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 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.
Download a high resolution photo of Street and his record fish here.