03/22/2021
Near record Tripletail caught by measured 37” and weighed 39.3lbs! It’s the 4th largest Tripletail on record worldwide.
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Unfortunately, the first scale this fish was taken to was faulty, fish can lose up to 10% of their body weight within a few hours of being caught. This means this fish was well over the 40lb mark right out of the water.
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Once word had gotten out Josh and I were contacted by Amanda Jefferson of who was conducting an aging study on Tripletails. Having aged 229 Tripletails weighing from 1-30lbs and measuring 8-30” in length this specimen was by far an outlier.
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With the help of my buddy Adam, who came to the rescue and helped beetle clean this specimen after my colony collapsed, we were able to send the Otoliths (ear bones) off for aging.
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The second photo shows the Otoliths after they arrived to . Next they are set in resin and once dry are sliced into thin sections. The last photo shows a slice under magnification where you can count the growth rings, similar to aging a tree.
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This monster was only 5 years old! Previous studies reported a maximum age of 4 years for specimens weighing only 20lbs, meaning this fish was eating real good.
