September 2005
Three young lady anglers lead off the lists of New Pending Records before the IGFA’s world records department. IGFA records coordinator Rebecca Reynolds provided information on these 10 recent submissions:
Brittany Lee Askelson, Sandy, Utah, U.S.A., fishing Wyoming’s Clear Lake caught a 1 lb 10 oz (.73 kg) golden trout in July using a Panther Martin lure. It took the youngster just a minute to capture a possible female smallfry record that before now has been vacant.
Another young girl hoping for a smallfry record in the 2006 World Record Game Fishes annual is Haylee Menendall, 9, of Shiglenton, Michigan, U.S.A., who landed a 20 lb 10 oz (9.35 kg) lake trout from Lake Superior in 20 minutes. She used a trolling spoon. The current 18 lb 8 oz record was established in May of this year.
A 16 minute fish fight may net Sandra Marquard, Berlin, Germany a place in the female junior record division. She landed a 26 lb 5 oz (11.95 kg) European pollock in June while fishing Skerstadfjord, Norway.
Fernando De Almeida, Sao Paulo, Brazil hopes to beat a one-and-half year old IGFA record by almost 20 pounds after landing a redtail catfish (pirarara) weighing 36 lb 4 oz (16.44 kg) from the Brazil’s Cururu River in August. He’s applied for a 20 lb (10 kg) line class record. The current record is 16 lb 6 oz (7.43 kg), set in January 2003.
Using an eel for bait, Janet Metcalf-Bennett, of Renhold, England landed a 50 lb 7 oz (22.87 kg) wels catfish fishing River Ebro, in Spain this past June. She’s entered the catch for a vacant 12 lb (6 kg) line class record. Catfish that reportedly range to the 200 lb mark along with large carp are popular species for anglers on the Iberian river outside Barcelona.
In the all-tackle division, Neil Schultz. Lowood, Queensland, Australia is hoping to establish a new record entry for an Australia bass. Fishing Australia’s Lake Wivenhoe he used an Australian-made Predatek lure and boated the fish in 10 minutes. After weighing, measuring, photographing and documenting his catch he released the fish back in the lake. It’s also pending for an 8 lb line class record. It weighed in at 8 lb 4 oz (3.75 kg) his heaviest yet. He has a number of other IGFA line class records already for the species and has five more pending.
In line to break a 25 year old record is Jamie Smith, Bermuda who spent 30 minutes landing a horse-eye jack weighing 23 lb 6 oz (10.60 kg) Smith used ballyhoo to make the catch in Long Bay, Bermuda and has applied for a 16 lb line class record. The current record is 23 lb 0 oz caught January 3, 1980.
Emmett Wimmer of Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin U.S.A., landed a 10 lb 8 oz (4.76 kg) cero mackerel in May while fly-fishing Bimini, Bahamas. He used an “eat me” fly and took 10 minutes to bring in the fish. His pending record in the men’s 20 lb tippet class could break a 10 year old record of 7 lb 12 oz.
Thomas E. Farmer of Galveston, Texas, U.S.A., hopes to break a three year old all-tackle record by 135 pounds. Farmer was fishing in Valdez, Alaska and after a one hour 45 minute tussle landed a salmon shark weighing 365 lb (165.56 kg). The current all tackle record of 230 lb 0 oz was set in June 2002.
Fishing near his home Dominique Meunier, St. Gilles-les-bains, Reunion Island, landed a giant trevally weighing 132 lb 4 oz (60 kg). He was using flying fish as bait and it took him 20 minutes to land. He hopes to capture the men’s 130 lb line class record. The current 121 lb 4 oz mark was set last December.
Rolex/IGFA Inshore Championship Tournament dates set for 2006
For the sixth straight year the world-class Rolex/IGFA Inshore Championship Tournament will be held in the Florida Keys. The dates for the prestigious tournament are July 9 – 12, 2006, in Islamorada. The Inshore Championship Tournament (ICT) invites the winners of over 58 qualifying events held on four continents and sanctioned by the IGFA during 2005. The number of qualifying tournaments has grown to include over 2,800 competitive anglers from eight countries and 12 states in the U.S.
By: Pete Johnson, Johnson Communications
