Several very large fish – among them a wels and a tarpon — lead off the IGFA Hot Catches report for July with potential new records from Italy, Australia, Japan, Mexico, Singapore, Canada and across the U.S. International Game Fish Association World Records Coordinator Jack Vitek updates us with these 11 recent recreational fish catches now before the world records committee.
Guided by IGFA Certified Captain Alberto Bartoli and using shrimp for bait, Roberto Godi of Arcole Veroma, Italy landed a potential IGFA All-Tackle record after catching a wels (Silurus glanis) on February 5. The giant fish weighed 113.5 kg (250 lb 3 oz) which Godi caught while fishing Italy’s River Po. He said the fish fought for 45 minutes before he was able to pull it to shore onto a smooth surfaced mat where it was weighed, photographed and released alive. The current IGFA record is 242 lb 8 oz (110 kg) caught February 2009 also from the River Po.
Thomas M. Evans Jr. of Grafton, Vermont, USA, guided by Al Dopirak, landed a huge tarpon (Megalops atlanticus) on May 10 while fishing a brown toad fly off Pine Island, Florida, USA near Ft. Myers. This potential men’s 6 kg (12 lb) tippet record took two hours and ten minutes to land and weighed in at 88.22 kg (194 lb 8 oz). The current IGFA record is 177 lbs (80.28 kg) recorded off Homosassa, Florida in May, 1994.
Multi-IGFA world record holder Sean Konrad of Spruce Grove, Alberta, Canada, landed a burbot (Lota lota) in 20 minutes on March 27 while fishing Lake Diefenbaker, Saskatchewan, Canada. His potential IGFA All-Tackle record fish weighed in at 11.4 kg (25 lb 2 oz) and was caught using herring as bait. Konrad is hoping to beat his own current IGFA record after recording a 19 lb 1 oz burbot in March 2008 from the same lake.
Using very thin tippet while fly fishing near Nelson, Australia, a border town located at the mouth of the Glenelg River in the south western corner of the state of Victoria, fly caster Frank Bluch of Corio, Victoria, landed a 2.15 kg (4 lb 12 oz) meagre (Argyrosomus spp.) on April 25. Bluch was using a yellow rabbit streamer tied to 1 kg (2 lb) tippet to catch a potential men’s saltwater flyfishing record. The current IGFA record is vacant for the recently added species.
