A Seattle angler, fishing Friday out of Westport, Washington, on a tuna boat trolling 45 miles west of the Columbia River mouth, landed a shortbill spearfish.
Spearfish, native to Hawaii and the Mediterranean, are believed to have never before been caught off the Washington or Oregon coasts. The last rare West Coast catch was reported in 2017 off Southern California.
Armando Lara landed the fish aboard a charter operated by All Rivers and Saltwater Charters and under the command of Ian Winder, also from Seattle.
Mark Coleman, who lives in Snoqualmie, Washington, and is from Portland, owns the charter service based out of Westport. Coleman said the fish will be taken to a Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife office for an official measurement and entry into the state record book. It will likely be the first, largest and only spearfish listed in the state.
“The first ones are always the best to beat,” he said.
Coleman said the spearfish hit a purple Zuker lure with a vinyl skirt, a common attractor for albacore tuna.
“There was a lot of aerial action and greyhounding,” he said. Jumping and hard runs are typical of sailfish.
By far the most unusual catch this season, it’s not the only warm-ocean fish joining seasonally schooled albacore. Dorado (mahi mahi), opa, bluefin tuna and yellowtail have all been occasionally landed off Oregon and southwest Washington by the tuna fleet.
