New Jersey Angler In A Jon Boat Hooks Tuna, Gets Pulled For Miles Before Landing The 135-Pound Fish

When you think of tuna fishing I'm betting you don't think of New Jersey but just this week an angler made an incredibly rare catch in Raritan Bay. Most Garden State tuna are found in the south near Toms Canyon and Lindenkohl Canyon, both almost off the Delaware coast, so when Steve Nosti gassed up his Jon boat and hit the water that separates Jersey from Staten Island, while he may of dreamed of bringing in a tuna, the chances were slim to none. But as fate would have it, he happened to spot one near the beach so he pulled out of his dock slip in Oceanport to try and bring one in. If you go to YouTube and search for tuna fishing you're going to see enormous boats but Nosti was comfortable in his 12-foot aluminum vessel named the Silver Bullet and took off solo to the tip of Sandy Hook, where he gassed up his 12-gallon, 1989 Johnson engine and made his way out to the rip, where ocean and bay currents collide. It was a beautiful Wednesday morning, the 75 degree water teeming with lots of small bait fish and while he was hoping to hook a tuna, he knew it was a shot in the dark. Regardless, he kept tossing out a flashy jig in hopes one would take the bait and it didn't take long for a 135 pounder to hit. The Asbury Park Press reports that Nosti was on the bay side of the rip when he felt the bite and not long after he was getting pulled towards the ocean by the powerful tuna. The fish pulled him for miles as he gained line until it was close enough to the boat side to gaff it. I'm betting he was thinking of Hemingway's best work (in my opinion) The Old Man And The Sea while fighting the fish but fortunately for him he was actually able to bring it aboard. Evan Bremner snapped a glorious picture of him on his way in from the Pleasure Bay Yacht Club, which Nosti posted on Instagram with the following caption: "Well today was definitely a day for the history books. It’s not everyday you get to wrangle a giant bluefin solo in the Raritan bay. None the less, I got it done in THE Silver Bullet a 12’ Jon boat powered by a 1989 Johnson. A surreal type of day where all of the stars aligned. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect so see a fish this large in the bay let alone land it solo. A feat I've been trying to achieve my whole life. It’s not everyday you get to take a sleigh ride in the Raritan bay." https://www.instagram.com/p/C90NU-xvzRr/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== Big shoutout to Nosti for pulling in this beast by himself. If this doesn't tantalize your dreams of landing a monster fish in any circumstance, I don't know what will...