August 08, 2013

IGFA: world record hot catches August report

Great catches have been made all over the world in this month’s IGFA Hot Catches report! Potential world records from Mexico, the Netherlands, and Alaska, New York and more.



Angler Junichi Inada pulled a 97 cm grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) from the Senba River in his native country of Japan. Inada was soaking a piece of bread when the potential All-Tackle Length record carp hit. After an eight minute fight, Inada had the fish subdued and quickly released after properly documenting the catch. The current IGFA record stands at 92 cm.


Angler Jamie Hamamoto of Honolulu, Hawaii, landed a 4.65 kg (10 lb 4 oz) roundjaw bonefish (Albula glossodonta), while fishing with her father, Wade Hammamoto. The young angler was soaking a piece of scad in the surf off Kahuku , when her rod doubled over and line started peeling from her reel. Nearly 10 minutes later, Hamamoto had landed this potential All-Tackle record fish and qualified for the 10 lb Bonefish Club! The current IGFA record is vacant.




Junior angler Axel Bowmer recently traveled to the famed Portuguese island of Madeira to experience the amazing offshore fishing that can be had there. While trolling a Melton’s Cherry Jet with Capt. Gerard DeSilva, Bowmer hooked into a huge Atlantic bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus) that ripped line off his Penn 130 reel. After 35 minutes in the fighting chair, he finally subdued the 88.31 kg (194 lb 11 oz) bigeye that qualifies him for the potential new male Junior record. The current IGFA record stands at 84.82 kg (187 lb).



Italian fly angler Paolo Pacchiarini recently traveled from his home in Milan to experience the endless fishing opportunities “down under” in Australia. While fishing with local guide Brett Wolf out of Exmouth, Pacchiarini hooked into a 10.43 kg (23 lb) golden trevally (Gnathanodon speciosus) while casting a white clouser fly. After a 20 minute fight, Pacchiarini subdued the fish, then quickly documented the potential men’s 10 kg (20 lb) tippet class record fish before releasing it alive. The current IGFA record is 8.16 kg (18 lb)



Eric Christopher Otte, of Wahoo, Nebraska, landed an enormous 18.46 kg (40 lb 11 oz) shortraker rockfish (Sebastes borealis) while jigging the deep waters of Cross Sound, Alaska on June 22nd with Capt. Joe Calanara. This potential All-Tackle record beats the existing IGFA record by almost five pounds.


Angler Julia Grace Ketner of Westhampton, New York, USA, landed a beautiful muskellunge (Esox masquinongy) on July 1st while fishing with Todd E. Young on Lake Chautauqua in upstate New York. Ketner enticed the musky to bite while throwing a Wiley lure, and less than five minutes after hooking up she had the 8.99 kg (19 lb 13 oz) fish boated. After a quick weighing and photo shoot, the potential Female Smallfry record musky was released alive to grow even bigger. The current IGFA record is 5.55 kg (12 lb 4 oz).


Angler Margaret Shaughnessy of Medford, Oregon landed a beautiful roosterfish (Nematistius pectoralis) on June 2nd while fly fishing with local guide Marco Lucero off the coast of Punta Las Arenas, Mexico. Shaughnessy’s potential women’s 10 kg (20 lb) tippet class record rooster put up a brutal fight that lasted nearly four hours, after the fish ate the custom “raton” fly Shaughnessy was casting. Once landed, the fish was rushed to shore where it bottomed out a 60 lb Boga-Grip scale! Instead of killing the fish to get the actual weight, which was estimated at well over 70 lbs, Shaughnessy decided to release her catch alive to grow even bigger. And with the current IGFA record at 13.15 kg (29 lb 0 oz), a 60 lb fish is plenty big enough to qualify for a record!


Dutch angler P.C. Ouwendijk was fishing out of Hollands Diep, Netherlands on April 6th when he hooked into a sizeable zander (Sander lucioperca) while casting a soft plastic shad lure. After a quick fight, the experienced angler quickly measured and photographed the fish before releasing it alive. Measuring 68 cm, Ouwendijk’s zander qualifies for the potential new All-Tackle Length record as the current record stands at 65 cm.

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