Orange Beach, Ala. – (OBA) – After Rustin Musgrove moved to Gulf Shores 20 years ago, he began enjoying many evenings after work fishing for big black drum from the banks of the Intracoastal Waterway. He even dreamed of one day catching the next state record black drum from that area. But his biggest drum to date, respectably over 50 pounds, was still more than 10 pounds below the Alabama record. 

Since moving to Bear Point more recently though, Rustin discovered a bigger variety of fish to be caught from the Gulf beach near Perdido Pass. He developed a tried and true fishing routine at Alabama Point East (formerly called “Florida Point”) that takes advantage of the failing light of day to target pompano, bluefish, and then redfish just after dark. In fact, at this same location, Musgrove has caught his personal best pompano (18 1/2”) and redfish (40” long). So he knew some big fish hang out there, even some “big” (3 to 4 pound) bluefish.

But Musgrove never dreamed his next personal best bluefish (caught Friday evening January 26th) would be over 37 inches long, and would (pending the formal certification process) beat the existing Alabama record by 4 ounces. Especially after having to ice the fish down, and hold his breath all weekend to find a certified scale Monday morning. But on a certified scale at the Alabama Marine Resources Office in Gulf Shores Monday morning, a full 60 hours after being caught, Rustin Musgrove's massive bluefish weighed 17 pounds, 8 ounces! 

Fish research charts show that a bluefish this size would likely be 12 to 14 years old. By contrast, our more typically average 12” to 14”  bluefish weigh only one to two pounds, and are one to two years old respectively. That is when they can begin reproducing, but they continue to grow fast and all during their life, probably due to their insatiable appetite. But only rarely in Alabama waters do we even see bluefish more than 18 inches long, a 3-year-old bluefish that weighs about 4 pounds. 

Bluefish on the East Coast of the United States take advantage of the rich protein source of the huge menhaden population there, and are caught in all sizes, but routinely reach the teens and even occasionally over 20 pounds in that region. In fact, the IGFA World Record bluefish caught in 1972 near Cape Hatteras, North Carolina was over 39 inches long and weighed 31 pounds 12 ounces.

Musgrove said he was fishing a frozen finger mullet on the bottom using a “Carolina rig” with a monofilament leader to target redfish when the big blue hit. The big fish pulled line against his drag for almost the length of the east jetty (nearly 1000 feet) before turning and jumping clear of the water twice on the way in. Fortunately for Musgrove, the big blue was hooked in the corner of the mouth by the circle hook, and the monofilament leader never came into contact with those razor sharp teeth that would have ended his bid for glory instantly. Some fish are just meant to be caught, and we should congratulate Rustin Musgrove for accomplishing this extraordinary feat of greatest rarity, landing a state record fish!