THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, June 26, 1995 TAG: 9506260148
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB HUTCHINSON, OUTDOORS EDITOR
LENGTH: Short : 32 lines
Giant bluefin tuna, some in excess of 500 pounds, have made a remarkable showing in the ocean southeast of Rudee Inlet and northeast of Nags Head.
One boated fish weighed 344 pounds, breaking the Virginia record by 140 pounds. It was caught by Sean Thomas of Norfolk on the Pursuer, out of Rudee Inlet. The old record, 204 pounds, was set by W.J. Vance of Ohio in 1977.
The weekend's biggest reported bluefin was a 617-pounder boated northeast of Oregon Inlet by Peter Andreu Jr. of Virginia Beach. He was aboard the Obsession.
The same area produced a 572-pounder for Kevin Kerner of Yorktown on the First Crack, sailing from Oregon Inlet.
Recent catches also produced the year's first Virginia tarpon release, registered out of Oyster, Va., by David Kaiser of Virginia Beach. He was aboard the Patricia III.
Elsewhere, cobia continued to provide some of the hottest action in decades in the lower Chesapeake Bay, with scores of fish released and others weighed for citation awards from the Virginia Salt Water Fishing Tournament.
Shellcracker again provided outstanding action at Western Branch Reservoir in Suffolk, where a few big white perch also were boated. by CNB