State certifies new record cubera snapper, first record rainbow runner

The North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries has certified a new state record cubera snapper and the first state record rainbow runner.

Randal Harmon of Morehead City caught the cubera snapper on Sept. 28 while fishing off Atlantic Beach on the Capt. Stacy headboat.

The fish weighed 58 pounds, topping the previous state record by 11 pounds, 8 ounces. The previous state record was caught in the Atlantic Ocean in 1993. The world record cubera snapper weighed 124 pounds, 12 ounces and was caught off of Louisiana in 2007.

The fish measured 39 inches total length — tip of the nose to the tip of the tail — and had a 34-inch girth. Harmon caught it using cut mackerel on 80-pound test line with a Seastriker 50-pound class rod and Penn 6/0 reel.

Bruce Vosburgh of Kennett Square, Pa., caught the rainbow runner on Sept. 12 while fishing at the Manuela wreck on the fishing charter Drumstick out of Ocracoke.

This fish weighed 23 pounds, 13 ounces, and was deemed large enough to establish the first state record rainbow runner.

To establish a state record fish, the angler must submit an application that is then reviewed by N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries staff and a N.C. Saltwater Fishing Tournament Advisory Board. The fish must be exceptionally large for North Carolina waters and within a reasonable range of the world record.

The world record rainbow runner weighed 37 pounds, 9 ounces, and was caught off of the west coast of Mexico in 1991.

The new record fish measured 46 inches fork length — tip of the nose to the fork in the tail — and had a 20.5-inch girth. Vosburgh caught the fish using a Williamson Benthos 7-ounce single hook butterfly jig on 80-pound braided test line with a Seastriker Billfisher spin rod and a Penn Spinfisher V 7500 reel.

For more information, contact Carole Willis, with the North Carolina Saltwater Fishing Tournament, at 252-808-8081 or Carole.Y.Willis@ncdenr.gov.