Monstrous roosterfish a record? The world will never know

The International Game Fish Assn. lists the all-tackle world-record roosterfish as a 114-pound specimen landed near La Paz in Baja California Sur in 1960.

On Sunday, Cabo San Lucas resident Pepe Yuen, fishing near La Paz aboard the Pacific Adventure, caught a roosterfish that the vessel's skipper claims weighed 120 pounds.

Capt. Shawn Morgan, who is still in La Paz, said in an interview with 976-TUNA that he estimated the weight using a tape-measure formula that is generally reliable and common among long-range captains targeting yellowfin tuna.

But nobody thought to actually weigh the fish, which died after coming aboard and went home with Yuen and his son, Andres, where it  was earmarked as table fare.

Morgan said the venerable rooster "looked like it had been swimming around for 100 years" and added that he was not aware it was a potential world record.

So a record that has stood for 48 years appears safe and it might have been even if Yuen's rooster had been placed on a scale. You can judge for yourself by these photos. But you might consider that Morgan is 6-foot-4 and weighs 320 pounds.

--Pete Thomas

Photos: Shawn Morgan has a giant rooster by the tail (top), then helps angler Pepe Yuen pose with the beast while Yuen's son Andres looks on. Credit: Jim Mansbridge