OUTER BANKS, N.C. — On Easter Sunday, Hunter Hicks had planned to go out with a buddy early in the morning to fish for bluefin tuna.
"My plan initially was to go out there and go catch a Bluefin. Now, not by myself. My buddy was supposed to wake up at three in the morning," said Hicks.
But Hicks still had the urge to get out on the water and did just that, packing up his jet ski and heading out.
"Next thing you know it I seen blue fins jumping out of the water right in front of me, and all of a sudden I go to look back at one of my baits, I see a 500 pound," said Hicks.
That's right — Hicks says he had a 500-pound bluefin tuna on his hook initially, which ended up spitting the hook out. Then the next time he cast, the 212-pound, 70-inch bluefin tuna hooked right on.
"I would say the hardest fish I've ever caught in my life, by far the way I did it, on the jet ski, holding the rod solo, no fighting belt. I didn't have it in rod holder. It was just me or the beast," said Hicks.
Once Hicks had wrangled the fish, he still had to tow it all the way in behind his jet ski through Oregon Inlet.
"At that point I was almost 10 miles offshore, and land went from this to this to this, and it was gone. I don't have a chart plot or GPS, what if my phone dies? You know, I know how to make it in, I'm a waterman, but still, in my mind, I was starting to get a little scared. But I knew if I would have let go of that fish, nobody would have believed me," said Hicks.
But after hours of towing the massive fish in, he stepped onto the sand and was greeted by friends and bystanders who were blown away by what they were seeing.
"It was a moment of relief, truthfully. Next thing you know it there's 30 people on the beach wanting to take pictures of my fish. We put in a surfboard bag full of ice and zip the surfboard bag shut, and then we walked it up to the car," said Hicks.
Hicks is still feeling the impact the fight had on his body.
"For two days straight, my arm was stuck like this. It was like I had lock jaw or something. I could not open it. My back and neck hurt. I have bruises all up and down my body," said Hicks.
But it's a moment he wouldn't trade for the world.
"Never, never, never, never, never. I just really wish somebody was with me to experience the whole adventure that we had, the fishing high," said Hicks.
Hicks has lived in the Outer Banks for 15-years and has been a mate with Longer Days Sportfishing based on Hatteras Island for 11 years. You can find their Facebook page here.
