GIANT BEACH BLUEFIN
You’ve probably seen these images floating around: a kid with a kayak hauling a double-digit bluefin up the beach. That kid is Stefan Turko, one of our young pros born and raised in the Outer Banks. We wanted to hear the lore for ourselves, so here it is, straight from the source.
“About a week and a half ago, a video surfaced on Facebook of bluefin tunas feeding on bait filmed from Jennette's Pier. I didn’t think much of it, assuming it was a couple lost fish, but the next day a few were hooked off the pier and my mind instantly went to “I need to catch one of these from my kayak”
The Game Plan
That day there was too much swell to launch the kayak and we had a bad north-east blow coming with too much swell for me to get out there on my kayak. With a couple blow days I had plenty of time to form a game plan.
On April 4th the swell died out enough and it was time to try and do something I’ve never seen done before and that's catch a 100+ pound tuna from a kayak launched from the beach. I got out on the water early and after about an hour it wasn’t looking good, having seen 0 signs of tuna I started to think that they had already moved back offshore and all of the time I spent preparing for this was just a waste.
The Blitz
Not much long after thinking that I looked to my left and saw 100+ pound bluefins ripping on the surface with bait scattering everywhere, my mind was blown. Being just 1/4 mile off the beach it was surreal to see these giant tunas feeding on bait. I tried cranking in the swimbait I had way out the back, hoping to get one on the troll, but by the time I cranked it In they had already gone down.
Lucky for me that was just the start of it, I started seeing more fish busting on top, none too close, but I knew it was just a matter of time before they popped up. While on the phone with my brother, I heard a fish blow up close behind me. I quickly swung around and made a cast. I started buzzing my swimbait up top and once my lure got about 10 feet away from my kayak I saw this purple blob appear behind it.
The Eat
I watched this fish eat my swimbait right off the surface. After fighting that fish for a couple minutes I had a mainline break and I was crushed. My setup was a rainshadow rx6 8’0” heavy paired with a van staal 250 with 40 pound braid and 150lb leader. I hooked 2 other fish pretty quickly and had the same outcome. I made the decision to go in and run to the tackle store and up my braid to 65lb so hopefully I wouldn’t have any more mainline breaks. After about an hour and a half, I launched my kayak again and saw fish blowing up out past the pier.
Within 10 minutes of being out there, a single fish kept busting and was heading my way, he fully aired out of the water just 20 yards away from me and I made a quick cast on him. After a few jigs I came tight and line started to leave my reel very fast. Right after I hooked the fish I tossed the bucket I had attached to my kayak on a rope in the water to slow me down.
The Fight
The fight was grueling. Fighting fish out of a kayak isn’t the most comfortable thing in the world and one of this size and strength was an all-out battle.
After an intense 30 minute fight, the fish came up and seemed wore out. I managed to stick it with the gaff and finish the job. Once I got a rope and buoy put on the fish I just sat back in disbelief.
I have never felt the excitement I felt in that moment in my whole life. After a prayer and soaking up the moment for a few minutes, it was time to kick back into the beach.
Once I got onto the beach and pulled the fish up, the crowd that quickly formed was amazing. There must’ve been 50 people in a circle around my kayak and another 30-40 people up on the pier. Everyone asked to take pictures and touch the fish. After a ton of high fives,hugs, and pictures, we loaded my kayak and fish into my truck and went to get it weighed.
It was 69 inches long and 136 pounds. After that, it was time to get it cleaned up and give out fish to all of my friends so we could all enjoy the meat off this amazing fish. I also want to add that safety was my number 1 priority. I had a knife strapped to my leg that way, in case anything went wrong, I could just cut the line. I also had 2 life jackets along with a 5mm wetsuit in case I ended up in the water. I am still in disbelief over this and am just so thankful I was able to have this opportunity.”
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