HOT Catches from the IGFA

February 2008

 By Pete Johnson, Johnson Communications – IGFA PR counsel

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The world records department of the International Game Fish Association provides monthly highlights of selected documented fish catches made from across the globe and submitted for world records. IGFA world records coordinator Rebecca Wright provided the following information on these 10 recent submissions now before the world records committee.

Catching a huge 400 plus pound shark can be a wrestling match for any angler but doing it using 6 kg (12 lb) class line adds another challenge. While fishing Australia’s Kiama Canyon, Andrew Finney of Greenwell Pt NSW, Australia, landed a blue shark (Prionace glauca) on September 16, 2007. Guided by Mitch Ryan and using mullet for bait, Finney wrestled with the shark for 30 minutes. Once under his control it weighed in at 192.4 kg (424 lb 2 oz). Finney is up for a male 12 lb IGFA line class record.  Finney’s record may beat the 395 lb 11 oz from 15 years ago in the waters of Port Hacking, near Sydney.

Fishing the waters of Virginia’s Norfolk Canyon, Chris Boyce of Hampton, Va, USA, guided by Dr. Ken Neill III, landed a snowy grouper (Epinephelus niveatus) on Dec. 9, 2007. The grouper enticed by false albacore for bait weighed in at 29.94 kg (66 lb 0 oz). Boyce is up for an IGFA All-Tackle record which currently stands at 65 lb 8 oz, caught last summer in the same waters.

With Vila Real Santo Antonio, Portugal, as his fishing backdrop angler Luis Ceia, of  Faro, Portugal, guided by Eduardo Soares and using sardinha for bait, landed a gilthead seabream (Sparus Aurata) on Dec. 9. The fish weighed 3.21 kg (7 lb 1 oz) and Ceia has applied for a IGFA men’s 8 kg (16 lb) line class world record which is currently vacant.

Junior angler Martini Arostegui, of Coral Gables, Fla, USA, may have moved closer to being the first youngster to capture 100 records before his 17th birthday, after landing a trahira (Hoplias spp.) on Dec. 30. Caught on cut bait, the fish weighed 10.21 kg (22 lb 8 oz) and was released after documenting. He was fishing Suriname’s Kabalebo River, and has applied for the male junior class record and hopes to break the 18 lb 0 oz mark he set last April from the same river.

Fishing the beautiful waters of Rodrigues Island of Mauritius, angler and IGFA Representative for Israel Jean-Jacques Ohayon, Ashdod, Israel, guided by Yann Colas, IGFA Representative for Mauritius, landed a twospot red snapper, (Lutjanus bohar) on Dec. 24.  The fish was caught on bonito and weighed 13.5 kg (29 lb 12 oz) for a potential All-Tackle class record. The current record is over 17 years old for a 27 lb 8 oz caught in 1990 in Japanese waters.

Kouki Akeyama, Kirakata-Shi Osaka, Japan, fishing Kushimoto, Japan, landed a red cornetfish, (Fistularia petimba). The fish caught on Nov. 26 weighed 2.5 kg (5 lb 8 oz).  Akeyama has applied for an All-Tackle class record that could possibly beat the current record by three pounds for a red cornetfish of 2 lb 5 oz, caught in 2006 in the waters near Shimoda, Japan.

On January 5th Alfredo Pietri, of Valencia, Venezuela, fishing his country’s Villacoa River, landed a blackstriped peacock (Cichla intermedia). The fish weighing 3.4 kg (7 lb 8 oz) on 6 kg (12 lb) class line using a Smithwick lure. Pietri released the fish after documenting. The current IGFA line class record stands at 4 lb 6 oz, caught in 1999 near the Caurama Lodge in Venezuela.

On holiday while fly-fishing the Rio Pasimoni, in Venezuela, Eduardo Aristuieta, Miami, Fla., USA, guided by Novaldo Ventum, landed a speckled peacock (Cichla temensis) on Dec. 17.  The fish, which weighed 9.53 kg (21 lb 0 oz), took 25 minutes to capture on 6 kg (12 lb) class tippet, using an Alf Mostro fly. He released the peacock.  The current mark is 18 lb 0 oz caught in 2004 from the Rio Araca, Amazonia Brazil.

Using an Australian made Killalure for bait while fishing the Tinaroo Dam, Helen Laura Golding, Atherton QLD, Australia, landed a barramundi (Lates calcarifer) on January 5, taking her 20 minutes to fight. She was guided by Jeff Golding, The fish weighed 27.67 kg (61 lb 0 oz) and has been entered for an IGFA female junior class record entry. She’s hoping to beat the 44 lb 1 oz mark of five years ago also from the same waters.

Fishing Content Key, Florida, USA, over the Christmas holidays, Jason Reynolds, of Newark, Del., USA, guided by Capt. Jay Wright Jr., landed a blacktip shark (Carcharhinus limbatus) using 60 kg (130 lb) class line and using cut bait. The fish, caught on Dec. 22, weighed 27.22 kg (60 lb 0 oz). Reynolds released the catch. The line class record is currently vacant.

Click here to check out February's HOT News