In the June edition of the IGFA Hot News we reported about the February 5th catch and release of a huge 113.5 kg (250 lb 3 oz) wels that stirred the pens of writers throughout Europe and beyond, while earning the Italian angler who caught it an IGFA All-Tackle World Record. Then just a month later to the amazement of the many avid anglers on the European continent, another giant wels was caught and released. That catch leads off this edition of the Hot Catches including updates from IGFA World Records Coordinator Jack Vitek of other pending records from Australia, Panama, Canada, Sweden and the U.S.
Ajka, Hungary angler Zsedely Attila, guided by Captain Kiss Jozset, landed a 135 kg (297 lb 9 oz) potential IGFA All-Tackle record wels (Silurus glanis) on March 11, while fishing Italy’s River Po. He was using a Rapala plug when the monster fish hit and needed the better part of an hour to bring this fish to the boat. Aside from the enormous size of the fish, what is even more amazing is that the River Po has produced three potential IGFA All-Tackle wels records within the past year, not to mention that all three have been released alive. The current IGFA record is 113.5 kg (250 lb 3 oz) caught and released a month earlier on Feb. 5, by Italian angler Roberto Godi of Arcole Veroma.
Here’s another remarkable catch and release. Trading his Southern Hemisphere winter to fly fish in a Northern Hemisphere summer, Frank Bluch of Corio Victoria, Australia, landed a monster lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) August 7, on Great Bear Lake, in Canada’s NW Territories. Using ultra thin 1 kg (2 lb) tippet Bluch fought the 13.83 kg (30 lb 8 oz) lake trout for over four hours after it hit his white dumbell strip tease fly. Great angling by Bluch, and boatmenship by guide Captain Mike Harrison, can be credited for this amazing catch and potential fly record. To make the story even sweeter, the fish was released alive after being weighed and photographed. The current IGFA record is 6.12 kg (13 lb 8 oz) caught in 1986 from Yukon Canada’s, Wellesley Lake
. Two IGFA World Records might be going to junior angler Maximilian Hampl of Cartago, Costa Rica, for a single fish he caught on July 19. While fishing Boca Chica, Panama, guided by Captain Antonio Isaza, Hampl landed a beautiful 13.4 kg (29 lb 8 oz) mullet snapper (Lutjanus aratus) using a live blue runner for bait. Ten minutes after the fish hit, Hampl had the fish in the boat and was qualified for both the men’s 15 kg (30 lb) line class record and the male junior record. The current IGFA line class record is 13.23 kg (29 lb 3 oz) recorded in 2006 in David, Panama.
Using just a bread ball for bait, Pamela J. Henry of Stuart, Florida, USA, landed a blue tilapia (Oreochromis aureus) on August 31, while fishing the Florida’s South Fork River. She needed six minutes to land the 4.25 kg (9 lb 6 oz) potential IGFA All-Tackle record fish. The current IGFA record is 4.08 kg (9 lb 0 oz) caught in 2003 in Kissimmee, Fla. (Photo blue tilapia 36239)
