A San Diego pier angler this week battled a 45-pound yellowtail for nearly an hour in an extraordinary catch that many didn’t initially believe.
The massive yellowtail, baited by Brandon Dawson, was hauled onto Crystal Pier by a friend who stuck the fish with a 42-foot sectional gaff.
The first video, shared Thursday by Tonya Parent, shows the latter portion of the fight and the effort to raise the fish. The second video, shared by Pacific Beach Since 1887, shows more imagery.
As word of the rare catch spread via social media, many expressed doubts because yellowtail of any size are rarely caught from piers, much less a 45-pound behemoth. But footage from multiple sources erased those doubts.
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Western Outdoor News described Dawson’s feat as a catch of a lifetime “multiplied by about a thousand.”…