Women land record-breaking tuna

Two keen Kiwi fisher-women landed a record-breaking 99.1kg southern bluefin tuna on Thursday 28 June, at Waihau Bay on New Zealand's East Cape.

The fish is a pending New Zealand women's 37kg line class record.

Angler Helen Horrocks was fishing with her friend Nicky Sinden, host and producer of popular TV fishing show ADOS Addicted to Fishing, when they hooked the tuna early on Thursday morning.

They had only been fishing for five minutes when the tuna took their lure, subjecting them to a dogged 45 minute fight before they could get it within reach of a gaff.

The two women dragged the fish on board unassisted, at which point they realised just how big it was.

'The pair had previously agreed that should they catch one, they would immediately cut the fish up on board and pack it on ice to preserve the highly prized meat,” says a statement released by ADOS.

'But realising the fish was bigger than any tuna either of them had caught before, they opted to bring it back to shore whole to weight it at the Waihau Bay Sports Fishing Club.”

The fish tipped the scales to 99.1kg, beating the current NZ women's 37kg line class record of 91.4kg.

It was later filleted and distributed among the crew, and the enormous head was claimed by a local scientist for research purposes.

Nicky Sinden, skipper and owner of the boat they were fishing on, is no stranger to record-breaking fish, having caught a women's world record broadbill swordfish weighing 361kg in 2017.

If the southern bluefin tuna record is ratified by the New Zealand Sports Fishing Council, this will be the second record-breaking capture that Sinden has been involved in.

Southern bluefin tuna are a highly prized eating fish which have long been targeted by commercial fishermen during their winter migration past East Cape.

More recently, a large number of recreational game fishermen have also begun to target the species, both for the eating quality of the meat, and the fighting ability of these powerful fish, which can grow to 150kg or more.

The record-breaking capture was recorded by the film crew on board for an episode of Sinden's show, ADOS Addicted to Fishing, which will air later in the year.

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