‘Jumbo tuna jumping out of the water’: Tasmania’s East Coast enjoys massive tuna run

Swansea fisherman Ashley Hallam knew he had a big fish on the line, but even he was surprised when he finally landed a monster bluefin tuna. >>> See the photo

Ashley Hallam has tussled with big tuna before to no avail, but this time the cards well and truly fell his way.

The Swansea fisherman was geared up for a three hour-plus battle, but it took him only 30 minutes to get a hold of a 140kg tuna in Great Oyster Bay on Tuesday afternoon.

What made the feat more remarkable was Mr Hallam caught the tuna in just 16m of water.

“It’s very rare and unusual to catch a tuna that size at that depth of water. Basically, that’s where you catch flathead,” he said.

“We came to a part of the bay where the tuna were feeding on baitfish with their backs out of the water.

“It was a thrilling sight to see itself, let alone hooking one.”

Mr Hallam said he had been “talking up” the prospects of catching a giant bluefin tuna by himself in his boat only on Monday. “I had sort of backed myself into a bit of a corner, I talked a big game and needed to deliver.”

He said the catch, which came after holding the tuna close to the boat while it brought out some “crazy manoeuvres”, was a lifelong goal.

“I went out with my daughter and we fought one last year for six-and-a-half hours before it straightened the hooks out,” Mr Hallam said.

“It dragged us out 16km while it was going on. It was a bit of a reckoning, I’ve evened the score out now.”

The experienced abalone diver has put all parts of the huge fish to good use.

“I’ve broken it all down into pieces and I’m sharing it up among my friends. It doesn’t do well in the fridge for very long.

Swansea fisherman Ashley Hallam with the 140kg bluefin caught in 16m of water in Great Oyster Bay. Picture: supplied

“I’m going to give its head to the CSIRO, they like to look at the ear bones and will be able to see how old the fish is.”

St Helens Game Fishing Club president Greg Quinn said there was a “crazy” run of southern bluefin tuna off the East Coast this week.

“There’s a heap of tuna on the coast, and a fair few across the North-West as well, quite close to shore,” Mr Quinn said.

“I had a mate who reported back to me there were dozens and dozens of jumbo tuna jumping out of the water off St Helens. They were getting sick of catching them, hooking four fish at a time.”

Mr Quinn said some of the fish had been caught within a mile from shore at St Helens.

“They were just driving through a massive school of tuna.”

Mr Hallam’s catch pushed the longstanding St Helens record of a 153kg tuna, but the national record books were shattered last year when fishermen hauled in a 271kg northern bluefin near Coffs Harbour.