A record 53 yellowfin tuna have been reported as caught by Tauranga Sport Fishing Club members this season, dwarfing last year’s tally of seven.

“About 100 have been caught across the country this year, and we’re arguably not halfway into the season,” said TSFC club captain Nick Sheehan.

The tuna explosion could be linked to Covid-19 when the Pacific Fleet stopped catching juvenile fish, Sheehan said. “And we’re now seeing all these yellowfin tuna.”

Some big tuna have landed, with the average catch at 40kg to 60kg.

This 87kg yellowfin tuna was a club record, caught by Carl Williams on January 25.

“The biggest one so far was only last week; it was 87kg,” Sheehan said. “The average is around 50kg.”

To catch these big fish a harness, gimble and patience is needed to land them on the boat, he said.

“It can take an hour or more to reel them in.”

The yellowfin tuna is beating out the blue marlin, the big game fish that is more common in waters around Tauranga, said Sheehan. “We haven’t had any blue marlin caught yet.”

The mahi mahi have also disappeared, said Sheehan. Last year, 103 marlin, 14 mahi mahi, 18 swordfish and 99 tuna in total – including bluefin, skipjack and yellowfin – were recorded at the club.

Yellowfin tuna usually show up in December but are gone by January, but Sheehan said that they are even being caught off the west coast, an area that doesn’t typically see tuna.

TSFC president Doug Stewart said the last time tuna was seen in these numbers was 30 to 40 years ago. “It was a very common thing in Whakatāne, which used to be the tuna capital of New Zealand.”

Eventually, the numbers dwindled, and catching yellowfin was a rarity, Stewart said. “It was a real achievement because they weren’t around. Now it’s the opposite.”

The anglers with the most success catching the big fish have been people using casting gear and targeting schools of fish, Sheehan said.

People also catch them in small boats because although yellowfin is usually seen in 400m deep water, they are also caught in 50m water, Sheehan said.

“We are getting huge work-ups with dolphins and tuna,” he said. “People are also catching them off the rocks.”

Unlike marlin, where the club encourages members to tag and release them to preserve fishing stock, the yellowfin tuna are usually killed.

“Out of all those 53 fish that have been pulled in, probably less than 10% ended up in freezers. Most of it would be eaten fresh.”