All the way from the waters of Hawaii, here's Steve Kwiat with a contender for the all-tackle world record 6-pound, 8-ounce Schnieder's big eye. Kwiat's fish stands to be the first member of a new all-tackle category for big eye since this species has never been entered before. A day on the water, a few frozen sardines, and you become a pioneer of records. Nice work, Steve. Courtesy of I.G.F.A.SHARE
Last week, we took a look at some recent (and still uncertified) world-record catches from the International Game Fish Association. Well, wouldn’t you know it, some new ones just hit my desk. Only this time there’s slightly less weirdness and some sick records worth major pats on the back. Take, for example, this new line-class record Atlantic halibut caught by Knut Nilsen off the coast of Norway. This over-sized flounder weighed in at 30 pounds, 6 ounces, and was bested on only 8-pound-test line. Considering that getting a halibut off the bottom can be like trying to free a safe door stuck in nearly-dry concrete, this is pretty impressive. Nilsen’s ‘but beat the former record by 22 pounds! Courtesy of I.G.F.A.All the way from the waters of Hawaii, here’s Steve Kwiat with a contender for the all-tackle world record 6-pound, 8-ounce Schnieder’s big eye. Kwiat’s fish stands to be the first member of a new all-tackle category for big eye since this species has never been entered before. A day on the water, a few frozen sardines, and you become a pioneer of records. Nice work, Steve. Courtesy of I.G.F.A.But Steve Kwiat’s big eye wasn’t the only recent catch that could be a first for the IGFA. Chris Newport landed this 56-pound, 12-ounce black grouper in Florida. Black grouper were only added to the line-class category in late 2007, and according to the IGFA, the slots are quickly filling. But at the time of this catch, the 50-pound line-class slot remained vacant. Chris is the first to get his name in that box. Courtesy of I.G.F.A.Though this second black grouper caught a few days after Chris Newport’s hog wasn’t quite as weighty, it did earn Ronald P. Glinski a record in the 20-pound line-class slot. This grouper tipped the scales at 21-pounds, shattering the former record by…drum roll…19 pounds! Yeah, that’s right. Because black grouper have not been record-eligible for very long, the previous 20-pound line class record weighed a mere 2 pounds, 8 ounces. Courtesy of I.G.F.A.Here’s a new one for me. This Indochina great leatherback caught by angler Syringa Eade ate an earthworm in Thailand and weighed in at exactly 6-pounds. Apparently this is a new one for the IGFA, too, because they are considering adding this species to their roster and giving Syringa the all-tackle world record. Courtesy of I.G.F.A.Continuing on with the firsts, here’s Sabine Calendini who recently decked this 38-pound, 12-ounce meagre off the coast of Senegal using a live sardine. Though I’ve never heard of this fish, it’s a member of the drum family and looks shockingly similar to a white seabass often caught in Southern California. This fish earned Calendini a 30-pound line-class record, which was a slot previously vacant in the women’s division. Courtesy of I.G.F.A.Featured in last week’s IGFA gallery, Kamila Hampl of Costa Rica has been putting together a nice string of records in her home waters recently. Here she poses with a Pacific jack Crevalle weighing 22 pounds, 13 ounces. This fish is in line to trump the former women’s division 12-pound line-class record of 20 pounds, 12 ounces. Courtesy of I.G.F.A.Is this the all-tackle world record snakehead? Nope. Just the new 80-pound line class record sharptooth catfish. This beauty was caught by angler Martin Hodgkins in Thailand. I know, I know, lots of us have been struggling to fill this record slot. Sorry, we were too late. This cat pinned the needle at 18 pounds, 5 ounces. Anyone else think 80-pound test is overkill for this fish? Keep in mind, the former 80-pound line class record sharptooth only weighed 12 pounds, 7 ounces. Courtesy of I.G.F.A.She may be young, but Heather Michelle Harkavy already holds multiple records. So now she can add this one to this list. Here she is with a 4-pound, 2-ounce Spanish mackerel taken in the Florida Keys on fly gear. This ‘mack beat out the former women’s record of 3 pounds, 12 ounces in the 8-pound fly tippet category. Courtesy of I.G.F.A.To finish with a bang, let’s give junior angler Kyle Vincent a big round of applause for beating this 225-pound, 6-ounce yellowfin tuna off the coast of Panama. Having fought my share of much smaller yellowfin, I don’t envy the struggle young Kyle had on his hands. This catch beat the former boy’s junior IGFA record yellowfin that stood at 190 pounds, 2 ounces, since 2006. Courtesy of I.G.F.A.
There’s been a lot of firsts recently at the IGFA, from new species added for record status, to vacant division slots being filled. Joe Cermele brings you up to speed on the latest jaw-dropping and heart-stopping pending record catches from around the globe.
