The North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries has certified a new state record for skipjack tuna.
Timothy Ray Street of Valdese hooked the 32-pound, 8-ounce fish on May 24 at the Rock Pile, a series of rock ledges in the Gulf Stream, about 23 miles out of Hatteras Inlet.
The fish measured 37 inches fork length — tip of the nose to the fork in the tail — and had a girth of 25 inches. Street caught it using ballyhoo for bait on 80-pound test line.
Street’s catch bested the previous state record of 32 pounds, zero ounces, caught off Hatteras in 2014. The world record skipjack tuna weighed 45 pounds, 4 ounces, and was caught off of Baja, Mexico in 1996.
For more information, contact Carole Willis, with the North Carolina Saltwater Fishing Tournament, at 252-808-8081 or carole.y.willis@ncdenr.gov.
