As a born and raised Menemsha man, Capt. Jeff Lynch said he relied on his fishing skills gained on the Island when he caught a Moby Dick of a bluefin tuna in Cape Cod Bay last weekend.
The fish ending up weighing in at about 700 pounds, and was shipped to Japan to be sold.
Captain Lynch and friend Capt. Jim Quinlan set out early in the morning of Saturday, August 15 in Cape Cod Bay like they usually do, using a rod to catch tuna. After a couple bites from sharks, Mr. Lynch picked up the rod and felt a tug.
At first they thought it was another shark, he said. They didn’t glimpse the fish until 45 minutes into the fight, which ended up lasting two hours.
“I fought the fish the whole time,” Mr. Lynch said. “It was a hard two hours. It was intense, like a gladiator battle, for two hours. Man versus fish.”
When the fish was finally beat, Mr. Lynch and Mr. Quinlan had the added difficulty of getting it into their boat. Mr. Lynch said it took about a half hour to hoist the nearly nine-foot tuna into the F/V Vigilanty, a 25-foot fishing boat.
“It was only me and my buddy Jim, so it was tough to get a 700-pound fish in,” he explained. “When we got back to the anchor, there were all these boats around and we didn’t realize everybody was watching us struggling to get the fish in, and when it finally flopped in everybody cheered.”
Once dressed (relieved of its head, tail and guts) the fish weighed in at 580 pounds. The fishermen took a gamble and sent it to Tsukiji Market in Japan for auction, where it sold Wednesday. Mr. Lynch did not know the price yet, but said they were hoping for something in the high teens per pound. Domestic prices for tuna run between $9 and $13 per pound, he said.
Mr. Lynch’s proud mother, Patty Rossi of Vineyard Haven, shared news and pictures of the catch with those on the Island.
Mr. Lynch moved to Boston a couple years ago to be closer to the tuna, his girlfriend, and to find affordable housing. He tried out for Wicked Tuna, a National Geographic reality show about Gloucester fishermen looking for bluefin tuna, but he experienced the curse of the cameras, which warded off fish.
Mr. Lynch used to longline fish out of Menemsha, and would catch big tuna that would have to be released.
“I got to grow up with the most knowledgeable fishermen in the Northeast, the Larsens and the Mayhews,” Mr. Lynch said of his upbringing on the Island.
The day after his big catch, Mr. Lynch was out again trolling for bluefin. His next catch was not as big, but still a good haul.
“It’s always fun to get some big ones,” he said.
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