Regan Ellison caught a 172cm Yellowfin Tuna on the East Cape last month while attempting to catch the first land-based marlin in New Zealand. Video / Regan Ellison @reganzd
A Hawke’s Bay fisherman has caught a massive 172cm yellowfin tuna, possibly the largest land-based catch in New Zealand.
The fish, estimated at 65kg, was caught during Regan Ellison’s four-day fishing trip on the East Cape.
It comes amid his journey to catch a marlin from land – a goal he’s pursued since August 2023.
A Hawke’s Bay fisherman has landed possibly the biggest land-based yellowfin tuna in New Zealand, with the beast measuring only 5cm shorter than himself.
Regan Ellison, of Greenmeadows, Napier, set off for a four-day fishing venture on the East Cape last month as part of his goal to snare the first rod-caught marlin from land in New Zealand – but instead may have broken a different record.
Ellison said his type of fishing was a “set and forget situation” and was about 30m away from his rod when he heard the reel “start screaming” for a few seconds.
“I thought I’d go check the line. It was out about 1500m and because there was so much line drag, it was hard to tell if it was just the big bait or if there was a fish on there,” he said.
Ellison clocked the big fish at a whopping measurement of 172cm – just 5cm shorter than himself. He estimated it was at least 65kg, but did not get an official weight. Photo / Regan Ellison
“I started pumping it in and then just a lot of weight started pulling on the line.”
It took the 30-year-old about 20 minutes to reel the big fish in close enough where he could identify it.
“I couldn’t identify the fish until it got right to the rocks obviously. I knew it wasn’t a marlin cause a marlin would’ve been jumping on the top. I knew it wasn’t a shark because it would’ve cut [the line] like butter, so I knew it was a tuna or a massive kingfish.”
He said when the fish approached the rocks he started seeing some colour before “massive sickles” came out of the water.
It took him another 10 minutes to land the massive yellowfin tuna, because it took off when it saw the rocks.
“I just sort of took a breather and slowed it down a little bit because that’s a really crucial part of the land-based process. Winding it in is sort of the easier part, it’s landing the fish which is the dangerous part and I was solo too.
“It was wild,” he said.
After the roughly 30-minute battle, Ellison clocked the big fish at a whopping measurement of 172cm – just 5cm shorter than himself. He estimated it was at least 65kg, but did not get an official weight.
“A lot of my mates are in the land-based game fishing community in New Zealand and they’re saying it’s the biggest land-based tuna caught in New Zealand.
Ellison said it was "definitely" the best fish he has caught in New Zealand. Photo / Regan Ellison
“I should’ve dragged it out, but I was busted and I really couldn’t be bothered walking half an hour. Next time I’ll be calling up a boat or dragging it out to get an official record, but I like to refer to it as an unofficial record,” he said.
He said it was “definitely” the best fish he has caught in New Zealand and hardest he’s ever had to work for.
“The first trek out to the spot is 40 minutes with a 40kg pack and then every day it’s a half hour each way so definitely my hardest catch for sure.”
The catch came amid Ellison’s journey for New Zealand’s first land-based rod-caught marlin – a feat he has been gunning for since August, 2023.
“When I heard that a marlin hadn’t been landed land-based in New Zealand, I just thought that fish has got to be mine. So that’s always been my attitude on it. I know there are a few other crews that have been trying but they haven’t been able to land them.”
Sport Fishing Council communications and operations manager Mike Plant earlier told the Herald a fish must be weighed on certified scales at an affiliated club’s weigh station to be officially recognised in record books.
The national all-tackle record for yellowfin tuna is 95kg (men, 37kg line) and 92.1kg (women, 37kg line), Plant said.
The world record is an impressive 193.68kg.
Benjamin Plummer is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He has worked for the Herald since 2022.
