Tourist from Pennsylvania sets state record while fishing off NC’s Outer Banks
A man nearly 500 miles from home just set a state record while fishing off North Carolina’s Outer Banks, according to the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries.
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David Ashman of Mohnton, Pennsylvania, was on a charter boat off Hatteras when his Shimano Trevala rod snagged something that fought with him for 15 minutes.
When the tug-of-war ended, Ashman discovered it was a cubera snapper that was nearly 30 pounds heavier than the existing state record, state officials said. The fish weighs 85 pounds, about the same size as a border collie.
“Ashman replaced the existing state record cubera snapper that weighed 58 pounds, 8 ounces, landed by Thomas Madsen in 2022,” fisheries officials said.
“The (new record) fish measured just over 56 inches total length (from the tip of the nose to the stretched end of the tail) and had a girth of 40 inches.”
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The 2022 state record was also caught off Hatteras, by an angler from New Jersey, according to Sport Fishing magazine.
Ashman is a frequent visitor to North Carolina and “enjoys offshore bottom fishing,” officials said. He was aboard the head boat Miss Hatteras when he caught the snapper on July 31. His bait was squid on “40-pound braid with a 50-pound mono leader,” officials said.
Cubera snapper are the largest species in the snapper family, and the world record is 124 pounds, 12 ounces, according to the International Game Fish Association.
“They can be identified by the large canine teeth that can be seen even when their mouth is closed,” state fisheries officials said. “Adult cubera snapper prefer wrecks and rocky ledges in 60-to-250 feet of water depth.”
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Hatteras is about a 250-mile drive southeast from downtown Raleigh.
