Here is the full story....

SAN DIEGO The sport boat Intrepid is the newest boat in the Point Loma-based long-range fleet, but it will weigh in a yellowfin tuna Friday morning that could set a record for the sport.

Bill Falter of Vista, one of the anglers on the Intrepid's trip that ends Friday at 10 a.m. at the Point Loma Sportfishing dock, boated a yellowfin that taped out at 381 pounds aboard the boat. Carol Wood, general manager of the Intrepid, said Thursday that Capt. Dan Nichols measured all the bigger tuna and did so conservatively.

Capt. John Grabowski of the Red Rooster III said Nichols' conservative measurement, or finding one inch or more of girth on the tape measure, could mean the fish will weigh 20 pounds more than the original estimate.

To reach the estimated weight of a fish, measurements are taken at the thickest point for girth, and the length is measured from the point of the jaw to the crook of the tail. The captains then multiply the square of the girth in inches by the length in inches and divide by 800.

If Falter's fish weighs in at the original estimate of 381 pounds, the tuna will move into the No. 4 spot on the sport's all-time top 10 of heavyweight cows ever weighed in at Point Loma.

The current top four, according to data collected by Bill Roecker of FishingVideos.com and the San Diego Sportfishing Council:

Mark Gasich, 399.6 pounds, Polaris Supreme, Clarion Island, Nov. 15, 1992.

Dave Manella, 395.4 pounds, Royal Polaris, Clarion Island, Feb 19, 1993.

Curt Wiesenhutter, 388.75 pounds, San Benedicto Island, April 1, 1977.

Al Herzog, 380 pounds, Qualifier 105, San Benedicto Island, Jan. 11, 1981.

Wiesenhutter's tuna, caught on 80-pound test line, is the International Game Fish Association's line-class world record for 80-pound line and also the IGFA all-tackle record. Kenneth Yokoe has the record for 130-pound test line for a 376-pound, 6-ounce yellowfin he caught at Clarion Island on Jan. 5, 1996 while fishing on the Royal Polaris.

Falter's tuna won't be considered for any IGFA record because of the size of the line he supposedly used to land the tuna.

According to a boat report filed by Nichols on the Intrepid's Web site, Falter hooked the fish while fishing a kite rig with a live, jumbo squid pinned to a custom double hook leader with a 18/0 Mustad 39960D circle hook and a 12/0 7691 stinger hook attached to 600-pound Soft Steel leader. He backed that up with 200-pound Jerry Brown hollow Spectra on an Avet Pro EXW 50-2 and a Seeker 6463 XXXH Black Steel graphite rod.

This fish really didn't stand a chance, Nichols wrote in his daily log on the boat's Web site.

In addition to the 381-pounder, Falter also caught another tuna that taped at 246 pounds. Angler Corey Kong has one that is estimated to be 337 pounds. Tom Hoskins has one that taped at 301 pounds. Even Joseph Talasy, who is 91 years old, boated a tuna that taped at 191 pounds.

The Intrepid is owned by Ken Price. The boat made its first trip Aug. 22 after many delays in construction.

Here is a pic of the toad

So this is why tuna costs 80 cents a can  

Nice Yellowfin!!

Yummy.  

That's a nice Yellowfin. I bet that was one heck of a fight. I went Tuna fishing 6 years ago and all we were catching were small football tunas around 40 to 50 pounds. After reeling in 3 or 4 of those my arms were killing me, and I was sitting in a fighting chair.

Big T