it skyrocketed out of the water. After nearly three hours of fighting the tuna, Robinson “just hit a wall,” and was not certain he could continue. With encouragement from the crew Robinson stayed with the fish another 2-plus hours before the first gaff could be deployed about 8:45 PM. But the bluefin still had plenty of fight left, bending the first gaff and two others that were used. Not until the fish was tail roped did the crew begin to relax. During the nearly 5-1/2 hour fight, Jake Hiles, a well-known Rudee Inlet charter Captain, ran the vessel and his experience was critical to finally pull the still lively fish through the tuna door. That took the entire crew another hour and required Hiles to thread another rope through the fish’s mouth and out the gills. It was nearly 2 AM when the tired, but ecstatic, crew pulled into the Virginia Beach Fishing Center. It was not until the marina opened hours later that the official weight could be determined.

Later in the day the reality of the catch was still sinking in for Dawson, the vessel’s owner. “We destroyed $400 worth of gaffs, it took all six of us an hour to get the fish in the boat and the extra large tuna bag I bought for giant bluefin is too small for the first one we catch.”

Robinson’s 606-pound record-setting bluefin tuna measured 113-1/2 inches in total length, 102-1/2 inches straight line fork length and sported an impressive 71-inch girth. The tuna was weighed and registered at the Virginia Beach Fishing Center. The prior state record of 573-pounds was caught off Virginia Beach, by Frederick “Bo” Haycox of Dumfries, VA on June 24, 2007.

MOREHEAD CITY – The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries has certified a new skipjack tuna state record.

Matthew Charles Kelly of Chesapeake, Va., reeled in the 32-pound fish Aug. 31 while fishing in the Gulf Stream south of Hatteras Inlet.

The previous state record skipjack tuna weighed 22 pounds, 3 ounces, and was caught off Wrightsville Beach in 1979. The world record skipjack tuna weighed 45 pounds, 4 ounces and was caught off Baja California, Mexico in 1996.

The fish was caught on a GLoomis Pelagic Series rod with a Shimano Torsa 30 reel using a Zuker Feather Lure on 30-pound test line. It measured 34 inches from the tip of the nose to the tip of the fork in the tail and had a 24-inch girth.

MOREHEAD CITY – The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries has certified a new state record jack crevalle, a fish commonly caught on ocean reefs.

Frank Dalli of Wake Forest reeled in the 49-pound, 1.6-ounce fish April 2 at the Gulf Stream ledge, 65 miles off Wrightsville Beach. It measured 43 inches fork length and had a 30-inch girth.

Dalli’s catch tops the former state record of 47 pounds, caught in 1989 off Cape Hatteras. The world record jack crevalle weighed 66 pounds, 2 ounces, and was caught in 2010 in Angola.

Dalli caught the fish on a 6-foot Shimano Trevala rod with a Penn 7500 Spinfisher reel using a gold butterfly jig and 6516 braid test line. He was fishing on a boat captained by Michael Jackson of Live Line Charters, Wilmington.

Angler: David Cohn, Virginia Beach

The International Game Fish Association recently approved the 20-pound, 8-ounce Blueline Tilefish submitted by David Cohen of Virginia Beach as a new All-Tackle World Record. The Blueline Tilefish was caught in July while fishing along the 50-fathom curve at the Norfolk Canyon aboard a Kencraft Challenger, skippered by Jack Reynolds. David was using a standard two-hook rig baited with squid and mackerel for his first drop of the day, when the fish “hit like any other (fish)”. David stated that he knew the bend of the rod indicated he “had a good one.” The short 7-minute battle consisting of occasional runs and tell-tale head shakes resulted in what David referred to as a fine specimen. But there was no time to linger to consider the significance of the catch just yet, as David’s crew wastes no time while in prime fishing territory. So the record fish joined the bounty in the fish-box for the time being.

David contacted me after assessing the size of his tilefish, so I met him at the weigh station to assist him with his outstanding catch. After weighing the fish and taking several measurements and photos, we moved forward with applying for IGFA world record status.

Congratulations the angler and captain on the catch of a lifetime!

Dr. Julie Ball
IGFA Representative, Virginia Beach

A 311-pound bigeye tuna, caught on September 25th by Vic Gaspeny, of Tavernier, FL, has been certified as the new Virginia State Record by the Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament. Gaspeny’s catch surpasses the existing record of 285 pounds and 12 ounces, caught 10 years earlier in August 2003 by Melvin Bray of Dumfries, VA.

Gaspeny made his record-setting catch off Virginia Beach, at the Norfolk Canyon, while fishing with Captain Justin Wilson aboard the charter vessel Just Right. Gaspeny, a well respected light tackle fishing guide and outdoor writer, operates out of Bud N’ Mary’s Marina in Islamorada, FL, where he is best known for his ability to put clients on tarpon. Gaspeny also helped pioneer “day dropping” for swordfish off the Florida coast and in the process caught his 200th swordfish last July.

Gaspeny spent many of his early years in Tidewater, graduated from Cox High School and Old Dominion University and returns each year for a month-long fishing vacation to visit family and friends. It was a group of friends that left the dock early Wednesday, September 25, loaded with a full tank of fuel and 800 pounds of ice aboard Justin Wilson’s custom-rigged 34-foot Judge. Plan A was to day-drop for swordfish but it has been an off the chart year for Citation-sized bigeye tuna, arguably the best ever. So when the group received a call that a hot daybreak bite of bigeye tuna was going on the temptation was too great to resist. After arriving lines had hardly been set when all six went off and mayhem ensued. Two 50-pound class yellowfin were rather quickly landed but the other four fish appeared much bigger. One of those four fish came unbuttoned but the other three, all 200-pound class bigeye tuna, were landed. With over 600 pounds of tuna onboard the group decided it was time to move on to day-dropping for swordfish. The swordfish proved more elusive and, as the early morning adrenaline rush provided by the tuna ebbed, radio talk indicated the bigeye tuna bite was heating back up. The decision was made to pull up the deepbaits, reset the rods for trolling and return to the area where the tuna were caught earlier in the day.

It was nearly sunset when the huge bigeye hit a trolled ballyhoo rigged on a blue and white skirt attached to a heavy leader. Gaspeny was using a custom built J&B rod mated to a 50W Shimano TLD reel and loaded with 80-pound test Suffix monofilament line. He quickly donned a fighting harness and settled in for an extended battle. The tuna was finally gaffed boatside at 9:15 PM. There was a brief discussion among the captain and crew whether to stay and fish through the night for swordfish. “Reality set in,” according to Captain Wilson, “we were out of space and ice,” so the group headed in. It was a little before midnight as the Just Right pulled up to the docks at Long Bay Pointe Marina. The official weight of the bigeye would not be determined until the next day but it appeared their fish would easily exceed the current state record for bigeye tuna of 285 pounds and 12 ounces. Thursday morning the group’s suspicion was confirmed by Virginia’s Saltwater Fishing Tournament Director Lewis Gillingham.

“With the phenomenal bigeye tuna fishery we had off the Virginia coast this year I would have been really disappointed if the bigeye state record had not been broken,” Gillingham said. Rumors of fish over the existing state record had circulated but, for one reason or another, they were never submitted for state record consideration. Anglers fishing with Captain Wilson aboard the Just Right weighed a bigeye of nearly 300 pounds earlier in the month but it was not submitted for consideration because more than one angler fought the fish during the 4-1/2 hour battle.

The 311-pound record-setting bigeye tuna measured 79-1/2 inches in total length, 71-1/2 inches straight line fork length and sported an impressive 57-inch girth. The tuna was weighed and registered at Long Bay Pointe Marina. The prior state record of 285 pounds and 12 ounces was also caught off Virginia Beach, at the Norfolk Canyon, by Melvin Bray of Dumfries, VA on August 11, 2003.

For more information, contact Lewis S. Gillingham, Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament, 2600 Washington Avenue Third Floor; Newport News, VA, 23607, (757) 491-5160, [email protected]

State Record Swordfish Shattered

A 446-pound swordfish, caught on September 1, 2012 by Joseph T. Harris, of Virginia Beach, VA, has been certified as the new Virginia State Record by the Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament. Harris’ catch surpassed the existing record of 381-1/2 pounds, caught over 30 years earlier, by James Alexander of Virginia Beach.

Harris made his record-setting catch off Virginia Beach and south of the Norfolk Canyon, while fishing with Captain Justin Wilson aboard the Lynnhaven Inlet based 34-foot charter vessel Just Right. The huge swordfish hit a drifted whole squid. Harris was using a custom built 50-pound class stand-up rod mated to a Shimano TLD 50 reel and loaded with 50-pound test Ande monofilament line. Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament State Record Committee member Ken Neill, III, of Seaford, verified weight, length, and girth measurements and positively identified the swordfish, in accordance with the Tournament’s State Record procedures, and completed the State Record Application.

The crew consisted of a group of friends and did not depart Lynnhaven until nearly 8 PM and began deploying deep baits for swordfish about 11 PM. The first strike came shortly but the catch was an estimated 10-foot tiger shark and was released. Next was a 46-inch swordfish pup that was released by the youngest member of the crew. The record setting fish hit about 2:30 AM and came to the boat quickly, as the crew was able to actually touch the leader in about ten minutes after the initial hook-up. The fish then sounded and the next 2-1/2 hours produced a see-saw battle. Once the fish was finally at boat side, and the group fully appreciated the size of their prize, several gaffs were deployed to insure the swordfish could be controlled and pulled through the tuna door.

The group had planned to take advantage of the red hot white marlin bite and troll at daybreak, but with the 12-1/2 foot long swordfish occupying nearly the 34-foot boat’s entire cockpit, they elected to return once all the gear was stowed away.

Inside Rudee Inlet at the Virginia Beach Fishing Center the swordfish would weigh an incredible 446 pounds and boast a lower jaw fork length of 98 inches with an overall length of 152 ½ inches. The prior state record of 381 1/2 pounds was caught off Virginia Beach at the Norfolk Canyon, by James Alexander of Virginia Beach on October 11, 1978.