The Flies That Caught the Records on fly fishing
AS OFFICIAL Valhalla of competitive anglers, the International Game Fish Association preserves all line-test world records. In the case of fly fishing, IGFA often keeps the fly that set the standard. Recently, the IGFA allowed Saltwater Fly Fishing to research its files for the patterns that caught the largest specimens of fly rodding's most popular saltwater species.
Many of the original flies were still in IGFA folders, although some had been returned to the anglers. Working from written descriptions, interviews and photos from the anglers and their guides, we take you on the water for the catch that put each pattern in the record books.
Red Drum
ON MAY 7, 1995, Greg Braunstein and his partner flew a private jet into Merritt Island, Florida, and Capt. Rodney Smith picked them up in his skiff at the end of the runway, which runs along the Banana River Lagoon.
"It was an awful day, blowing 18 knots out of the east, but these guys were diehard fly anglers, and they just wanted to look for big reds," Rodney said. There had been a school of big fish on the lagoon's windward side, and they got a few shots right away. But the surface chop made the school very tough to follow. Because the surface chop played havoc with their lighter flies, Rodney had Greg tie on a heavy fly of his own design called the Last Chance. (Don Leyden, who owned the 16-pound tippet-class record prior to Braunstein, gave Rodney's creation that name after he used that fly to take his record fish at the day's very end.)
Once again, the fly proved deadly. Braunstein hooked up, and an hour and 20 minutes later, he landed the 43-pound fish and broke Leyden's record — the second record redfish caught on that pattern.
Speckled TroutCARL "BUD" ROWLAND has caught three record speckled trout on his Numero Uno patterns. For each fish, he was either sight fishing or drifting from a boat in 6 to 8 inches of water. He caught the record 16-pound, 6-ounce speckled trout on 16-pound tippet drifting a spoil bank on the Lower Laguna Madre.
"It was midday, and there were southeasterly winds, so we had tremendous visibility. Three fish — two big ones and what I presume was one small male— swam straight at me. I figured the small fish would try to out-race the big females to the fly, so I put the fly as close to the biggest fish as a I dared, and she inhaled it."
While Rowland weighed his catch, several bait fishers came over and acted as witnesses. As he held the fish, eggs fell onto the deck. Rowland moved to release the fish, and one of the witnesses offered him $100 for the fish. Rowland turned him down, and by releasing the fish, he disqualified himself for a state record.
"I just couldn't kill such a genetic factor. " he said, "Those big females surely must produce more eggs and offspring more likely to survive."
Little Tunny
JIM RIVERS, whom we were unabl
e to contact, caught his 19-pound, 5-ounce "false albacore" off of Cape Lookout, North Carolina, a.k.a. "albie Mecca." He caught that fish during the best week of one of the best seasons in anyone's memory. That week, the silversides were stacked in the Cape's lee by the billions. Meanwhile, the albies attacked from below while the roseate terns performed their oddly graceful ballet amid the carnage. Around Harkers Island, large albies are keyed in on very particular protein sources, so this popular fishery has led to wonderful refinements in small baitfish patterns. Rivers caught his record on a sparsely tied Clouser Minnow, commonly called an Albie Clouser, constructed entirely from translucent, synthetic materials to imitate the translucent baitfish.
Besides the Albie Clouser, saltwater fly fishers are tying a variety of epoxy flies to imitate spearing, glass minnows, and other small baits with the same care that dry-fly tiers put into imitating tricos. Saltwater anglers are forever rhapsodizing about their ethereal qualities, though it's doubtful one of those blue bullets will ever slow down long enough to "sip" such delicate offerings.
Permit
ONE OF THE more recent and most impressive saltwater records is a whopping 51-pound permit caught off Big Pine Key by Brian Eliason. Brian made the catch on a 16-pound tippet while using a Raghead Crab fly. (Editor's Note: Eliason's record was later rescinded by the IGFA, but the catch remains a powerful endorsement for the Raghead Crab fly pattern.)
For years, Del Brown's Merkin has been the predominant permit pattern, and for many guides in diverse locales it remains the pattern of choice. But, early in the day, Brian's bigger Merkin was refused repeatedly, so he switched to the smaller Raghead pattern, which the fish charged aggressively.
"It felt like I had hooked on to a windsurfer in a thirty-knot wind," Eliason said.
Eliason had previously traveled to Belize in pursuit of his first permit, but he found Belizean fish indifferent to his quest. After booking two more trips to the Keys, the first of which was cancelled due to cold weather, he finally accomplished his goal in high style. The world-record permit towed the boat for 70 minutes, fatefully missing coral heads and lobster pots, before guide Jeff Belsik tailed the fish, then weighed and released it.
Black Drum
THAT BLACK DRUM aren't all that common in the New Jersey surf makes Andy Andreychak's 68-pound black drum an even more impressive record. Out at Cape May Point, he'd been catching lots of weakfish on the same pink Clouser Minnow. When the fish struck, Andy, who was fishing with an 8-weight, figured he'd hooked a big bass — until he beached the fish.
"He had me outclassed, that's for sure. The tide was running out, and the tide there at the tip of New Jersey is super strong."
A record was the furthest thing from Andy's mind. A couple kids, however, were curious to know what the drum weighed and said they'd haul it over the dunes for him if he'd take it to a tackle shop. The fish had given Andy a 40-minute tussle and was exhausted beyond hopes of resuscitating, so Andy agreed. They took it to a shop where it was weighed. Andy went home pleased by his catch, but he had no thoughts about records. Then, after researching the catch, the shop later called him to say that the black drum was a potential world fly record.
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