SCBI - 2008's Notable Fish

[PanamaJack]

I’ve just been reviewing some of the notable fish our members have caught during 2008, and their achievements, to determine who’s been awarded the Club’s 20 different trophies. And it hasn’t been an easy task! So, trying not to give too much away, what’s in the frame?

Well on the Marlin front our biggest fish was a 1200lb plus Blue Marlin – that’s half a ton – from Mauritius, but then there were all those fish - 200 plus - that you’ve possibly read about in earlier posts from Cape Verde (CV). The largest from there was estimated at 900lbs. (That possibly puts this one, pictured below, caught on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef into perspective – that was called at ‘950’ – code for a possible ‘four figure fish’.) And of course there was that ‘world best’ from CV when Tom Bettle, Roger B (aka Ravelling Tangler) and another of our members released 15 Blue Marlin in a single day.

Then in terms of fish weight to line strength ratio we’ve had a number better than 10 to 1 with the best, from the Pacific coast of Panama, a 15 to 1 – a released 450 pounder on 30lb class tackle. In addition another of our members released a Striped Marlin estimated at 325lbs from the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. Um ... you may say isn’t the world All-Tackle record, a New Zealand fish, now over 500lb? So what makes that notable? Well we’re fairly certain it’s the largest ever (released) on that coastline – most fish from there are in the 150 to 200lb range.

Sharks? How about these, both released – an estimated 800lb Thresher from Hawaii and a 2100lb Great White from South Africa.

Then some of the ‘middleweights’. A Yellowfin Tuna (YFT) of 170lbs from Cape Verde, but possibly a harder fight, a 140 pounder on just 30lb test from Panama. To my mind a 5 to 1 Tuna – alright I know it didn’t quite get there – on light tackle is probably one of the hardest angling achievements. (The best I can recall was a South African friend who caught a 186lb YFT on 16lb test after a four and a half hour battle in Hawaii. That was a world record for a number of years but I see now has been bested by an Australian fish of 190.)

And Sailfish up to an estimated 140lbs.

Then the smaller species and I guess nothing has come close to Billy Furnish’s (aka SeaHorse) 47lb Jack Crevalle on 20lb test from Sierra Leone. Well, apart from one. One of the other Club members caught, and weighed, a ‘monster’ Bluefin Trevally of 36lbs that the crew filleted and ate! Just like Billy’s fish that would have been a world record! Still both candidates for our Crying Towel trophy – the ‘best’ hard luck story! And also in contention for that trophy is an estimated 110/120lb Giant Trevally that one of our members fought on a fly rod! That was whilst fishing from one of the remoter islands in the Seychelles archipelago. Unfortunately it bit through the shock tippet.

Then Ladies-wise we’ve had Dorado to 40lbs on a fly rod and, from freshwater, a Giant Mekong Catfish of over 70lbs. Although by no means the largest we’ve recorded that was a lake record - Bor Sang Lake, Chiang Mai, Thailand - for foreign anglers.

And in freshwater there’ve been Wels Catfish to over 160lbs from the Ebro with the best on the fly rod a huge Sea-run Brown Trout of 27lbs from Argentina’s Rio Grande.

So, not a bad year! And here’s hoping 2009 produces just as many excellent specimens.

Wishing you all the Complements of the Season and every success for 2009.

[Aram]

I’ve just been reviewing some of the notable fish our members have caught during 2008, and their achievements, to determine who’s been awarded the Club’s 20 different trophies. And it hasn’t been an easy task! So, trying not to give too much away, what’s in the frame?

Well on the Marlin front our biggest fish was a 1200lb plus Blue Marlin – that’s half a ton – from Mauritius, but then there were all those fish - 200 plus - that you’ve possibly read about in earlier posts from Cape Verde (CV). The largest from there was estimated at 900lbs. (That possibly puts this one, pictured below, caught on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef into perspective – that was called at ‘950’ – code for a possible ‘four figure fish’.) And of course there was that ‘world best’ from CV when Tom Bettle, Roger B (aka Ravelling Tangler) and another of our members released 15 Blue Marlin in a single day.

Then in terms of fish weight to line strength ratio we’ve had a number better than 10 to 1 with the best, from the Pacific coast of Panama, a 15 to 1 – a released 450 pounder on 30lb class tackle. In addition another of our members released a Striped Marlin estimated at 325lbs from the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. Um ... you may say isn’t the world All-Tackle record, a New Zealand fish, now over 500lb? So what makes that notable? Well we’re fairly certain it’s the largest ever (released) on that coastline – most fish from there are in the 150 to 200lb range.

Sharks? How about these, both released – an estimated 800lb Thresher from Hawaii and a 2100lb Great White from South Africa.

Then some of the ‘middleweights’. A Yellowfin Tuna (YFT) of 170lbs from Cape Verde, but possibly a harder fight, a 140 pounder on just 30lb test from Panama. To my mind a 5 to 1 Tuna – alright I know it didn’t quite get there – on light tackle is probably one of the hardest angling achievements. (The best I can recall was a South African friend who caught a 186lb YFT on 16lb test after a four and a half hour battle in Hawaii. That was a world record for a number of years but I see now has been bested by an Australian fish of 190.)

And Sailfish up to an estimated 140lbs.

Then the smaller species and I guess nothing has come close to Billy Furnish’s (aka SeaHorse) 47lb Jack Crevalle on 20lb test from Sierra Leone. Well, apart from one. One of the other Club members caught, and weighed, a ‘monster’ Bluefin Trevally of 36lbs that the crew filleted and ate! Just like Billy’s fish that would have been a world record! Still both candidates for our Crying Towel trophy – the ‘best’ hard luck story! And also in contention for that trophy is an estimated 110/120lb Giant Trevally that one of our members fought on a fly rod! That was whilst fishing from one of the remoter islands in the Seychelles archipelago. Unfortunately it bit through the shock tippet.

Then Ladies-wise we’ve had Dorado to 40lbs on a fly rod and, from freshwater, a Giant Mekong Catfish of over 70lbs. Although by no means the largest we’ve recorded that was a lake record - Bor Sang Lake, Chiang Mai, Thailand - for foreign anglers.

And in freshwater there’ve been Wels Catfish to over 160lbs from the Ebro with the best on the fly rod a huge Sea-run Brown Trout of 27lbs from Argentina’s Rio Grande.

So, not a bad year! And here’s hoping 2009 produces just as many excellent specimens.

Wishing you all the Complements of the Season and every success for 2009.

Hello Dave,

Thanks for sharing the achievements of your members with us. A well written report, split into sections for easy reading.

Personally, just like yourself, I am more impressed with the catches on the light tackle & the 'almost' 5 to 1 ratio, especially on a YFT, is definately my favourite so :clap3: to that particular member. (the pull-back is more than impressive when the ratio is 3 to 1, our guys took a YFT of 240lb on a progressive 40-80lb rod loaded with 80lb mono & that was sore enough)

My second :clap3: goes to the Trevally on 20lb and even though the 100lb odd GT on the fly gear would have been an incredible achievment, personally I would give that trophie to the chap who landed the 36lb monster fighting machine, especially since it was so eagerly filleted & consumed. I just love that whole story, from start to finish, so much better! :laugh: (and also I'm a little :wacko: biased towards Trevally, both catching & eating)

Well done to all.

Aram (www.gonefishing.tv)
PS I heard about that incredible catch of 15 Blues in one session from CV but I didn't know our Tom was part of that group? :roll1: And in case this is my last post pre 25th......Merry Christmas!

[Spitfire66]

What a wonderful report there :)

Well done to all - some fantastic fish !

[TomBettle]

PS I heard about that incredible catch of 15 Blues in one session from CV but I didn't know our Tom was part of that group? :roll1: And in case this is my last post pre 25th......Merry Christmas!

Yes Aram, it was I...

:notworthy:notworthy:notworthy

I felt sure you knew? :bounce:

[Aram]

Yes Aram, it was I...

:notworthy:notworthy:notworthy

I felt sure you knew? :bounce:

No....you could've bloody told me! :laugh:

Anyway, see that Tom? Aussies break record with a 190lb YFT on 16lb!!! I told you to get Stan to make you a 15-30 class rod for added fun factor.....to better that (which incidentally is now an almost 12 to 1 ratio) we have to now find you a YFT of at least 360lb, assuming you come with 30lb on the reel and with the world record YFT being 440lbs....you don't bleeding ask for much, do you! Unless you load that reel of yours with 12lb mono which means a 144pounder should do it....but then again, with 12lb line that 20-40 rod of yours would hardly have a bend in it, where's the fun in that! :nonono:

Dave, do you have information on records for other classes? and for the other species of Tuna also?

Aram (www.gonefishing.tv)

[STAN M]

Dave, do you have information on records for other classes? and for the other species of Tuna also?

Aram (www.gonefishing.tv)


Dont tell him Dave, make him join, then we can rub his face in it :laugh:

PS Tom is coming with a proper rod, mind you he could forget yours could`nt he :ohmy:

[PanamaJack]

Dave, do you have information on records for other classes? and for the other species of Tuna also?

Aram (www.gonefishing.tv)

Hi Aram
The IGFA who administer World records don't unfortunately publish record weights on their web site - www.igfa.org. It's one of those bits of information they've chosen to keep private, for members only.

However EFSA (well technically the Light Tackle Club) do display European records on their web site - http://www.efsa.co.uk/acceptable-species.htm - and many say the certificates are much nicer.

(Disappointingly I can't speak from personal experience! I've had shots at a number of world record sized fish but the only one that got there, that 20lb plus Bluefish on 6, we didn't have sensitive enough scales available until the next morning when it registered 5 ounces light. The daft thing was that it was, from memory, nearly 3lbs over the European record but I was so disappointed, missing out on the world record, that I didn't bother to claim it.)

Any number of our Club members, including Stan, have however established World records and those, together with our Club's line class records, are recorded on our web site - www.scbi.org.uk. (Alright I know it's years out of date, but I'm currently revamping it. Watch this space!)

Tuna, you're absolutely right.

Years ago I remember playing an estimated 300lb BigEye on 30lb test from Madeira. It was from a 'rubbish' boat, the flybridge controls didn't work and the skipper who could speak English was trying, at one point, to back down on the fish - he couldn't see me - using instructions from a non-fishing translator. Um ... I soon decided that wasn't going to work!

Pre-sets just don't work with those and, after those first explosive runs when I suspect my fish was still with the shoal, I push the drag right up. I took all the stretch out of it and got the line to sing before I eased it back a fraction. All seemed to go well, especially as we were fishing most of the time from a stationery boat, until it was 20' out, beaten. But the line, after I think it was close to three hours, EXPLODED! Um ... I really should have backed that drag back with it so close. Still that's hindsight.

Then, in Ascension Island, I was fishing 16lb test for what were school 40 to 50lb Yellowfin, chunking, when something considerably larger hooked up. That one, and again it was almost beaten, also managed to pop the line. Or perhaps it was me being a tad too brutal?

With light gear though the first, the most difficult task is forcing them to the surface. They then start circling, often just sub-surface. You have to keep the pressure on but, when they're furthest away, motor towards them to recovery line. They'll continue to circle but have to expend more energy pulling line against the drag. You just keep repeating that until you have them beaten. But DON'T let crewman go for a gaff shot other in that from third. I remember a friend, again in Ascension, having played a YFT on a fly rod for 2 1/2 hours. With the fish sub surface the crewman went for a shot and nicked it in the tail. Down it went and, faced with potentially another two hour fight, he'd had enough and pulled for a break!

Any rate, enjoy the Festive break and 'fingers crossed' for more and even bigger fish in 2009.

[Aram]

Dont tell him Dave, make him join, then we can rub his face in it :laugh:

Rub my face in it? Rub my face in it? In what? Marmite I hope, it's my favourite!


PS Tom is coming with a proper rod, mind you he could forget yours could`nt he :ohmy:

Proper rod? Nah....if it were, it'd be for sale in my shop :whistling

My rod? Am I getting a rod?? :bounce: I'm sure the boys of the Albakora are going to be very grateful of their special present & give you something in return that I KNOW you're really in to....lots of this :group: and this :kissing::kissing: and this :love::love:

:roll1:

Aram (www.gonefishing.tv)

[sea horse]

Hello Dave and Arum,
I have tried to log on to IGFA world
records as I am a member but they have changed the format. I printed in yellowfin and line class but I still cant get access. If anyone can advise where I am going wrong please help.Arum I have all the world records up until 2007 if that is any help to you let me know. May I take this opportunity to wish everyone a merry xmas and prosperous new year,also plenty of tight lines,
Billy Furnish.

[Aram]

Thanks for the info Dave....I'll have a browse on your site when I get a minute.

Stan is one of your members? That means there's every chance that I might meet him one day??? :ohmy::unsure::doh:

Aram (www.gonefishing.tv)

[Aram]

Hello Dave and Arum,
I have tried to log on to IGFA world
records as I am a member but they have changed the format. I printed in yellowfin and line class but I still cant get access. If anyone can advise where I am going wrong please help.Arum I have all the world records up until 2007 if that is any help to you let me know. May I take this opportunity to wish everyone a merry xmas and prosperous new year,also plenty of tight lines,
Billy Furnish.

Hello Billy

Thanks & all the best to you too.

If you have those records in electronic format I'd appreciate it if you could pass them on :)

info@gonefishing.tv

Best Regards,
Aram (www.gonefishing.tv)

[sea horse]

Aram,
I am sorry but I don!t,
I have the IGFA yearbook, I also have the 2008 yearbook but that is leant out at the moment.
Billy Furnish.

[Aram]

Aram,
I am sorry but I don!t,
I have the IGFA yearbook, I also have the 2008 yearbook but that is leant out at the moment.
Billy Furnish.

No worries,

Are these year books available for non-members to purchase?

Aram (www.gonefishing.tv)

[STAN M]

Thanks for the info Dave....I'll have a browse on your site when I get a minute.

Stan is one of your members? That means there's every chance that I might meet him one day??? :ohmy::unsure::doh:

Aram (www.gonefishing.tv)


Have been 17 years :laugh: Might get over there one day Aram, when I want some lighter species :laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:

Dont get your hopes up, I thought the Albakora Cat rod was yours oooppps Blame that Bettle character.

[PanamaJack]

No worries,

Are these year books available for non-members to purchase?

Aram (www.gonefishing.tv)

Hi Aram
You can buy the Year Book without joining the IGFA. From memory the annual subscriptions 35$US, whereas you can get the Book separately for 12.95$US plus postage. Looking at their web site you apparently can't purchase through their electronic shop which seems a tad strange. Just contact them direct.
Dave


Back to the Tuna now and I thought, well it is Christmas, include some pictures of Yellowfin - the bigger ones are caught conventionally on 130lb trolling gear, and there's even one of one taken on a fly rod. But there're also pictures of some failures - mine on 16 and the chap who had the struggle on a fly rod, that's here - http://www.scbi.org.uk/pages/News_WhatsNewNfc200403_A.asp.

Finally I've included one of one of Aram's favourite species, the Jacks. This one's a Black Jack that I caught in 130' of water at night on a 6lb tippet and a Bonefish fly.

Happy Christmas!
Dave

PS By the way just had a note from one of the Club's Dutch members who's now completed his Royal Slam, recording specimens from all of the IGFA's nine billfish species. It's taken him 'one or two' years. He caught his first billfish, a Swordfish, from Sesimbra (Portugal) in 1974!

[TomBettle]

Aram

You don't know how close you came to meeting that Stan chap.
I tried to persuade him to join me over with you in Feb!

One and all, have a great Christmas and hope to meet a few more of you all in 2009.

Best wishes
Tom

[Patudo]

Dave,

That 225'er on the Lunger is one hell of a catch. A really, really nice fish. Didn't one of you get an even bigger bigeye the same trip? - it might even have been on that same lure?

By the way - a very merry Christmas to you and yours - I'm sure you're glad you retired before the financial shenangians started happening...

Best regards
P.

[PanamaJack]

Dave,

That 225'er on the Lunger is one hell of a catch. A really, really nice fish. Didn't one of you get an even bigger bigeye the same trip? - it might even have been on that same lure?

By the way - a very merry Christmas to you and yours - I'm sure you're glad you retired before the financial shenangians started happening...

Best regards
P.

Ah, there by hangs a tale Dustin. Clive Taylor got one of exactly the same size on that trip, but both us (on Shy 3) and the other group from the Club on Andromeda had abortive strikes from tuna that we suspected were in the 6 to 800lb range. Shades of the VWs being dropped from a great height! They both busted out the bands on the end of the stinger lines but didn't hook up.

What were they though? Zak who was crewing on Andromeda got a good look and was absolutely convinced theirs was a Bluefin. And when he got back that Christmas to Faial he spoke to some commercials who'd, some 20 years previous, taken small numbers of Bluefin from that part of the South Atlantic. But we spoke to another of our Club members, who'd been fishing God's Favor and also had detailed knowledge of commercial catches, who'd never heard of Bluefin being taken down there in recent years. He did however speculate that they could have been huge BigEye. He was aware of fish in the 600lb range, way over the rod caught records, being caught by Asian commercials just North, in the Gulf of Guinea.

So, I really don't know. It just seems extremely odd that both of those fish came short on the lures. So were they perhaps Bluefin, fooled until that last split second?

The seas off Ascension can be fairly rough, but the only comparison I have of Bluefin coming up to lures was on the Princess Alice Shoal, 46 miles south of Faial. There Ted was working around a 19 fathom pinnacle we'd discovered and on one pass a big Tuna came up, took up station behind the short left for a while and then lost interest. Conditions though were 'Mill Pond' flat. We made another pass and this time two popped up and one suddenly 'lit up' and shot at the lure. I was so convinced we were going to get a hook up but it missed it by a couple of feet. Curious. It's difficult to credit fish with higher intelligence but I'm convinced it was trying to provoke a reaction from something - the lure - it was unfamiliar with.

Any rate that day, as far as I'm aware the first day any sportfishing crew had Marlin fished out there, was incredible. We released 3 Blues out of 10 strikes, one of which was easily in '4 figures'. That one hit the bird we were running in front of the lure!

When we finally got in I recounted the tale (of the Tuna) to Don Merten, the then captain of Double Header. As soon as I'd mentioned it had 'lit up', literally just like turning on a light bulb, he was absolutely convinced it was a Bluefin.

That season - 1988 - of course Double Header focused on the 'Alice' and a few weeks later, with Ted (Legg) on the deck they got Lawerence Furman's 1146 on 50. Interesting Ted reckoned, as he retrieved one of the other lures, with the record already hooked up, an even bigger fish followed that one in!

Looking forward to meeting up for a natter on the 18th.
Dave

[Patudo]

Dave,

I remember seeing the photos of your Ascension trip - didn't realize the bigeye was only 225 as it seemed so much stouter than the yfin. Such a stocky fish. Could you put up a photo?

You'd have a lot more experience of bluefins than I do Dave. I've only fished for them in Ireland and in that fishery they are definitely not easy to get to bite. There were a couple of years (97-98?) when they seemed to be getting quite a few giants on marlin lures in the Azores fishery and you'll recall a couple years back there were some good schools feeding hard off Lanzarote and guys like Jason Pipe had good results on medium-ish marlin lures, but he has mentioned they are normally a persnitcky fish to get to bite. I guess the sheer amount of commercial pressure they are under quickly weeds out the dumb ones... Bigeye seem to be more avid lure takers by and large but they too can be finicky sometimes. I find it difficult to believe that bigeyes can exceed 600 lbs but if one remembers that there are documented commercial captures of blue marlin (for instance) that exceed anything caught on rod and reel I guess one should not be too quick to comment. It's a shame the crews that have fished the area since then have not (yet) encountered them again, although some whopper yellowfin have come out - Ascension surely must be the best place to catch 200 lb plus yellowfins in the Atlantic?

Best regards

Dustin

ps. I haven't paid my subscription so I'm not sure whether I should turn up on the 18th, but have a good trip to London anyway!

[PanamaJack]

Dave,
I remember seeing the photos of your Ascension trip - didn't realize the bigeye was only 225 as it seemed so much stouter than the yfin. Such a stocky fish. Could you put up a photo?
Sorry, I must have confused you. We didn’t have any BigEyes on that trip, just YFT – loads – and those abortive strikes.

BigEyes did seem to show up occasionally. I remember Olaf having some in subsequent seasons but they weren’t particularly large fish.


I find it difficult to believe that bigeyes can exceed 600 lbs but if one remembers that there are documented commercial captures of blue marlin (for instance) that exceed anything caught on rod and reel I guess one should not be too quick to comment.

I have to say so did I, especially when the IGFA records are all sub-400, just. The biggest sportfish taken one I can find from that Gulf of Guinea population is Mrs Meyer’s 370 pounder from Ghana. (Um ... mustn’t say Candace, it gets the RavellingTangler just too excited. Memories of that Miami Boat Show he attended!) But Peter has got all those long lining stats. I suspect part of the issue is that they tend to stay relatively deep in the water column.


You'd have a lot more experience of bluefins than I do Dave. I've only fished for them in Ireland and in that fishery they are definitely not easy to get to bite. There were a couple of years (97-98?) when they seemed to be getting quite a few giants on marlin lures in the Azores fishery and you'll recall a couple years back there were some good schools feeding hard off Lanzarote and guys like Jason Pipe had good results on medium-ish marlin lures, but he has mentioned they are normally a persnitcky fish to get to bite. I guess the sheer amount of commercial pressure they are under quickly weeds out the dumb ones.

Yes, I remember John Gill in particular taking those Azorean Bluefin, up to over 900lbs, on mainly Softheads. They were hard work in that deep water on the 130s! But I recall him hooking one on a set of 80 that towed them for over 9 hours, out past Sao Jorge, before the line popped!

Although, other than that particular ‘purple patch’, they were very much an ‘occasional catch’. I think more seemed to come on livebaits though when they were targeting Blues. Didn’t Roddy have one?


ps. I haven't paid my subscription so I'm not sure whether I should turn up on the 18th, but have a good trip to London anyway!

Whoops! Slapped wrist! I’m sure it will be OK. There’s one or two more that Mr Clack needs to ‘talk to’.