Giant, 888-Pound Tuna Is the Largest Ever Caught off Florida Coast

Six anglers fishing aboard the Flat Dangerous, an 80-foot Viking based in Destin, Florida, lucked into a ferocious bite on Wednesday from an 888-pound bluefin tuna. With fish boiling on the surface all around them, the crew hooked and landed what was quickly recognized as the largest bluefin ever recorded off the Florida coast. However, because more than one angler fought the giant fish, it doesn’t qualify as a record.

This was the first time the crew had taken the new Viking out, Captain George Gill told the Destin Log. Joining Gill onboard were the boat’s owner Warren Williams, along with Eddy Griffith, Dennis Bennet, John Balters, and Kole Melancon.

The anglers ran 68 miles offshore to work around some floating “fish aggregating devices” — which are large, man-made floating objects designed to attract tuna, dolphin, and other fish. They caught a few small tuna before the surface erupted with a huge school of bluefins feeding on top.