Angler Tim Little caught a huge 4.7 kg (10 lb 6 oz) spotted bass (Micropterus punctulatus) on January 12, 2015 while fishing California’s New Bullards Bar Reservoir. Little was fishing with a reaction bait and needed only two minutes to subdue the fish after hooking up. If approved, Little’s fish will become the new men’s 10 kg (20 lb) line class world record, and the second heaviest ever submitted! The current record is 3.92 kg (8 lb 10 oz).
On January 2nd, angler Kenneth Westerfeld potentially smashed the 17 year-old All-Tackle world record for tautog (blackfish) when he landed a 13.07 kg (28 lb 13 oz) beast while fishing off the coast of Ocean City, Maryland, USA. Westerfeld needed around 10 minutes to subdue the tautog (Tautoga onitis) after it ate the Jonah crab he was fishing on the bottom. If approved, Westerfeld’s fish would be the heaviest tog ever recorded by the IGFA. The current record stands at 11.33 kg (25 lb).
The intimidating dentition on this 90 cm payara didn’t prevent IGFA Representative Ian-Arthur de Sulocki from properly documenting this potential All-Tackle Length world record. Sulocki was fishing a chunk of fish on the bottom of Brazil’s Trombetas River on November 23, 2014 when the fish hit. After a ten minute battle, Sulocki was able to subdue and properly document the payara (Hydrolycus spp.), before releasing it alive. The current IGFA record is 88 cm.
Giant trevally (Caranx ignobilis) are considered by many as one of the toughest fighting fish in the ocean. German angler Manfred Schmidt experienced this first-hand on November 11, 2014 while fishing off Watamu, Kenya with local guide Callum Looman. Schmidt was trolling live bait when the line on his Shimano Tiagra 50W started screaming off the reel. Nearly an hour after hooking up, Schmidt landed the enormous 71 kg (156 lb 8 oz) GT, which if approved, would crush the existing men’s 24 kg (50 lb) line class record of 56.6 kg (124 lb 12 oz).
