FishwithJD

The web's best fishing magazine

Holy Hucho! A nearly 50-lb. record Taimen on the fly!

By 2 Comments

Yep, that's a big one!


I‘m guessing that when nearly 50 pounds of river monster grabs you wad of feathers and glue…you know it! The fact of the matter is Marles H. Frankman of Golden Valley, MN spent a half hour dancing with this 47-pound, 8-ounce taimen (Hucho taimen) after it grabbed the Dairiki streamer she was fishing in Mongolia’s Ur River on June 7.

With the help of guide Ganpurev Enebish, Mrs. Frankman finally bested the beast and, in the process, qualifed herself for the International Game Fish Association’s 16-lb. tippet world record. She absolutely smoked the previous record, a 28 pounder caught in Mongolia’s Eg River in 2001.

The coolest part? She released the fish!

The new All Tackle World Record Brown Trout??

By 3 Comments

(IGFA Photo)

On July 16, less than a year after Michigan’s Tom Healy set a new All Tackle World Record for brown trout with a 41 pound, 7 ouncer, Roger Hellen of Franksville, WI banged a monster brown that was larger than the current record — by an ounce (41 pounds, 8 ounces). Hellen hooked the beast while trolling a Fishlander spoon in Lake Michigan off the Wisconsin coast.

Now, here’s where things get a little dicey: Though Hellen’s fish is one ounce heavier than the current all-tackle record, according to IGFA World Record requirements, to replace a record fish weighing 25 pounds or more, the replacement must weigh at least one half of 1 percent more than the existing record. Bottom-line, Healy and Hellen might be sharing an IGFA World Record tie for their two fish. As a baseball guy, I’m not a big fan of ties, but what can you do here?

I have no idea how Hellen’s fish was handled, but if it were thrown on the bottom of the boat and allowed to dry out rather than being put immediately on ice, (again pure speculation on my part…though the fish in the pic looks pretty leathery), it would have lost a significant amount of weight…enough, probably, to make the difference.Click here to read more…

River Monster: The new world record Blue Catfish

By 6 Comments

The new record blue cat: If that doesn't stop ya from wanting to go noodlin', I don't know what will! (Photo:IGFA)


Though it looks like something from a B horror flick that crawls out of the sewer to eat unsuspecting college co-eds, this repulsive beast is actually a pending IGFA All Tackle World Record blue catfish.

Greg Bernal of Florissant, MO nabbed this 130-pound giant blue cat (think about that one for a minute…130 pounds of catfish) while fishing on the Missouri River, out of North County, MO with an Asian carp for bait. The battle lasted 20 minutes and the fish bested the previous world record for the species by 6 pounds. The old mark for blue cats was a 124 pounder caught five years ago by Timothy Pruitt from the Mississippi River near Alton, Ill.

Guess it’s catfish dinner tonight, honey!

For more world record info, check out IGFA.org

Beast from the Depths! A new pending world record Wels Catfish!

By 3 Comments

Open up and say ahhhhh! (IGFA photo)


Holy creature from the Black Lagoon, Batman! While this titanic beast may look like something that may slither up out of a storm sewer and start devouring unsuspecting city dwellers in some John Carpenter flick, it’s actually a pending International Game Fish Association All-Tackle Word Record wels catfish!

While fishing with a live bream on the River Po in Mantova, Italy with IGFA Captain Alberto Bartoli, angler Roberto Godi hooked into this enormous, 250.3-pound cat…which fought like a wounded wildebeest for 45 minutes before being subdued…weighed…and released.
Click here to read more…

The new World Record Kokanee Salmon!

By 5 Comments

Ron Campbell with Kokezilla



Okay, this is getting ridiculous. In March, Oregon’s Wallowa Lake gave up the U.S. record kokanee, an 8.23 pounder…and then in May, it surrendered an 8-pound, 13-ouncer in May.. Now, this: On June, 14 Ron Campbell of Pendleton, OR caught what should be the new all-tackle world record koke, a 9.67 pounder! WTF???

Pendleton’s Wallowa beast measured 27 3/4 inches long and had a girth of 17 3/4 inches and just topped the current IGFA World Record, a 9.6 pounder caught in British Columbia back in 1988. After the paperwork goes through, it should be recognized as the new record…that is until somebody catches a 10 pounder!

Read more about this from our friends at Northwest Wild Country.