The fish landed off the Mexico shore broke the existing world record

Dec 11, 2012 10:53 GMT  ·  By
John Petruescu (right), pictured with his brother, learned to fish as a child, in Romania
   John Petruescu (right), pictured with his brother, learned to fish as a child, in Romania

On December 3, an electrician from La Mesa, who doubles as a fisherman stumbled upon the biggest yellowfin tuna ever caught on rod and reel.

According to La Mesa Patch, the behemoth pictured above weighs a whopping 445 lb. (201 kg). John Petruescu, of Romanian descent, landed the fish near Hurricane Bank off the coast of Baja, Mexico.

The Fisherman's Landing in Point Loma weighed the fish yesterday, on December 10, and confirmed the record. Unfortunately for Petruescu, he won't be awarded the world record title from the International Game Fish Association, because he used two rods to reel the monster in.

“I’ll get a tattoo of the weight from the fish, a picture and the date and name of the boat,” John Petruescu, who learned how to fish in the Carpathian mountains, tells UT San Diego.

Incredibly enough, the trip on the Excel boat was only Petruescu' second long-range fishing expedition.

“Putting my brother out there on this fish as a novice angler. Here he is, 33 years old, on just his second long-range trip, first at 16 days, and he catches this monster. Not disappointed at all because the record means nothing to us," his brother, David, says.