Before you brag to your fishing pals about the 20-pounder you caught on 12-pound line, check out these line-class current world records from the archives of the International Game Fish Association. I’ve ordered them per the ratio of fish weight to line weight (strength). (For example, a 48-pound fish landed on line testing in the 8-pound class would be a 6-to-1 catch — and while impressive, not impressive enough to make this list.) The ratios are rounded off to the nearest whole number, by the way. Some fight times are crazy-short, but every record application warrants that catches were taken within the constraints of IGFA rules.
176-to-1 MAKO SHARK
351 Pounds, 13 Ounces on 2-Pound Liine
Place: Poor Knights Rise, New Zealand
Date: May 2016
Bait/lure: Swordfish
Fight time: 1 hour Note: this was recently submitted and remained pending as a record at press time Courtesy IGFA / igfa.org
53-to-1 TARPON
106 Pounds on 2-Pound Line
Place: Marathon Key, Florida
Date: June 1992
Bait/lure: Mullet
Fight time: 27 minutes Courtesy IGFA / igfa.org
31-to-1 PACIFIC HALIBUT
244 Pounds on 8-Pound Line
Place: Chicagof Island, Alaska
Date: August 1988
Bait/lure: Salmon head
Fight time: 1 hours, 5 minutes Courtesy IGFA / igfa.org
29-to-1 DOLPHINFISH (MAHI)
58 Pounds, 3 Ounces on 2-Pound Line
Place: Piñas Bay, Panama
Date: April 2007
Bait/lure: Ballyhoo
Fight time: 10 minutes Courtesy IGFA / igfa.org
23-to-1 BLACK DRUM
90 Pounds, 8 Ounces on 4-Pound Line
Place: New Smyrna Beach, Florida
Date: March 1998
Bait/lure: Crab
Fight time: 1 hour Courtesy IGFA / igfa.org
18-to-1 COBIA
73 Pounds, 10 Ounces on 4-Pound Line
Place: “Gulf of Mexico”
Date: April 1999
Bait/lure: eel
Fight time: 40 minutes Courtesy IGFA / igfa.org
18-to-1 THRESHER SHARK
73 pounds, 13 ounces on 4-Pound Line
Place: Newport Beach, California
Date: May 2009
Bait/lure: not listed
Fight time: 50 minutes Courtesy IGFA / igfa.org
16-to-1 YELLOWFIN TUNA
64 Pound, 4 Ounces on 4-Pound Line
Place: Piñas Bay, Panama
Date: June 2011
Bait/lure: Live blue runner
Fight time: 1 minute Courtesy IGFA / igfa.org
15-to-1 WAHOO
60 Pounds on 4-Pound Line
Place: Minerva Reefs
Date: October 2014
Bait/lure: Rapala
Fight time: 25 minutes Courtesy IGFA / igfa.org
14-to-1 GREATER AMBERJACK
83 Pounds, 12 Ounces on 6-Pound Line
Place: Virginia Beach, Virginia
Date: August 1987
Bait/lure: Bucktail jig
Fight time: 2 hours, 40 minutes Courtesy IGFA / igfa.org
14-to-1 KING MACKEREL
28 Pounds, 8 Ounces on 2-Pound Line
Place: Marathon, Florida Keys
Date: April 1992
Bait/lure: Ballyhoo
Fight time: 35 minutes Courtesy IGFA / igfa.org
13-to-1 LINGCOD
52 Pounds on 4-Pound Line
Place: Gulf of Alaska
Date: July 2007
Bait/lure: Kandlefish jig
Fight time: 5 minutes Courtesy IGFA / igfa.org
13-to-1 RED DRUM
52 Pounds, 5 Ounces on 4-Pound Line
Place: Indian River Lagoon, central Florida
Date: February 1996
Bait/lure: Crab
Fight time: 21 minutes Courtesy IGFA / igfa.org
12-to-1 BLUEFIN TUNA
190 Pounds on 16-Pound Line
Place: Unspecified
Date: January 2005
Bait/lure: Ballyhoo on an Ilander lure
Fight time: 2 hours Courtesy IGFA / igfa.org
12-to-1 JACK CREVALLE
24 Pounds, 4 Ounces on 2-Pound Line
Place: Pensacola Bay, Florida
Date: September 1993
Bait/lure: Menhaden
Fight time: 9 minutes Courtesy IGFA / igfa.org
11-to-1 GREAT BARRACUDA
44 Pounds, 1 Ounce on 4-Pound Line
Place: Groote Eylandt, Australia
Date: November 1987
Bait/lure: Nils Master lure
Fight time: 55 minutes Courtesy IGFA / igfa.org
11-to-1 PERMIT
44 Pounds, 12 Ounces of 4-Pound Line
Place: Key West, Florida
Date: April 1987
Bait/lure: Crab
Fight time: 1 hour Courtesy IGFA / igfa.org
11-to-1 STRIPED BASS
45 Pounds on 4-Pound Line
Place: Chesapeake Bay
Date: December 2012
Bait/lure: Live eel
Fight time: 2 hours Courtesy IGFA / igfa.org
11-TO-1 WHITE SEABASS
42 Pounds, 13 Ounces on 4-Pound line
Place: unspecified
Date: July 2009
Bait/lure: Squid
Fight time: 1 hour, 30 minutes Courtesy IGFA / igfa.org
11-to-1 ATLANTIC BIGEYE TUNA
130 Pounds, 4 Ounces on 12-Pound Line
Place: Hout Bay, South Africa
Date: May 1994
Bait/lure: CD18 Rapala
Fight time: 1 hour Courtesy IGFA / igfa.org
10-to-1 PACIFIC BIGEYE TUNA
83 Pounds on 8-Pound Line
Place: San Diego
Date: October 1990
Bait/lure: Zuker lure
Fight time: 33 minutes Courtesy IGFA / igfa.org
