August 2009 Archive
Fishing the waters of Fiji, Tim Simpson, Coomera Waters QLD, Australia, guided by Capt. Adrian Watt, landed a wahoo (Acanthocybium solandri) on June 17, weighing 31.6 kg (69 lb 10 oz) on 4 kg (8 lb) Platypus Lo-Stretch test line. Simpson, the editor of the South Pacific specialist offshore gamefishing magazine Bluewater said he was fishing the coral reefs at 200 fathoms, 30 miles off Kadavu Island, Fiji aboard Watt's boat Bite Me, using Halco Laser Pro 190 trolling minnow lures which he reported are phenomenally successful for wahoo. He and top American marine photographer Bill Boyce were on a mission to attempt world records on light-tackle for wahoo and sailfish. Over the past four years Simpson has been pursuing the current IGFA record of 56 lb 11oz (25.71 kg) caught off Bermuda a decade ago. Both he and Boyce were locked into a double hookup, battling their tooth laddened fish which each sizzled off 500 meters of line, sometimes straight down and in opposite directions several times. Full details, plus all the secrets of how Simpson achieved the pending record, will be published in a spectacular feature article in BlueWater Issue 75 - on sale in early September. See www.bluewatermag.com.au for more.
Using a ghost shrimp for bait while fishing Newport Bay, California, USA, Richard Pomo guided Kathy Pomo, Anaheim, Calif., to a catch of a California corbina (Minticirrhus undulatus) on April 25, weighing 1.87 kg (4 lb 2 oz) on 2 kg (4 lb) class line. The current IGFA women's line class record is 3 lb 4 oz (1.47 kg) recorded from the waters of nearby Long Beach, August 2003.
While fly-fishing Long Beach, Calif., Dr. Wade Y. Yoshii, M.D., of Manhattan Beach, Calif., USA, landed a California corbina (Minticirrhus undulatus) on May 15, weighing 1.59 kg (3 lb 8 oz) on 6 kg (12 lb) tippet. The current IGFA men's tippet record is 3 lb 6 oz (1.54 kg) catch recorded April 2000 from the same Long Beach vicinity.
Traveling from his home in the 50th U.S. state to visit and fish in the 49th state, Steve Kwiat of Honolulu, Hawaii USA, landed a yelloweye rockfish (Sebastes ruberrimus) weighing 12.7 kg (28 lb 0 oz) from Alaska's Gulf of Alaska USA. Guided by Capt. Scott Hines, Kwiat, used a rubber jig on 4 kg (8 lb) class line for the July 4 catch. The current IGFA men's line class record is 16 lb 1 oz (7.3 kg) caught in August 2004 from East Chugach, Alaska.
While fishing with his wife and renowned taxedermist Curt Moses, angler Capt. Jay Wright Jr. Hollywood, Fla. USA was guided by Kevin Pennison on July 3, to a 28.8 kg (63 lb 8 oz) lingcod (Ophiodon elongatus). Wright was using 6 kg (12 lb), class line and a leadhead fitted with a grubtail, while fishing the Gulf of Alaska, Alaska, USA. The current IGFA men's line class record is 61 lb 0 oz ( 27.66 kg) off Alaska's Pearl Island, set by Wright's friend Kwiat in Aug. 2001.
In Tasmania, junior angler Kieran Gilbert, of New Norfolk, Australia, guided by Stephen Gilbert, landed a Southern bluefin tuna (Thunnus maccoyi) May 16, weighing 90.2 kg (198 lb 13 oz). He was fishing The Lanterns, off the coast of Tasmania using squid and took an hour and 15 minutes to boat the fish. The current IGFA boy's junior record is 174 lb 2 oz (79 kg), caught June 2008 from the waters of Pedra Branca in Tasmania, Australia.
