KILL DEVIL HILLS, N.C. (WAVY) — A man in the Outer Banks is riding a high after a true tuna tale that, for him, is the fishing catch of a lifetime.
“Ever since I was a kid, I’ve loved fishing,” said Stefan Turko, 22, of Kitty Hawk.
He’s been dreaming of reeling in the big one since his parents took him fishing at the Oregon Inlet as a kid. This past Friday was no exception, as he took off in his kayak near Jeanette’s Pier.
“I was getting pretty bummed out,” said Turko about the outing. “I was like, ‘Man, maybe the fish just moved on. They aren’t here anymore.'”
Little did Turko know he was about to have the thrill of a lifetime, reeling in a fish weighing more than the kayak he was in. He felt a tug.
“My reel was getting hot because it was taking so much light off my real so fast,” he said about the encounter. Whatever he caught, it was pulling his kayak fast, so he acted quickly.
“I had a little bucket tied on my kayak,” he explained. “I threw that in the water to kind of help slow me down on my kayak.”
Zero horsepower needed.
Turns out, Turko had snagged a bluefin tuna and was cruising on pure tuna torque over the Atlantic waters.
“It was just the amount of power this fish had,” Turko said. “… It was just amazing and kind of scary in the same way.”
Turko held tight, battling the bluefin for a half-hour before the waters settled.
“The fish came up and it was very tired,” he said. “It was a brutal battle. The next day, my body was just aching in so many weird places that I’d never had heard before.”
The tuna totaled 140 pounds, enough to make more than 1,000 sushi rolls. He was about a half-mile off shore and it took him a half-hour to get back to the beach with the behemoth catch.
“It was just such an amazing experience,” Turko said about the catch. “I can’t help but smile every time I think about it.”
He brought smiles to the faces of friends and family too. Since he can’t sell the fish legally, he shared the wealth.
“To be able to give it away to my friends and stuff and have everyone be texting me saying that they’re enjoying this fish, it was awesome,” he said.
Turko has heard from other fisherman looking to strike gold, but he’s warning all of them to take safety into account.
“No fish is worth dying for, and it’s better to lose that fish and be able to go there and try again,” he said. “I really made sure safety was my number one priority. I brought two life jackets out there with me. I was wearing one and then I had another one just in case anything was to go wrong. I also made sure to bring a five millimeter wetsuit out there with me as well.”
The fish tale is one he’ll share for a long time, and you can take that to the tuna bank.
“This has definitely been the best moment of my life for fishing,” he said. “And I think it will be quite hard to top this one.”
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