He hooked this fish with a float and fly after casting into a pod of breaking fish. This fish ripped off line and drag as they often do. Then it headed straight for the bottom in 60 feet of water where it was near impossible to lift it upwards. It was a tug of war to slowly pull it off the bottom and that was with 30 lb. test Power Pro braid. As the fish came into view, we immediately thought we had some kind of tuna. It was that big. But, closer to the boat we realized we had a huge false albacore. We had no scale on the boat, but I have caught enough big fish to come up with a real good estimate. I am guessing this albie went 16-20 lbs. It was, by far, the biggest one I have ever seen and I have seen and caught hundreds of them over the years..
I checked the record books and found there is no listing of false albacore in the RI saltwater records (why not???). The only thing I found as far as big albies are concerned was the RISAA Hall of Fame Record which is a whopping 16 lbs. from the boat. Other state records for albies seem to be in the mid teens. So, I'm sure this fish was in record territory as far as albies go.
But, we'll never know. The fish was barely hooked in the lip, showed no sign of blood, was still fiesty in the boat and was released in great shape to Fight again. We did, however, get a good picture of the fish, and that was a great memory for us.
