S A LT WA T E R
Albacore 12
Atlantic Blue Marlin 16
Atlantic Blue� n Tuna 20
Bigeye Tuna 24
Black Marlin 28
Blue� sh 32
Bone� sh 36
Broadbill Sword� sh 40
California Yellowtail 44
Dolphin� sh 48
Giant Sea Bass 52
Giant Trevally 56
Great Barracuda 60
Jack Crevalle 64
King Mackerel 68
Opah 72
Paci� c Sail� sh 76
Permit 80
Rooster� sh 84
Short� n Mako Shark 88
Spotted Seatrout 92
Striped Marlin 96
Tarpon 100
Wahoo 104
White Marlin 108
White Seabass 112
White Shark 116
Yellow� n Tuna 120
F R E S H WA T E R
Brook Trout 126
Brown Trout 130
Channel Cat� sh 134
Cutthroat Trout 138
Dorado 142
Giant Tiger� sh 146
Largemouth Bass 150
Muskellunge 154
Northern Pike 158
Rainbow Trout 162
Siberian Taimen 166
Smallmouth Bass 170
Speckled Peacock Bass 174
M I G R A T O R Y
Arctic Char 180
Atlantic Salmon 184
Barramundi 188
Chinook Salmon 192
Cobia 196
Coho Salmon 200
Common Snook 204
Striped Bass 208
White Sturgeon 212
Index 216
C O N T E N T S
S A L T W A T E R6
World records are always fascinating, and what makes angling
records even more so is their element of fate. In the world
of sport, most benchmarks are set by � nely tuned athletes,
and rarely by accident. Other types of records are often set
by lunatics: people who deliberately set out to exceed bizarre
standards in order to achieve entry in the annual compen-
dium of such achievements. Angling records are different.
On the right day, virtually anyone wetting a line can earn
one. While very few of us can ever hope to achieve a world
record performance in the shot put or high jump, anglers
of all stripes cling to the thought of that once-in-a-lifetime
catch. The great thing about it is that you just never know.
In fact, most of the stories in this book are tales of
ordinary people catching extraordinary � sh. Interestingly, the
appearance of world record � sh vary as widely as the people
who catch them. As you’ll see, many of these � sh have odd
features that make them atypical of their species. Some are
grossly fat, while a few are outsized in other dimensions.
Artist Flick Ford has painstakingly researched each of these
catches with the goal of painting them as individual world
record specimens and not as generic examples of their kind.
Anglers who are intimately familiar with a given species may
be surprised at some of the features or coloring re� ected in
his paintings. In each case, that’s simply how they were.
Fortunately, there is only one universal clearinghouse
for world record catch certi� cation, and that is the Interna-
tional Game Fish Association (IGFA). Founded in 1939, the
IGFA’s role as world record keeper has come to de� ne it, and
A U T H O R P R E FA C E
today it maintains all-tackle records on more than one thou-
sand species of � sh. Holders of such records have seen � t to
include them in biographies, résumés, and college applica-
tions. Given the value of a record catch in today’s credential-
driven world, the IGFA has been increasingly challenged
to ensure its integrity. An IGFA world record is a singular
achievement, never predictable and always the crown jewel
of any angling career. Relatively few anglers ever earn more
than one. As a result, they must be vetted with a rigor that
supports their worthiness. In this, the IGFA’s reputation is
unsurpassed.
While any “top 50” ranking is always subjective, ours is
not without some deliberate consideration (ok, and debate).
The � fty all-tackle records featured in this book were chosen
on the basis of outlandish size, popularity among anglers,
distinctive beauty or appearance, and geographic diversity.
However, throw in a fabulous storyline, and all other factors
went out the window. In the end, our list includes thirteen
freshwater, twenty-eight saltwater, and nine migratory � sh in
weights ranging from barely two digits to more than a ton.
Finally, a word about conservation. In recent years, the
nature of angling has changed dramatically for the better as
more anglers release their trophy catches today than ever
before. As longtime anglers ourselves, Flick Ford and I cel-
ebrate this movement. However, there is still great value—
both scienti� c and historic—in continuing to document
world record captures. Over time, such information provides
valuable scienti� c data on growth, distribution, and the rela-
tive health of a given � shery. Ichthyological databases such
as www.� shbase.org draw many of their species parameters
along with much of their imagery from the angling world.
Paradoxically, world record marks also set thresholds that dis-
courage the taking of lesser specimens. Why keep an eight-
pound lenok—other than to eat—when you know the record
is nine pounds? Today, far more � sh are taken for table fare
than for trophies, and rare indeed is the catch made solely for
record purposes. We concur wholeheartedly with this trend
and hope you do as well.
Anglers and mountaineers share a code of honor in report-
ing when, where, and how we caught a big � sh or climbed a
high peak. We’re also alike in always seeking still larger � sh
and higher peaks. But whereas every mountaineer knows
all the world’s great peaks have already been climbed, every
angler believes somewhere in the depths of some body of
water even bigger � shes are waiting to be caught. That belief
is the underlying theme of this wonderful collection of
Flick Ford’s watercolors depicting � fty world-record catches
and framed by Mike Rivkin’s lively narrative.
Most people come to angling through a mentor and
my brothers and I were lucky to have charter skipper,
Tommy Gifford, as our guide. By 1950, Tommy was a saltwater
legend who had led clients to over forty world records.
He � shed across the Paci� c during and after World War II,
but returned to the Atlantic, because that’s where – in the
Virgin Islands—he once saw a 2,000-pound blue marlin.
When the � rst 1,000-pound black marlin was caught
in the Paci� c, Tommy claimed blacks are half the � ghters
that blues are. “If a 1,000-pound black marlin were tied
tail-to-tail with a 500-pound blue marlin,” he declared, “the
black would be pulled backward so fast it would drown!”
He was devoted to blue marlin in the way that most anglers
� ercely defend their favorite prey. So it’s just as well Tommy
would never get to read Mike Rivkin’s story on blue marlin
in BIG, where he observes that the two largest blues ever
boated by recreational � shermen were caught, not in the
Atlantic, but off Hawaii, and that one of them weighed 1,805
I N T R O D U C T I O N
pounds, nearly 250 pounds bigger than the all-tackle-record
black marlin. Both catches were disquali� ed as of� cial
world records, so Tommy would be consoled by the fact that
the blue marlin all-tackle record remains in the Atlantic.
Gifford understood that as youngsters we were happy
with almost anything tugging on our lines. Still, he liked
to � re our imagination with stories about a monstrous
denizen of the deep that feeds on sea buoys encrusted with
barnacles and swims around with so many broken lines and
lures, the angler who catches him will be able to open his
own tackle shop. Whenever one of us cast to a barracuda or
amberjack lurking by a buoy and snagged the buoy instead,
Tommy would shout, “You’ve hooked ole Brunosewampus-
cat!” When our line popped or the snagged lure pulled free,
Tommy would commiserate, “Did you lose him? Well, better
luck next time.”
Had I caught the Brunosewampuscat, I’d have sought
recognition for the catch from the International Game Fish
Association. The IGFA and I were born in the same year,
and in the 1970s, after I became a regular contributor to
Field & Stream, I was in� uential in having that magazine’s
freshwater � shing records transferred to the IGFA so
it could become the sole arbiter and custodian of all
“fair-caught” angling records. In that same decade, IGFA
president, Elwood Harry, began attending � shery manage-
ment conferences around the world. His participation gave
credibility to the word “International” in his organization’s
name. Elwood also spent countless hours with Dick Stroud,
Frank Carleton, Chris Weld, and me in Washington, D.C.,
trying to get “biocrats” at the National Marine Fisheries
Service to do their jobs. We suffered more defeats than
celebrated victories, but Elwood established a precedent
for the IGFA to play a major role in marine conservation.
The seas are in sorry shape today compared to what they
were half a century ago, but that they’re not in worse shape
is due to IGFA-af� liated sportsmen throughout the world
using their collective clout to make a difference.
—G E O R G E R E I G E R
