Would-be shark angler snags record bluefin

[eric myers 2]

Last update: July 6, 2005 at 8:31 AM
Would-be shark angler snags record bluefin
Associated Press
July 6, 2005 BLUEFIN0707
DEWEY BEACH, Del. -— Fisherman Dan Dillon went out to sea in search of shark. He returned empty handed — at least as far as sharks are concerned.

Dillon, however, did reel in an 873-pound bluefin on Saturday, the biggest tuna on Delaware record.

"I'll have fish stories forever now,'' said Dillon, 39, a commercial real estate executive from Herndon, Va. The monster fish was caught 40 miles off the southern Delaware coast.

Dillon used an 80-pound test monofilament line on an 80-pound class reel, using a bluefish fillet as bait.

Measuring 9 feet, 7 inches in length, 80 inches in girth, the fish outweighed the state's previous record catch by more than 500 pounds.

"I'm a big person and it makes me look small,'' said Dillon, who is 6-foot-2 and 170 pounds.