ATLANTIC BEACH, N.C. — December 13, 2014 — With an increase in the U.S. bluefin tuna quota and an early appearance of large tunas off the Carteret County coast, signs are out there this might be a good bluefin tuna season.
Traditionally, bluefin tuna start showing up in North Carolina from mid-November through the end of January for the commercial fishery, though the recreational fishery can sometimes extend as far as April. While in recent years the tuna haven’t shown up until sometime in December, this year a Carteret County charter/headboat captain and his crew managed to catch the first tuna in the county before daybreak on Nov. 30.
Capt. Maurice Davis of the Capt. Stacy Fishing Center in Atlantic Beach said he was out on the water Nov. 29 to do some bottom fishing.
“We were the only ones out,” he said. “I saw one (bluefin tuna) jump out of the corner of my eye.”
That night, Capt. Davis and his crew set out again to see if they could hook a bluefin tuna. By 3 a.m. Nov. 30, they managed to hook a tuna that weighed in at over 400 pounds.
“The next day, there were more boats out there,” Capt. Davis said. “I guess they heard about the tuna.”
By the time the fish appeared to have moved on, Capt. Davis and his crew managed to land five bluefin tuna. The captain wasn’t surprised when the fish weren’t in the same spot they’d found them a few days later.
Read the full story from the Carteret County News-Times