Thanks to USA Today for this:
The giant fish was caught May 8, off Bahia Solano, Colombia, in South America
Joshua Jorgensen, host of the popular online fishing show BlacktipH Fishing, went to Colombia to fish the legendary sardine migration but wound up catching a tarpon of legendary proportions.
Jorgensen, nursing a herniated disk sustained in a UTV accident in March, teamed with Dr. Robert Borrego from St. Mary’s Hospital in Palm Beach and fishing guide Alberto Meija of Fish Columbia to land a tarpon with an estimated weight of 312 pounds.
The weight was based on an online tarpon weight calculator using the fish’s fork length of 87 inches and its girth of 54 inches.
The massive tarpon was ultimately released, but had it been officially weighed, it very well could have surpassed the current world-record weight of 286 pounds, 9 ounces caught by Max Domecq on March 20, 2003 off the west African island of Rubane in Guinea-Bissau.
Though it might have been world-record size, the tarpon wouldn’t have been recognized by the IGFA as a world record since multiple anglers had fought the fish. But that doesn’t diminish the achievement of this catch in the least.
“We had no idea how big this fish was until we brought it in the boat,” Jorgensen told USA Today/For The Win Outdoors. “During the fight, I was like, ‘When is this fish ever going to give up?’ We fought the fish for nearly two hours. It took four grown men to pick this fish up. It was incredibly heavy.
“We had no idea how big this fish truly was until we got back to the lodge and got on some Wi-Fi. After looking at photos of other record tarpon, we started to realize how special this fish truly was.”
The biggest tarpon Jorgensen had caught previously weighed 150 pounds and it was from a kayak. Unfortunately, his back limited his participation in this catch.
“This is my first fishing trip since that [UTV accident] happened, so we’re testing the limits of my injury and big tarpon are not on the list yet,” Jorgensen said in the video.
He told For The Win Outdoors, “In the middle of the fight, I tried taking back the rod, but after 15-20 minutes, my back wouldn’t allow it.”
It did allow him to catch his first roosterfish, however. But the highlight of that day back in May remains the tarpon.
