HOT Catches from the IGFA

November 2008

 By Pete Johnson, Johnson Communications – IGFA PR counsel

Click here to check out November's HOT News

World records coordinator Rebecca Wright of the International Game Fish Association provides highlights of selected documented fish catches made across the globe recently submitted for IGFA world records. Here are 13 recent submissions which are now before the world records committee:

Young Toronto, Ontario, Canada angler Landon Watchorn, got a thrill and possibly her first world record when she landed a lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) while fishing Wellesley Lake, Canada on July 29.  It took her five minutes to reel up as the sizable fish weighed in at 10.43 kg (23 lb 0 oz).  She’s submitted documentation in the female smallfry division hoping to beat the current IGFA record of 20 lb 10 oz (9.35 kg), recorded three years ago in Lake Superior, Michigan.

Fishing a flashtail whistler fly tied to 4 kg (8 lb) tippet while fishing New Mexico’s Bluewater Lake, Doug Cavin, of Wildorado, Texas, USA, landed a tiger muskellunge (Esox masquinongy x Esox lucius) on August 21, weighing 5.02 kg (11 lb 1 oz). The current IGFA 8 lb tippet record for the tiger musky is 10 lb 10 oz (4.81 kg), caught in 1997 from Horseshoe Lake near Walsenburg, Colorado USA.

Fishing her hometown’s Kenai River, in Alaska, USA, Ms. Jackie L. Johnson, of Kenai wrestled to shore a Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) on July 31, weighing in at 32.74 kg (72 lb 3 oz).  She used a Spin-N-Glow lure on 60 kg (130 lb) class line taking 25 minutes to land the fish. The current IGFA record is 71 lb 1 oz (32.66 kg), caught on July 2, 2004, also from the Kenai River near Soldotna.

Fly-fishing the Seward Peninsula, of Alaska, USA, using 3 kg (6 lb) tippet tied with a Hans van Klinken’s leadhead caddis, Peter Cockwill, of Bramley, Surrey, United Kingdom, landed an Artic grayling (Thymallus arcticus) on August 22, weighing 2.3 kg (5 lb 1 oz). The current IGFA record is 4 lb 8 oz (2.04 kg), caught on September 3, 2002, from the Alaska’s Goodnews River.

When fishing in Kummiut, East Greenland go for Greenland halibut and that’s just what Kai Witt, of Hamburg, Germany did while possibly scoring an IGFA World All-Tackle Record in the process on his August 28 trip. Guided by Lars Anker-Moller, and after a 10 minute tug of war, Witt landed the cold water specie (Reinhardtius hippoglossoides). The fish weighed 4.5 kg (9 lb 14 oz) almost double the current mark.  That IGFA record is 5 lb 7oz (2.48 kg), caught near Gamlembanken, Norway two summers ago.

Working a Mepp’s black furry on 3 kg (6 lb) class line while fishing Finland’s Lätäsenojoki River, Ingmars Birkovs, of Riga, Latvia, landed a grayling (Thymallus thymallus) on June 29, weighing 1.8 kg (3 lb 15 oz). This is the first record application for the newly added species to the IGFA world records, and if approved, this will be the first world record for a Latvia angler. Birkovs is applying for both all tackle as well as line class records.

United Kingdom junior angler Andrew Paul, of Kings Lynn, Norfolk, landed a Nile perch, (Lates niloticus) on August 4 while fishing Lake Turkana, Kenya, a catch that may more than double the current IGFA junior mark. Using a double jointed Shadrap the youngster fought the fish for two hours and 15 minutes before landing it and weighing it in at 48.53 kg (107 lb 0 oz). The current IGFA male junior record is 50 lb  0 oz (22.68 kg), caught just a month earlier on July 5, from Egypt’s Lake Nasser the same location where several other records are held including the IGFA All-Tackle record of 230 lbs.  

Another young United Kingdom angler Peter Brumbly, also from Kings Lynn, Norfolk, landed a European bass, (Dicentrarchus labrax) on August 23, near his Norfolk home. Using a lugworm for bait the junior fisherman took seven minutes to bring in the fish which weighed in at 2.27 kg (5 lb 0 oz). The current IGFA male junior record is vacant.

While fly fishing Værøy, Norway with a no-name fly on 10 kg (20 lb) tippet, Sweden’s  Jan Nyberg, of Hagersten, guided by Jonas Lundblom, landed an Atlantic halibut, (Hippoglossus hippoglossus) on August 27. After taking 40 minutes to land, Nyberg weighed the fish in at 29.56 kg (65 lb 2 oz). He’s hoping to see his name filled in on the currently vacant IGFA fly fishing record.

As she was fishing Barra do Kwanza, Angola on September 14, Theresa Sakko of Cape Town, South Africa, guided by C.E. Sakko, landed a giant African threadfin (Polydactylus quadrifilis). She was using 4 kg (8 lb) class line while casting a Rapala Xrap Magnum for the fish that weighed in at 17.6 kg (38lb 12oz).  She’s hoping her 45 minute fight to land the fish will get her in the currently vacant women’e line class record in the IGFA World Record Game Fishes book.

While in the Gulf of Mexico off Clearwater, Florida, USA, Capt. Craig Lahr, of nearby Largo, Florida, took an opportunity to do some fly fishing using a hand tied fly on 3 kg (6 lb) tippet, to land a king mackerel, (Scomberomorus cavalla). After fighting the fish for 25 minutes Lahr weighed it in at 11.34 kg (25 lb 0 oz). If approved by the IGFA committee, the king caught on October 22, may beat the current IGFA record of 24 lb 0 oz (10.88 kg), recorded on February 5, 1997.

Pruhorice, Czech Republic angler Jakub Vagner may have made a catch of a lifetime when he landed an arapaima (Arapaima gigas) on August 17, weighing 130 kg (286 lb 9 oz) for a possible IGFA All-Tackle record. It took him 30 minutes to capture the huge specie while fishing Amazonia, Brazil. The current IGFA record is vacant for the arapaima but if approved Vagner’s fish will be the seventh heaviest freshwater fish accepted for a world record.  

Angler Nigel Lofthouse, Koh Samui Suratthani, Thailand may score a new IGFA All-Tackle record after landing a ripsaw catfish (Oxydoras niger) on Sept. 17. It took Lofthouse eight minutes to land to fish which weighed in at 18.14 kg (40 lb 0 oz) using a method ball for bait while fishing near Topscats Resort in Thailand. The current IGFA record is 24 lb. 4 oz. (11 kg.), caught on October 19, 1999 on the Xingu River in Mato Grosso, Brazil.

Click here to check out October's HOT News