World Records Continue to be Challenge



Cats, Trout and Land Locked Salmon


Just a few months ago a remarkable picture showed Roberto Godi dwarfed by his record breaking 250lb Wels catfish taken on the river Po in Italy. Now a Hungarian angler, Zsedely Attila guided by Captain Kiss Jozset, has landed a 135 kg (297 lb 9 oz) potential IGFA All-Tackle record wels (Silurus glanis) on March 11, while fishing on the Po.  He was using a Rapala plug when the monster fish hit and needed the better part of an hour to bring it 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 Po is definitely a venue to add to your must visit list if you are after big cats.

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.

Danish angler Frank Jensen of Aabyhoej, landed a beautiful 11.2 kg (24 lb 11 oz) Atlantic salmon (landlocked) (Salmo salar) on June 25, while fishing Klaralv, Sweden. Jensen was using a nors flue for bait and needed 45 minutes to land the potential new IGFA All-Tackle record. The current IGFA record pulled from Lake Vaernern, Djoroe, Sweden in 2002, is 10.76 kg (23 lb 11 oz).

Remarkable catches, one fish makes 2 men look very small, one is landed on a gossamer thread of nylon and a 24lb 11 oz landlocked salmon that has never seen a food pellet is caught in Sweden. Kinda sums up why we go fishing folks, you never know what nature is going to present you with.

Story and picture supplied by the the International Game Fishing Association

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