With the rod screaming and line peeling out, 30 minutes was all it took for Tauranga fisher Kevin Baker to write himself into the world record books for landing the largest Tuna.

The keen fisher is back in Tauranga awaiting the official paperwork that will solidify the 50-year-old as the world record holder for tuna catch during a fishing charter down south.

Kevin was onboard the Enchanter Fishing Charter's Cova Rosa off the coast of Greymouth when he hauled in the 352kg northern pacific bluefin tuna at 4am on Saturday.

'We never expected to get a world record. We always hope for a world record, but to actually come in and see the fish on the deck - that is when we all realised we had something that was quite serious,” says Kevin.

"The next-biggest tuna I've caught was 33kg, so this smashes everything I've caught before.”

After a number of false starts for the crew on the week-long charter, the catch only took a surprising 30 minutes to wind in from hook to boat on 60kg gear.

'We had hooked a fish, one of the other fishermen Elroy Thompson, at about midnight and he played it for three hours. We just about had it then the line broke because of fatigue.

'We put the bait back in and hooked up immediately on my fish. We were right into the fight and we couldn't believe our luck.”

The tuna is thought to be the heaviest caught on rod and reel. It was weighed and measured before a justice of the peace, who verified the catch when the boat berthed in Greymouth on Saturday morning.

Kevin says the tuna is estimated to be worth $70,000 on the Japanese market, but he is planning to hang the trophy proudly on the wall of the Waihau Bay Sports Fishing Club.

Having tasted success on a big scale he now admits he is well and truly hooked on chasing the monstrous sized creatures in what was a heart pounding experience.

'It's the most thrilling thing seeing the reel screaming and a tuna there and the line peeling off. It's something you have got to see to believe.”

According to the International Game Fish Association's records, the largest bluefin tuna caught was 678.58kg, landed in October 1979 in Nova Scotia, Canada, by Ken Fraser.

The world record for the biggest fish caught with a rod and reel, until this weekend, was 334kg.