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Pending World Record fly-caught Alligator Gar

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IGFA Photo


Though alligator gar get to be the size of submarines, this 62-pound, 8 ouncer looks to be the largest ever taken on 16-pound test tippet and a fly rod and is a pending IGFA line class record.

Martin Arostegui of Coral Gables, FL, who has compiled more world records than anyone else in IGFA history, caught the big fish on Texas’ Lake Livingston on August 22, 2011 while working with Captain Kirk Kirkland.

Thirty minutes after the fish struck his custom fly, Arostegui was able to land, weigh and release the fish alive. With this catch, he kicked the living stuffing out of the current IGFA record, which is 24 pounds, 13 ounces!

Virginia lake kicks out 143-lb. pending All Tackle World Record Blue Catfish

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Good news! It's now safe to get back in the water at Kerr Lake!


Small children, dogs and waterfowl can all breathe a collective sigh of relief at Lake Kerr in Virginia now that Jaws has been apprehended!

Just a hair short of a year after Greg Bernal made history with a 130-pound IGFA All-Tackle World Record blue catfish that he pulled from the Missouri River, Richard Nicholas Anderson of Greenville, North Carolina, landed this beast of a blue from Kerr Lake, Virginia. The massive cat weighed in at 143 pounds and qualifies for both the new potential All-Tackle World Record and the men’s 30-lb. line class record.

The big cat sucked in chicken livers (what, not a whole chicken??) and took 45 minutes to land.

Giant 264-lb. Convict Grouper smashes current IGFA World Record!

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What happens when you cross a rockfish with a Mini Cooper...


There are two very impressive statistics relating to this enormous Convict Grouper taken by Koji Yoshida on a live amberstripe scad off Okinawa, Japan. First off, the leviathan weighed in at 264 pounds, 8 ounces, which is a whopping 126 pounds heavier that the current IGFA All-Tackle World Record for the species!!

Perhaps even more eye-popping is the the fact that Yoshida whipped the fish in a lightning-quick 8 minutes! Dude’s got some skills…especially when you look at the gear he was using. Pretty light stuff, all things considered!

Barring any issues with the paperwork, this fish should be soon recognized as the largest Convict Grouper ever taken on rod and reel.

260-lb. world record catfish duped by kernel of corn!

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The happy angler (left) & some pals with catzilla


So, just what did Welsh angler Martin David Kent catch this newly-approved IGFA All-Tackle World Record, 260-pound Mekong catfish on in Thailand? A 10-pound live minnow? Live goat? A Thanksgiving turkey? A small child? Nah…how about just a single kernel of sweet corn!

Crazy, huh?

The 7 footer fought for 55 minutes and was released back into the lake on Gillham’s Fishing Resort. Apparently, mekongs to over 600 pounds have been caught in nets, so there just may be another record out there. Rumor has it that you should try soaking two pieces of corn for the really big ones…