While it is unlikely what happens if you catch a world record?
Zeno
Posts: 19 Greenhorn
If I am correct you are allowed to take one redfish a day between 18" & 27". Lets just say some one ( certainly not me ) catches the biggest redfish ever caught. This is an enormous fish that is sure to set a world record. Is there any way for the fisherman to get his fish into the record book without getting his own name on a police blotter somewhere?
Zeno
Zeno
0
Replies
Nothing.
"Well Gary, the easiest way to look tall is to stand in a room full of short people." - Curtis Bostick
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I remember talking with a guy at IGFA and he said if you are fishing from a jetty, bridge piling, or wading you can weigh a big snook and it would count for the record if all of the conditions were met. Such as, you have a certified scale, witness, etc. He said you can weigh a net without a fish, put the fish in it and do the math. If you have photos, such a scenario would probably stand up provided all other requirements were met. What you can NOT do is weigh the fish while in a boat. This creates the biggest obstacle, I think.
Since you can not "possess" a fish out of season or over slot, you would have to have everything with you on the spot. In other words, you can't catch it in your fish from your boat, zoom across the bay to a jetty (or even 10 feet to an oyster bar) to position yourself for a legal weigh. If you are on the flats, and it is shallow, you can jump over right there and do the weighing business.
In the case of reds I doubt you could ever make it happen since the biggest ones are not caught near shore (or near Florida, if you are going for the BIG record of over 90 pounds).
In a nutshell, you have to head out with the intent of breaking a record and have all of your ducks in a row or there is no way you will have everything you need to qualify.
I've never messed with world records, but I think if you pull it off you get something like 77 virgins in heaven, a ticker-tape, and a package of three free circle hooks from some Japanese knock-off company. And a sticker for your truck window and boat so other anglers know what kind of fishing stud you are.
-John Gierach
how would i go about getting a record for a tarpon? do i have to have a tag for it or can i do it like a snook if i can find a scale big enough.
As for tarpon, yes, you must have a tag. Even the anglers in the PTTS in Boca Grand have to tag their fish, which are weighed on a sling and released. They have to tag them to transport them to the scale.