In the past weeks, almost 50 World Record applications
were received at IGFA headquarters
Anglers catching southern bluefin tuna, great
barracuda, tarpon, musky and more in Angola, Australia, Brazil,
Christmas Island, Norway, Mexico, and Florida, New Jersey,
Massachusetts and Michigan and many more.
Tasmanian
angler Jonah Lee Yick landed a massive 107.5 kg (236 lb 12 oz)
southern bluefin tuna (Thunnus maccoyii) on April 30, 2013
while fishing out of Eagle Hawk Neck, Australia. Yick’s potential
men’s 15 kg (30 lb) record tuna hit a trolled Tasman Prowler lure
and tested Yick’s tackle for an hour and 15 minutes. The current
IGFA record is 106.5 kg (234 lb 12 oz).
Junior
angler Lydia Nicolson, co-winner of last year’s Top Female Junior
Angler award, shows no sign of slowing her record setting pace. The
most recent submission from the UK based angler is a 36.9 kg (81 lb
15 oz) Atlantic sailfish (Istiophorus platypterus) that she
caught on March 8th while trolling a skirted ballyhoo off
Lobito, Angola. Using only 3 kg (6 lb) line, Nicolson needed a full
hour to best this potential Female Junior record fish under the
watchful eye of her father and captain, IGFA Representative Iain
Nicolson. The current IGFA record is 31.2 kg (68 lb 12 oz).
Light
tackle angler Maureen Klause landed a potential record black drum
(Pogonias cromis) while fishing with Capt. Ricky Wheeler in
the Delaware Bay on May 27th. Klause, a native of New
Jersey, USA, needed 20 minutes to subdue the 28.04 kg (61 lb 13 oz)
fish on only 2 kg (4 lb) line after it ate the clam she was soaking.
With the current record at 18.37 kg (40 lb 8 oz), Klause’s catch
qualifies her for the potential new women’s 2 kg (4 lb) line class
record.
Light
tackle fly angler and IGFA Lifetime Achievement Award winner Dotty
Ballantyne recently caught and released a 10.21 kg (22 lb 8 oz)
tarpon (Megalops atlanticus), besting her own record of 7.71
kg (17 lb) and qualifying for the potential new women’s 3 kg (6 lb)
tippet class record. Ballantyne, a native of Bozeman, Montana, was
fishing with Capt. Chris McCreedy out of Key West on May 22nd.
The experienced angler needed twenty minutes to best the silver king
after it ate a custom tarpon fly.
German
angler Micahel Eisele may have broken the All-Tackle world record for
Atlantic cod (Gadus morhus), which has stood for more than 40
years. Eisele pulled the enormous 47.03 kg (103 lb 10 oz) specimen
from the icy waters surrounding Soroya, Norway on April 28th after it decided to eat the custom soft plastic/jig-head combo he was
working. After a 36 minute fight on 20 kg (40 lb) tackle, Eisele
subdued the massive cod and was on his way to the scales. If
approved, Eisele’s fish will replace the men’s 24 kg (50 lb) line
class record as well as the All-Tackle record which has stood since
1969!
Angler Conrad A. Proctor landed an 8.16 kg (18 lb) tiger muskellunge (Esox masquinongy x Esox lucius) on May 17th while working a Yamamoto worm on Lake Luena, Michigan, USA. Proctor, a retired doctor from nearby Attica, Michigan, needed 30 minutes to subdue the potential 3 kg (6 lb) line class record tiger musky, which he released alive after properly documenting the catch. The current IGFA record is 6.8 kg (15 lb).
On
a recent trip to Argentina, three members of the de Almeida family of
Sao Paulo, Brazil, recorded potential record catches on beautifully
colored but tempered dorado (Salminus brasiliensis). On
May 4th, Tacito de Almeida landed a 17.41 kg (38 lb 6 oz)
fish – heavy enough to qualify for the 10 kg (20 lb) line class
record which currently stands at 16.8 kg (37 lb). Then his daughter
and son, Manuela and Guilherme, joined him with two potential Junior
record catches the following day. Manuela’s fish weighed in at
13.52 kg (29 lb 13 oz) and Guilherme’s at 17.38 kg (38 lb 5 oz).
All three potential record catches were caught in the Uruguay River
on Rapala plugs with local guide Alejandro Differding and released
alive after being properly documented.
