October Hot CatchesFrom: Pete Johnson (PR counsel for the IGFA -
www.igfa.org)
Johnson Communications
Each month world records coordinator Rebecca Wright of the International Game Fish Association provides highlights of selected documented fish catches made across the globe submitted for world records. Here are nine recent submissions which are now before the world records committee.
A nearly 32-year old IGFA world record for a
tiger trout (Salmo trutta x Salvelinus fontinalis) may be broken on a catch made by Evan Roda, of Spokane Valley, Wash., USA. On May 27 Roda was on Washington’s appropriately named Fish Lake using a Lucky Craft Pointer lure tied on 4 kg (8 lb) class line when the 6.24 kg (13 lb 12 oz) fish hit for a 15 minute fight. The current IGFA record for the species is 11 lb 9 oz ( 5.25 kg.) caught July 16, 1976.
(Photo: tiger trout – 28496)
On August 3, smallfry angler Hailey Rowan Meinhardt, guided by Rob Meinhardt, landed a
California corbina (Minticirrhus undulatus) weighing 1.36 kg (3 lb 0 oz) while fishing off her hometown of Newport Beach, California, USA. She may be the first young angler to fill-in the IGFA’s currently vacant junior division’s female smallfry record for the species.
(Photo: California corbina – 28490)Another young angler Anthony "Paul" Mendoza, Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif, USA, may make a significant jump in the junior male division of the IGFA world record book after landing a
California halibut (Paralichthys californicus) on June 22. Guided by Ernest Prieto while fishing Coronado Islands, Mexico, Mendoza used a live anchovy and outlasted the fish which weighed 22.62 kg (49 lb 14 oz) in the 15 minute fight. The current junior boy’s IGFA record is 36 lb. 0 oz (16.32 kg) caught on April 2, 2005.
(Photo: California halibut – 28499)Escaping the summer heat and humidity of Tampa, Fla., for the cool climes of Icy Bay, Alaska, USA, junior angler James C. Seegraves, guided by George Davis, landed a
Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis) on July 10. It took Seegraves 20 minutes to subdue the fish, weighing in at 56.25 kg (124 lb 0 oz). He’s hoping to beat the current junior male IGFA record which is 104 lb 0 oz (47.17 kg.), caught September 3, 2006.
(Photo: Pacific halibut – 28500)Using an eel fly tied to thin 2 kg (4 lb) tippet while fly-fishing the nearby James River, William L. Nicar, of Richmond, Va., USA, landed a
flathead catfish (Pylodictis olivaris) on July 27, weighing in at 13.38 kg (29 lb 8 oz). It took Nicar 24 minutes to pull the fish to shore and he now has hopes of beating the current IGFA record of 21 lb. 8 oz ( 9.75 kg.) caught on January 13, 2004.
(Photo: flathead catfish – 28507)Fishing the Gulf of Mexico off the Florida, USA coast, Burtchville, Michigan angler Bill McClarty III, guided by Chris Galati, landed a
black grouper (Mycteroperca bonaci) on July 22, weighing 23.84 kg (52 lb 9 oz). It took him 10 minutes to land the fish on 37 kg (80 lb) class line and may also land his name as the first in the men’s line class of the soon to be printed 2009 IGFA World Record Game Fishes book for the newly added species.
(Photo: black grouper – 28512)Guided by Patrick Waringway while fishing Whittier, Alaska, USA, young angler Bill Francois, of Paris, France, landed a
Pacific cod (Gadus macrocephalus) on July 20. The junior angler’s catch, caught in 10 minutes on a jig, weighed 4.03 kg (8 lb 14 oz). Francois has applied for a vacant male junior class division record in the IGFA book.
(Photo: Pacific cod – 28529)Fishing the Norfolk Canyon area, some 70 miles off the Virginia Beach, Va., USA coast, Ron Van Kirk, of nearby Williamsburg, Va., guided by Sean Doran, South Miles, N.C., landed a
Darwin’s slimehead (Gephyroberyx Darwinii) on August 19. Van Kirk, who used cut squid for bait to lure the fish that weighed 3.4 kg (7 lb 8 oz), has applied for the vacant IGFA All-Tackle record for the species.
(Photo: Darwin’s slimehead – 28532)Italian angler Massimo Brogna, from Catania Sicily, guided by Henry Magri while fishing the waters off Dakar, Senegal, may find his name filled in the previously vacant space of the men’s line class in the IGFA World Record Game Fishes book after landing a
Guinean barracuda (Sphyraena afra) on July 27. The fish weighing in at 8.85 kg (19 lb 8 oz) was easily caught on 60 kg (130 lb) class line and landed in three minutes using a live yaboy for bait.
(Photo: Guinean barracuda – 28545)
