$1 Million to Be Awarded for Record Tuna Catch

Byline: The Log Staff

On Sept. 28, 2012, Guy Yocom, while fishing aboard his boat, El Suertudo (“The Lucky One”), caught the new world record yellowfin tuna. The fish, just recently certified as both a line class record and all-tackle record catch by the International Game Fish Association (IGFA), weighed in at 427 pounds.

The boat was captained by Gregg DiStefano, who put Yocom on the fish approximately 100 miles off the coast of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Yocom and another angler were chunking to a school of yellowfin, taking turns with the rod and reel, and Yocom just happened to be “the lucky one” who fed the record fish. Fifty minutes later — a relatively short fight for a yellowfin of that size — Yocom had reeled in what would be the world’s next all-tackle yellowfin tuna record.

“We started hearing about the catch almost as soon as it was back at the docks,” IGFA world records coordinator Jack Vitek said. At the docks in Cabo, Yocom’s fish was weighted on an IWS Scale Master II digital scale that was successfully re-certified in San Diego just a few days after the weighing, confirming the accurate read of 427 pounds.

Yocom’s fish has earned him both the new all-tackle record and men’s 130-pound line class record, which previously belonged to Mike Livingston — who broke the record less than two years ago with a 405-pound yellowfin tuna he caught off Magdalena Bay, Mexico. Prior to Livingston’s catch in November 2010, that record had stood for 33 years.

Many people thought we’d never see a yellowfin tuna over 400 pounds — but in less than two years, two were submitted for records and more were reported.

IGFA representatives will present Yocom with his world record certificate at the Fred Hall Show … the Ultimate Outdoor Experience, at the Long Beach Convention Center March 6-10.

At the same time, the Mustad Hook Co. will present Yocom with a check for $1 million. Mustad was offering this prize for a world-record fish at the time that Yocom made his remarkable catch.

A ceremonial oversized check and the IGFA award will be presented to him at the Fred Hall Show at 2 p.m. Thursday, March 7. Stop by the Mustad booth at the show, and take a look at the amazing pictures of this magnificent fish.