Tag: record catch

Angler lands rare ‘grander’ blue marlin, shatters record

A Cook Islands angler has landed a 1,128-pound blue marlin while fishing solo aboard his 22-foot boat. The rare ‘grander’ catch sets a national record.

A Cook Islands angler on Monday landed a 1,128-pound blue marlin while fishing solo aboard his 22-foot boat.

The rare “grander” catch established a new blue marlin record for the South Pacific nation, according to the Cook Islands News.

Arnold told the publication that he had been trying for 14 years to reel in a grander, or a marlin weighing 1,000 pounds or more.

“These fish demand so much respect,” Arnold told the Cook Islands News. “A massive thank you to the ocean and Polynesian spirit. “I’m proud to be a Cook Islander, and to bring in these fish in, in my own home. It really is a blessing.”

Not everybody is cheering the catch.

In a Thursday post on X, the Blue Planet Society stated: “Respect? Selfish, egotistical thief of rare wildlife.”

(Blue marlin are listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species.)

The massive marlin was hooked three miles offshore and landed after a 1.5-hour battle that featured multiple leaps and powerful runs.

According to the Cook Islands News, “Every part of the fish was to put to good use, the meat was sold locally and the bones/head prepared and eaten – nothing was wasted.”

The previous Cook Islands record catch, of a 1,045-pound blue marlin, occurred in 2020.

The world record for Pacific blue marlin stands at 1,376 pounds, for a 1982 catch off Kona, Hawaii.

Lake Erie record smallmouth bass rare because of size, but also age

Biologists have determined that a 10.15-pound smallmouth bass reeled from Lake Erie last November was a 16-year-old female.

Biologists have determined that a 10.15-pound smallmouth bass reeled from in Lake Erie last November was a 16-year-old female.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources also stated in a news release Wednesday that the fish caught by Gregg Gallagher of Fremont, Ohio, is the only known 10-pound smallmouth ever caught in a Great Lakes state or province.

Gallagher landed the bass while fishing last Nov. 3 on Lake Erie in Ontario, Canada, waters.

ALSO: Georgia angler’s catch of giant crappie stuns biologists

The previous Ontario record smallmouth was 9.84 pounds, set in 1984. So Gallagher’s catch is a Lake Erie record, a Great Lakes record, and an Ontario record. (The current Ohio record for smallmouth bass is 9.5 pounds.)

Gallagher’s catch measured 23-3/4 inches with a girth of 19-3/8 inches.

According to the Ohio DNR, the fish was hatched in 2006. Smallmouth bass, the agency added, rarely live beyond 14 years.

A typical Lake Erie smallmouth measures less than 20 inches and few catches exceed 7 pounds.

For comparison, the world record for smallmouth bass is 11 pounds, 15 ounces, set at Tennessee’s Dale Hollow Lake in 1955.

–Image showing Gregg Gallagher with his record smallmouth bass is courtesy of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources

Woman lands record crappie on 35th wedding anniversary

A Tennessee woman celebrating her 35th wedding anniversary last weekend reeled in a 3-pound white crappie to set a waterbody record.

A Tennessee woman celebrating her 35th wedding anniversary last weekend reeled in a 3-pound white crappie to establish a lake record.

Beverly Shaw and her husband were fishing at J. Percy Priest Lake with Brian Carper’s Guide Service when the 17-inch crappie struck. It was the largest white crappie ever landed at the 42-mile-long reservoir in north-central Tennessee.

Photo courtesy of Brian Carper’s Guide Service

Guide Eric Dickens boasted about the catch Sept. 5 on Facebook:

“Ok, just got the fish weighed on a certified scale. Miss Beverly Shaw on my trip yesterday afternoon has officially got the Percy Priest white crappie lake record. Coming in at a certified 3 pounds.”

ALSO: Largest shark on planet wows boaters in rare California visit; video

For comparison, the Tennessee state record is a 5-pound, 1-ounce white crappie caught at Garner Brown’s Pond in 1968.

The state record for black crappie stands at 5 pounds, 7 ounces.

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Catch of giant muskie breaks 25-year-old record

A West Virginia angler who decided to fish for a few hours before a planned grocery run Saturday landed a 51-pound muskie to set a state record for the species.

A West Virginia angler who decided to fish briefly before a planned grocery run Saturday landed a 51-pound muskie to set a state record for the species.

Luke King told ForTheWin Outdoors that he hooked the 55 1/16-inch muskellunge while casting a 6-inch jerkbait from shore below the dam at Burnsville Lake.

The catch beat weight and length records dating to 1997 and 2017, respectively, according to the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources’ website.

“The fight was pretty epic,” said King, who is from Burnsville. “She was big and mean, but ran out of luck after the hook was set. She head-shook for a while on the surface then almost swam right towards me.

“I had one tree I had to steer her around and she came right to my feet. After she thrashed around on the surface I was able to coax her into the net head-first.”

Luke King with record muskie

King said a biologist with the WVDNR verified the weight and length of the muskie before King set the fish free.

“Everything was finalized,” he said late Monday. “It’s the state record for both weight and length. It just might take a few days before it’s ‘official.’ ”

ALSO ON FTW OUTDOORS: Alarming catch: Why Yellowstone is worried about this fish

On Tuesday, WVDNR fisheries management specialist Mark Scott told FTW Outdoors: “The fish is not ‘official’ yet as we have to have certain documentation completed.  However, unless something unforeseen comes up, I fully expect this fish will be deemed the official record soon.”

On Saturday, King wrote on Facebook that the catch was a “dream come true.”

He was fishing alone when the massive muskie struck, and phoned friends for assistance in taking photographs and keeping the muskie alive. “It was a lucky trip,” he said. “I only planned to fish for a few hours before heading to the store to stock up on groceries.”

For the sake of comparison, the world record for muskie, or muskellunge, stands at 67 pounds, 8 ounces. That fish was caught at Lake Court Oreilles in Wisconsin in 1949.

–Top image shows Luke King (right) with his record muskie