Atlantic Bluefin Tuna — 708 lb (2020)
Species: Atlantic Bluefin Tuna
Species reference image — not the record catch.
Confirmed against an official or primary source as of the date shown.
Upgraded from unverified during the Records hardening pass (2026-08-09): the official MRC PDF cited above still couldn't be machine-read, but VMRC's own 'Agency News' archive page for 2020 — a directly accessible official HTML page — independently states the same weight, angler, hometown, date, and certifying tournament director in ordinary prose. Fox News' contemporaneous report is kept as further corroboration.
Former Virginia Saltwater State Record
- Recognizing authority
- Virginia Marine Resources Commission
- Record program
- Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament
- Status
- Superseded
- Certification date
- 2020-02-16
- Successor record
- Atlantic Bluefin Tuna — 832.6 lb (2026) — this classification is no longer current.
Official sources: Virginia Marine Resources Commission — 'New State Record Bluefin Tuna Tops 700 pounds' PDF (2020) (the official record exists at this URL; not successfully machine-read during research); Virginia Marine Resources Commission — Agency News archive, 2020 (December 17, 2020 entry) (official VMRC HTML page directly stating: Jake Hiles of Virginia Beach caught a 708-pound bluefin tuna on February 16, 2020, certified by Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament Director Lewis Gillingham as Virginia's new state record for the species — also names the angler's hometown as Virginia Beach)
Sources last checked 2026-08-09.
- Weight
- 708 lb
- Angler
- Jake Hiles
- Catch date
- 2020-02-16
- Catch location
- Roughly 80 miles SSE of Rudee Inlet, at a spot known locally as "the Tuna Hole"
A broad area or bearing description, as published by the source below. This is deliberately not shown as a map pin or precise location — the source itself doesn't state one.
Hampton Roads connection
- Caught in or near Hampton Roads waters: Caught roughly 80 miles SSE of Rudee Inlet, Virginia Beach.
- Angler is a Hampton Roads resident: Angler resides in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Part of a distinctly Hampton Roads fishery: Virginia's giant bluefin tuna are caught in winter, well offshore southeast of Rudee Inlet, unlike most other tuna seasons. Superseded in January 2026 by a catch off the Eastern Shore, weighed in at Virginia Beach — see that record for why the connection type changes between predecessor and successor. VMRC's own 2020 Agency News entry names the angler's hometown as Virginia Beach, adding a second, distinct local connection (residence) alongside the existing catch-location connection.
This page cites an existing official authority's own determination — it is not itself a certifying body. Always confirm current status directly with the authority linked above before relying on it, since records can be broken or updated at any time. How record certification works →