tuna1.jpg

From left, Rich Kosztyu, Damien Romeo and Brian Suschke with their winning tuna from the White Marlin Open in Ocean City, Md. Aug. 10, 2016. (Handout photo)

TRENTON -- A Trenton firefighter and police sergeant fishing from an Ocean County boat caught a 236.5-pound bigeye tuna this week at a tournament in Maryland.

Two days later, after all the fish had been weighed, it netted them a $767,091 check.

Brian Suschke, the police sergeant, and Rich Kosztyu, the firefighter, fish in tournaments often with friend Damien Romeo, who owns the boat, "Hubris" out of Forked River.

And they've fished the White Marlin Open in Ocean City , Md. for years, but have never caught a fish this big or hauled in this much prize money.

"No, never this much," Suschke said with a laugh late Saturday following the awards ceremony and a celebratory steak dinner.

The fish's weight and payout were records this year in the tournament's tuna category.

The three men, lifelong fishing friends, were 80 miles offshore trolling for tuna when Kosztyu grabbed the pole when they got a bite, Suschke said.

"He fought the fish for about an hour," Suschke said.

When he got it to the boat, Suschke hauled it in with a gaff hook.

They were pretty happy and knew they had a contender, but two miles from the inlet the boat lost steering and they had to call for a tow.

Then they had to put the fish in a pickup truck and drive it to the marina for the official weigh-in, Suschke said.

That was last Wednesday morning, Aug 10.

The tournament had two more days of fishing, so they had to wait until the tournament closed Friday night. "We had a real anxious two days," Suschke said.

They just edged out a 233-pound tuna, which earned that boat a $131,968 prize.

Suschke, Kosztyu and Romeo's tuna first earned them $400,000, but because of how they entered the tournament, with special buy-ins, they won the pot for the blue marlin winner-take-all, which the winning blue marlin boat did not enter.

The three friends are splitting the prize money.

The White Marlin Open, in its 43rd year, is the world's largest billfish tournament. This year, 329 boats competed for just over $4.4 million in prize money.

Suschke, left, and Kosztyu, pose with the tuna on the Hubris.

Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@kevintshea. Find NJ.com on Facebook.