Outer Banks angler tows 212-pound bluefin tuna ashore on jet ski

Hunter Hicks turned an Easter Sunday run off Hatteras Island into one of the Outer Banks’ most improbable bluefin stories. The Frisco angler left just after 5:30 a.m. on his jet ski, fished alone in rough Atlantic water, and ended up towing a 212-pound bluefin tuna, measuring 70 inches, back through Oregon Inlet after a fight that lasted about two hours.

The tuna dragged Hicks nearly 10 miles offshore and pulled the jet ski underwater at times, a brutal reminder that small-craft tuna fishing is not a stunt with much margin for error. Hicks, who has lived in the Outer Banks for 15 years and has worked as a mate with Longer Days Sportfishing on Hatteras Island for 11 years, said he thought he had hooked something far larger before the fish threw the hook. On a later cast, he connected with the bluefin that finally came to hand. When he got it ashore, about 30 people gathered on the beach to take pictures, and the fish was placed in a surfboard bag full of ice.

The catch landed at a moment when bluefin have been showing up in unusual numbers close to the Outer Banks shoreline. Anglers around Jennette’s Pier and nearby waters have reported bluefin in surprisingly shallow water, with some fish feeding in as little as 20 feet. Jennette’s Pier, a fishing tradition since 1939, has become part of the backdrop for the run, and the activity has put nearshore tuna fishing back in the conversation from Nags Head to Corolla.

That excitement comes with rules that matter. NOAA Fisheries says the recreational trophy bluefin fishery reopened in all subquota regions on January 1, 2026. For anglers holding Angling or Charter/Headboat permits, the trophy allowance is one bluefin per vessel per year, and the fish must measure 73 inches curved fork length or greater. NOAA also says the limits vary by region, permit type, fish size and vessel type.

The bigger lesson from Hicks’ landing is how uncommon this kind of encounter still is. NOAA says bluefin are rarely close enough to shore for shore-based targeting, and any bluefin incidentally caught from shore must be released without ever coming out of the water. Hicks’ jet-ski tow did not happen from the beach, but it underscored the same reality: when giants show up this close, the fish are extraordinary and the logistics are punishing.