And Yet Another Ulua Record

And Yet Another Ulua Record
Story from the Gooney Gazette, published by Midway Guest Services
Angler Dr. John TenPas of Boston, Mass. caught a World Record-breaking Giant Trevally (GT) today. On his first cast, Dr. TenPas hooked the GT and 2 hours and 15 minutes later he landed the brute. Capt. Aaron knew that the fish had to be a record breaker. He called the Fish Hut so that the necessary documentation could be done as quickly as possible; they wanted to attempt a live release of the GT. As the Glacier Bay pulled up to the dock, the Midway Sport Fishing staff was ready with the certified scale, tape measure and camera to document the necessary weights and measures. This “Bad Boy”, as they are known in Hawaii, weighed in at 64.9 pounds and measured 15.5 inches in width and 45 inches in length. Dr. TenPas was fishing with a St. Croix 12 wt. 9 ft. fly rod with an Old Florida #77 reel with a 12 lb. Tippet. The old 12 lb Tippet line class record was set here on Midway back in May of 1997 at 53.8 pounds.
As quickly as possible Capt. Aaron had the fish back in the water so that he could revive it for release. Needless to say, after its two-hour fight, the fish was a little tired and not ready to take off on its own right away. After about 20 minutes of Capt. Aaron running oxygen rich seawater over its gills, the Giant Trevally was kicking and ready to go. As soon as it was released, the fish disappeared into the harbor heading back toward the safety of the reef. The GT was untagged so #0098 was inserted into its dorsal fin before release. The tagging program here at Midway is part of a larger project being conducted in Hawaii. Now if this same fish is caught again, data about where, when and how it was first caught can be compared to the second catch and we will be able to learn more about the behavior of the Giant Trevally. This World Record brought in by Dr. TenPas is the seventh caught here on Midway in the last two months; 2001 is turning out to be the Season of Records. I know it was hard work and his arm was very tired after the long fight but that memory will fade and all Dr. TenPas will remember is how he felt when the scales tipped in at 11.1 pounds better than the old record.

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