A 17-pound, 8-ounce bluefish is pending as a new Alabama state record, according to the OBA Community Website in Orange Beach Alabama.
Rustin Musgrove, fishing from the beach near Perdido Pass, caught the more than 37-inch-long bluefish on a Carolina-rigged frozen finger mullet around sunset on Jan. 26. Even after sitting on ice for 60 hours while Musgrove sought out certified scales, the fish beat the two-decade-old existing record by 4 ounces. The existing state record weighed 17 pounds, 4 ounces and was caught by Alicia Walimaa in the summer of 2004.
According to the OBA report by David “Pierpounder” Thornton, the fish is likely to be 12 to 14 years old. At 37 inches in length, Musgrove’s fish is almost 3 inches longer than the current IGFA all tackle length record for the species. The IGFA all-tackle world record by weight was an incredible 32-pound, 12-ounce fish caught off Hatteras, N.C. in 1972.
In his article, Thornton went on to explain that while bluefish in the Atlantic regularly reach weights in the teens, a fish like that is very rare on the Gulf Coast of Alabama. He attributed this to the massive menhaden populations in the Atlantic, which feed fast-growing and ravenous bluefish.
To read the Thornton’s article, go to www.obawebsite.com.