Surfers and fishermen are honest people. When it comes to their respective disciplines, however, exaggeration is quite common. Luckily, technology these days means photographic evidence is easier to come by. Better for us because, well, it makes stories like this one out of France all the more interesting.
According to French news site The Local, a surfer on France’s west coast successfully caught a 220-pound tuna by manhandling the thing to the beach.
Philippe De Lépervanche was apparently stand-up paddling in Lacanau, France when he noticed a large fin in the lineup. Other surfers thought it might be a shark and paddled in, but when Lépervanche got close he realized it was a tuna. Then he did what anyone would do. He tried to lasso the fish with his leash. After a failed first attempt, the fish resurfaced. Then Lépervanche leapt from his board tethering the fish with his leash and wrapping his arms around it.
“I used the waves to get into the shore,” Lépervanche told The Local. “It wasn’t easy! I had my arms around the fish, my paddle in one hand, and the surfboard was tied to my leg. It took me about 10 minutes to get in.”
When Lépervanche finally made it to shore, a crowd had gathered on the beach to cheer him on. He and his friends divvied up the catch, and gave fish out to people on the beach – a true man of the people.
