{"id":104698,"date":"2025-10-06T04:06:15","date_gmt":"2025-10-06T04:06:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/104698\/"},"modified":"2025-10-06T04:06:15","modified_gmt":"2025-10-06T04:06:15","slug":"donegal-woman-home-on-holidays-lands-760lbs-monster-catch-one-of-the-biggest-ever-fish-caught-off-west-coast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/104698\/","title":{"rendered":"Donegal woman home on holidays lands 760lbs monster catch, one of the biggest ever fish caught off west coast"},"content":{"rendered":"

Aoife McGettigan battled with the fish for over an hour before she was able to bring it alongside the boat to have it measured<\/p>\n

14:13, 05 Oct 2025Updated 15:25, 05 Oct 2025<\/p>\n

\"FisherwomanFisherwoman Aoife McGettigan<\/p>\n

A Co Donegal<\/a> woman returned home to Ireland from Australia<\/a> for a visit and landed one of the biggest fish ever caught off the west coast.<\/p>\n

Aoife McGettigan grew up in the port of Killybegs and often went fishing<\/a> with her family.<\/p>\n

But not in her wildest dreams did she ever imagine she would one day land a bluefin tuna weighing a whopping 760Ibs.<\/p>\n

Aoife was out fishing with Killybegs Fishing Trips on board the Fiona Tee in recent days when she landed the monster catch.<\/p>\n

It is the biggest fish that has ever been caught by anyone on the boat.<\/p>\n

\"AoifeAoife McGettigan with her prize catch(Image: nwnewspix)<\/p>\n

Aoife battled with the fish for over an hour before she was able to bring it alongside the boat to have it measured.<\/p>\n

Skipper of the Fiona Tee, Declan McGettigan, who just happens to be Aoife’s brother, said he was delighted that his sister landed such a huge fish.<\/p>\n

He said: “She was really in her element and didn’t panic at all. It was a huge fish and I was delighted for her.<\/p>\n

“Nobody would believe her back in Australia but at least she has the proof to show how big the fish was.”<\/p>\n

\"AoifeAoife McGettigan with the 760lbs bluefin tuna(Image: nwnewspix)<\/p>\n

Under Inland Fisheries Ireland’s Tuna CHART research programme, the fish cannot be killed but can be tagged and and then released.<\/p>\n

Authorised charter skippers catch, measure and tag the fish while it’s in the water, with the data collected providing information on the tuna’s movement and size.<\/p>\n

Aoife is planning to head back soon to Australia but will have a brilliant fishing story to tell her husband Phil Barrow.<\/p>\n

It’s Phil’s dream to try bluefin tuna fishing back off the coast of Ireland.<\/p>\n

But the chances are he will never land a whopper as big as Aoife’s catch.<\/p>\n

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