The last couple years, the late-winter and spring tuna fishery off North Carolina has attracted attention not just for the incredible fishing, but for how close to shore the bluefin come in to feed.
Last year, the bluefin fed so close to the beach that kayak and pier anglers hooked and landed the tuna. The pier fishing was good enough that it was shut down because shore anglers, without having a registered vessel, could not apply for the Highly Migratory Species Permit required to legally target bluefin tuna.
Among the kayak anglers who landed bluefin was Stefan Turko, who along with his brother Quentin, operates the Turko Outdoors YouTube Channel.
What seemed like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity happened again this spring, when reports of bluefin feeding within kayak range reached the Turkos. With favorable conditions, Quentin took to the ocean aboard his Hobie Ocean kayak. He hooks up twice in the video, getting the second close enough to gaff and then dispatch with a hammer. It’s incredible stuff that further fuels my daydreams that someday school bluefin will again swim in kayak range of Cape Cod, as they have in the past.
