Man Catches World Record Shattering 405 Pound Yellowfin Tuna

On November 30, Mike Livingston, a retired school superintendent made what might be history by catching a 405 lbs yellowfin tuna off the coast of Mexico. The 400 pound fish beats the previous world record by almost 20 pounds. The previous record had been held for over 30 years by Curt Wiesenhutter when he caught a yellowfin weighing in at 388 pounds. Even if the fish caught by Livingston isn't approved by International Game Fish Association (IGFA) it will still be the largest yellowfin caught by a rod and reel. The IGFA will take at least 90 days to rule if this fish is truly a world record but in this case it is predicted that it will take longer for them to verify the fish.

 

First I feel that congrats are in order for Mr. Livingston on his great catch. This is truly a once in a lifetime accomplishment that many fishermen would love to be a part of. If the IGFA doesn't approve his fish it would be sad but at the same time he still has a really big fish to mount on his wall. One question I have though is what happens to the fish during the 90 days that it takes to verify the results? I know that the news article states that the fish will be preserved but does that mean that the meat will still me good to eat after it's verified? I'm not a big fan of wasting that much fish just so the IGFA can verify the results.

 

This is the biggest fish that Livingston has ever caught with his next biggest fish weighing in at around 100 lbs he'll sure have some good stories to tell the guys around the campfire. The yellowfin tuna that he caught on the 30th was caught with a Penn International reel and a rod that he made himself! That must have made him feel even better knowing that all the time he put into making his own rod not only paid off but paid off big with a world record fish.

 

I only hope that Livingston's record is confirmed and it's not found out that something fishy was going on surrounding his catch. Previously a 394 lbs yellowfin was caught by a man in 1993 but this catch was ruled out as the world record because a deckhand touched the reel. I think that it is a little crazy that you can't have any kind of assistant when catching these fish. It's not like by allowing the deckhand to touch the reel you are making the fish any bigger. Regardless of official ruling and controversy surrounding the ruling it's nice to see the pictures of such a large and majestic fish.

 

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