They say age is nothing but a number but it appears for one young fisherman, his stature is just that, as well.
Kaleb Richardson, a 14-year-old from Lafayette, La., proved as much when he reeled in a Bluefin tuna weighing in at 835 pounds (379 kgs) in the Gulf of Mexico in late April. It measured 113 inches long (2.8 metres) and 86 inches (2 metres) wide.
The eighth grader is 115 pounds and stands five-foot-six, according to dad Keith Richardson.
“It was unreal. He got the fish to the boat in 45 minutes,” the senior Richardson told local newspaper The Acadiana Advocate. “Kaleb knew the techniques and how much pressure to put on the fish.”
“A fish came up on the centre line but didn’t take it [the bait], so we came back over the same spot again, and the fish [tuna] looked like a submarine coming up to get the bait,” explained Keith.
The fish was apparently so hefty that another fisherman in the water had to come by on his boat with a winch to assist with the haul.
It wasn’t the young angler’s first time at the rodeo. He holds the title as the top tagging junior angler of 2016 from the Billfish Foundation, a non-profit organization that works to conserve billfish such as swordfish or marlin.
The Richardsons also spent time off the coast of Nova Scotia last winter, near Ballantyne’s Cove, where Kaleb caught several fish over 600 pounds, including a couple of “granders” (fish weighing over 1,000 pounds).
They said they submitted their catch with the State of Louisiana, and believe it will be the fifth largest catch for the state on record.
“It was 30 pounds off of the world junior record,” said Keith.
Since the fish was caught during a recreational expedition, Keith said they ended up filleting the fish and eating it, as well as sharing some of the meat with friends and family.
“The texture was like the most tender steak you have ever eaten,” he said.
Although he admits he’s not an expert on the market value of fish, he estimates the Bluefin could have gone for US$15,000, and up to $25,000.
Bluefin tuna are the largest species of tuna and are endangered, according to the World Wildlife Foundation.
Federal fishery regulations in the U.S. do not allow recreational fishermen to target Bluefin tuna off the Gulf of Mexico, unless it is caught incidentally like Richardson’s catch.