June 19, 2026, 11:02 a.m. ET
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.
ALSO: Massive, record-setting crappie caught during wild bite in Minnesota
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.
Western Outdoor News described Dawson’s feat as a catch of a lifetime “multiplied by about a thousand.”
Dawson is quoted: “My rod suddenly jumped with two consecutive loud bursts of clicks. I jumped over to my rod quick and knew I had a bite.
“I set the hook when I picked it up, but it wasn’t solid, so I wound in … and boom, weight connects to the leader and my rod goes proper bendo with a screamin’ first run.”
Crystal Pier, in Pacific Beach, has rows of rental cottages and is utilized beyond that as a fishing platform. But it’s not typically a place where anglers target large yellowtail, which are more common catches at islands and offshore kelp paddies.
According to Western Outdoor News, Dawson was outfitted with a 25-pound-test leader attached to 40-pound line, so he was targeting large fish. Reports did not mention what Dawson used as bait.