Buzz Bait

Written by Tim Shuff

Monday, 23 November 2009 15:09

The story of Dave Lamoureux and his 157-pound bluefin tuna broke in the New York Times today. The risk-loving futures and options trader from Chicago flew under the radar in the kayak fishing world until his record catch at the beginning of November.

Unlike California's yellowtail fishery, kayak fishing for tuna is virtually unheard of on the East Coast. The Times gives details about Lamoureux's extraordinary solo quest that were missing from earlier accounts.

But not too many details.

Lamoureux is mostly close-lipped about his unconventional methods, which include a way of "steering the tuna" during its fight to the death.

The story does divulge his bait, a frozen balyhoo with wire wrapped around its beak and rigged so the tail can move.

Lamoureux's dues to the sport include hooking and losing a bluefin that commercial fishermen estimated on sonar to be 800 pounds, and he dreams one day of singlehanding a 400-pounder.

High-stakes, high-risk plays should be familiar to a man who works in the financial markets. Of course there's another Wall Street similarity that the Times failed to note.

Tuna's worth its weight in gold. At Tokyo's legendary auctions, a 280-pound bluefin recently sold for $100,000.

At those prices Lamoureux paddled ashore that day with 50-grand worth of sashimi.

But unless someone's out there freediving for tuna with a harpoon, there's probably nobody more deserving of the prize. He's so committed to self-sufficiency that he heads offshore with dive fins in case he has to swim home.

With bluefin stocks at risk of collapse worldwide, maybe bluefin should be a kayak-only fishery, with Lamoureux leading the way.

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