Lone Angler Calls for Aid while Battling Tuna
OutdoorHub Reporters 10.11.13
Angler Gregg Looney and his friends were enjoying a day out on the waters of Cape Cod on October 3 when they picked up a strange distress call: a lone angler had hooked a massive tuna and required assistance. Looney, along with fellow fishermen Brian Shaffer, Kevin Leonowert, and several others, quickly turned to help. According to the Lowell Sun, angler Steve McNally sent out the call when he realized that he would have trouble reeling in a 650-pound tuna.
“I’m very thankful for them,” McNally said. “It took a lot of pressure off me when they got there. I definitely needed them to get it on the boat.”
Looney and his friends were only two miles away from McNally’s boat and were more than happy to lend a hand. The anglers jumped aboard McNally’s vessel and only spent 25 minutes battling the fish before it was on the deck. At 650 pounds, the tuna was far from being their largest catch. All of the anglers involved had the opportunity to reel in bigger fish. Last year Looney, Shaffer and two other friends managed to win out against a 920-pounder, which quickly drew the attention of the National Geographic show Wicked Tuna. In fact, Kevin Leonowert is the captain of Wicked Tuna’s harpoon boat Christina.
Even though the fish did not mark a personal best, Looney said they were glad to help out another angler.
“We were certainly happy to be reeling in another fish,” Looney said. “It was a good-sized one, and without our help, it would have been really tough for him.”
But McNally had plenty of experience with behemoth fish, and had caught a 1,100-pound tuna several years ago.
“I got lucky, and everything turned out good in the end,” McNally said. “Just like it was supposed to.”
Below is a video of the October 3 catch:
