Texas Fishermen Spend 9 Hours Reeling In Monster Tuna Fish

Breaking records takes time or, in the case of one Texas fisherman, around 9 hours.

Troy Lancaster broke the record for catching the biggest bluefin tuna in Texas on April 13. The giant fish weighed 876 pounds and measured 114 inches (9.5 feet) long.

The 50-year-old angler from Port Aransas had to put up an epic battle to reel in the fish.

Lancaster headed out on the Gulf of Mexico with captain Justin Drummond and his crew the night before. The boat was nearly 150 away from the shore when the monster fish nibbled on Lancaster's line at 9 a.m. and the fight was on.

After the initial adrenaline rush and trying to reel the tuna in for hours, Lancaster was exhausted.

“Then we had to attach the harness to the chair so he could let the pressure of his legs and break for 15 to 20 minutes at a time," Drummond told KRIS.

But the fishing crew wasn't about to give up.

“It was just back and forth for about 7 or 8 of those hours. Then we didn’t feel anymore movement on the line, no more head shakes or tail shakes or anything. So from that point on, about the last hour and a half, we were fighting just dead weight on the fish,” Lancaster told the Houston Chronicle.

Once the beast was on the boat, the group decided to head back to shore so Lancaster could claim the state record.

Catching a bluefin tuna in the Gulf is a rare feat by itself. Lancaster's fish was special because of its size, but also its age. The big bluefin is estimated to be around 19 years old.

Photo: Getty Images