Charlie the Tuna may be a popular advertising tuna fish, but who is the Top Tuna?
Montana has many gigantic fish. Anglers often make them even bigger when they tell their fishing stories. Sturgeon, paddlefish, and lake trout certainly are big in Big Sky Country but not as big as Tuna!
The Bluefin Tuna is a beast! These ocean fish spend a 40-year life span swimming and feeding. They can top speeds over 40 mph and are incredibly strong. Their bodies are perfectly streamlined and loaded with power. These apex predators can also sense potential food and danger from long distances. Their meat can fetch huge prices for quality sushi buyers.
The largest tuna ever caught was in 1979 off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada. This rod and reel caught fish weighed 1,496 lbs.! The angler, Ken Fraser, was trolling using a mackerel bait. To grow that big, the tuna needed to be old, and feasted on squid, fish, and crustaceans. The popularity of commercial and recreational fishing adds pressure to these amazing monsters of the sea.
It takes a lifetime of close calls, good health, and luck to grow so large. Currently, Tuna are managed carefully. Quotas protect the fishery from overfishing. The biggest tuna still ends up on the deck.
The show Wicked Tuna has excellent anglers on the hunt. The largest Tuna caught on the show was by Paul, the high pitched squeaky voiced complainer. He was able to land a tuna that weighed 1,287 pounds and was 126 inches long. Tyler McLaughlin also tagged a monster that weighed 1,269 pounds. Big Tuna means Big Money for these skilled and patient anglers.
Many harvested tunas weigh around 5-600 lbs. and are less than 25 years old. During their lifetime, they manage to travel the gulf stream to the North Sea and into the Mediterranean. Blue fins feast constantly. Other species of tuna swim nearby but none grow as large as the Bluefin.
Fighting a Bluefin Tuna can take many hours, but the world record was landed in just 45 minutes. The lucky angler was able to get a harpoon into the tuna as it passed near the boat during the battle. Stout gear and excellent reels with quality line are required. Using the boats engine is also important to tire Tuna that have been swimming around for decades.
The biggest fish records caught in Montana would make a quick meal for these voracious feeders. A Montana White Sturgeon record is 96 pounds, and the largest Paddlefish was 142.5 lbs. caught /snagged in 1973.
A big can of tuna is as close to these monster fish that many of us ever get near in Big Sky Country.
Montana Grant
