Keith Lusher 08.15.25
The pre-dawn hours of August 1st started like any other night of deep-sea fishing for Taylor Guidry and the crew aboard the Prime Time. They had set out live hardtail bait in 6,000 feet of water, roughly 130 miles off the Alabama coast, hoping to connect with tuna during the MBGFC Billfish Limited tournament.
What happened next would turn into a two-hour battle with one of the Gulf’s most elusive deep-water monsters.
Around 4 a.m., Guidry stepped onto the stern deck and noticed something unusual. Fishing line was steadily peeling from one of their rods, but without the reel clicker engaged, the Shimano reel made no sound to alert the sleeping crew. The fish had already stripped nearly 2,000 feet of line before anyone realized what was happening.
“We think the fish was just doing its thing along the bottom, ate the hardtail bait, and kept on swimming,” Guidry explained. The 27-year-old Destin angler quickly woke his father Chad, cousin Justin, and Captain Steve Pixley to help with what would become an epic fight.
Initially, the crew suspected they had hooked a large tuna, shark, or swordfish based on the fish’s behavior. The mystery deepened as Guidry worked to retrieve the massive amount of line the fish had taken during its initial run
The real challenge began when Guidry managed to get the fish moving upward from the depths. At around 300 feet below the surface, right at the thermocline, the fish dug in and refused to budge.
“It was a stalemate,” Guidry recalled. “I’d get it up 50 or 75 feet more, then the fish would muscle down to 300 feet again and just stay there.”
For 45 minutes, the fish held its position beneath the thermocline while Guidry worked the rod. The battle stretched on for nearly two hours before the exhausted fish finally began to surface.
When the mystery catch first showed color near the boat, Captain Pixley was stunned. Having caught escolar in the 40 to 50-pound range before, he had never seen one approaching this massive size.
“I did not know that God created them that big,” Pixley said, looking at the enormous deep-water fish alongside his 40-foot Barker.
Getting the 161.6-pound escolar aboard the Prime Time proved to be another challenge entirely. It took three crew members working together to maneuver the fish through the boat’s tuna door, and once on deck, the escolar thrashed with such violence that the crew kept their distance.
“It went nuts. Its tail was working so hard and fast that I think it would have broken my foot if I got close,” Guidry said. The fish continued its powerful display for about 15 minutes before finally settling down.
Back at the tournament weigh-in, the escolar tipped the scales at 161.6 pounds, crushing Alabama’s current state record of 102 pounds, 10 ounces set in September 2023. The catch falls just short of the IGFA world record of 173.75 pounds, but if certified, would establish a new Gulf of America record.
Rather than keeping the fish for the dinner table, Guidry chose to donate it to the scientific community. Escolar, while edible, contains high levels of oil and should only be consumed in small quantities. More importantly, a fish of this size provides valuable research opportunities.
“There’s no data on a fish that big, so somebody should learn something,” Captain Pixley noted. Natural resource officials plan to take core samples and study various parts of the fish to determine its age and gather other biological data.
For Guidry, the memory of the fight and an artistic ink print by local artist Harley Van Hyning will serve as lasting reminders of his encounter with one of the Gulf’s rarest giants.
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