macskinner

Date: July 30, 2008

Angler: Andy Cho

Location: Big Island, Hawaii

“Our friend Andy Cho caught this 74 lb beauty along with a bunch of other very impressive fish on his way to becoming the 2008 Aquahunters Makahiki Tournament Champion.” submitted by the Uyeda Brothers.

From Steve Cho, “My little Brother Andy hooked that Wahoo on July 30, 2008. He was very fortunate to land this fish because he got it on a small mono leader while targeting tuna. It sizzled 450yards of line on its initial run before succumbing to a well placed gaff. The reel he hooked it on, never worked again.”

Landed April 12, 2009 by Warren Reaves from Keauhou, Hawaii on a conventional reel w/ 50# Power Pro. The fish hit at 33 fathoms. Warren’s snapper was 5# off the Hawaii State record and beat the last kayak record by 7#.

120kg Bacota Shark
(we believe this is a Blacktip Reef Shark)

December 2012
Team Record
Mar Del Plata, Argentina

Expert fishermen Fabian Mateos, Leo Avalos and Fabian Castellan worked as a group to land this estimated 2.5 meter, 120 kg shark on the Argentina coast. “It was an event of extreme adrenaline, 40 minutes of emotion”. The shark was released in perfect condition.

Mar del Plata Argentina, fue en el mes de diciembre 2012,un grupo de expertos pescadores lograron esta captura de un bacota de mas de 2,5m y 120kg, Fabian Mateos,Leo Avalos y Fabian Castellan. Fue una jornada de Adrenalina extrema , 40minutos de emocion. El Bacota fue Liberado en perfectas condiciones.

Datos: Susana Andea Gomez

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Caught by: Justin Hanby from Jacksonville, FL
Caught in Saint Augustine, FL on 04-06-2013 at 11:00 am
Lure used was DOA C.A.L. Shad (4″ fiji chicken) on Strike King red 1/8 oz jig head
Kayak used was 2010 Hobie Outback
7’1″ Calico Jack medium action rod
Okuma Stratus 35 reel
30 lb FINS braid line

I was fishing in Saint Augustine, Fl with my father (Steve Hanby) and friend (Lee Pashley) on 04-06-2013. It was very windy and rough so we put in several miles North of our usual spots and fished with the wind pushing us. After catching several small trout and red drum, this large trout stopped my lure. It was dead weight for a minute so i was not sure if it was a fish or alligator. Once it reached the kayak I could see that it was a very large fish and assumed it was an oversized red drum. It made several long and hard runs before i attemted to land it. Once i brought it to the surface, I realized what I had and could not believe it! I have caught several trout around 10 lbs but had never seen one like this. As I was landing the trout, Lee hooked up with a 39 inch red drum. We took them both to shore for a few pictures before releasing his fish. We suspected that mine was close to an IGFA state all tackle record and a kayak record so I started the 2 hour paddle to the ramp. I did not have a cooler big enough for the fish so she lost a bit of weight before getting weighed at 15 lbs. 12 oz. on certified scales. without the tail pinched (florida law is to pinch it) she was 32 1/4 inches with a 21 inch girth.

In June of 2013, in Corigliano Calibro, Italy, Gianluka Zammuto caught a 44Kg (96.8 lbs) amberjack on his kayak.

Fishing with a rod and reel using a live cuttlefish for bait. Fish was weighed on a hanging spring type scale witnessed by 54+ people.

Name: Gianluca Zammuto
Date of Birth: 27 December, 1988 (25yo)
Hometown: Sellia Marina (CZ), Italy
Date of Catch: June 21, 2013
Location of Catch: Corigliano Calabro, Italy
Fish: Amberjack / 44.5Kg (97.9 lbs)
Rod: Shimano Tiagra Lite Trolling (12-20lbs)
Reel: Shimano Tyrnos (20 lbs)

Editor’s note: This weight is estimated and the landing was assisted.  A fish came to scale in Washington in 2016 reported at 124# and we are pursuing that listing.

Troy Button, Alaska-Pacific Halibut

On the evening of June 24th, 2014 some good friends Joe Larson, Josh Gilliland and I went fishing on Monashka Bay in Kodiak Alaska in our Scrambler XT Ocean Kayaks.

Angler account- “We started the evening off chasing black rock bass with very little success and decided it was time to go after some big halibut. We moved out to about 300 ft of water and dropped our rigs to the bottom, on about our third drift through the hole and five min after I hit bottom I got a nibble and then another and on the third hit I was able to set the hook and start the fight. The fish immediately started pulling my boat through the water at a pretty decent clip and then all of a sudden it went slack and I thought for sure the fish was gone. As I reeled in the slack to check my bait it dawned on me that the fish had only stopped and I had drifted past him and as I reeled my line taught he ran again and the fight was back on. This back and forth continued for another forty minutes before I saw the fish and started the real fight of getting him landed.

Once we had eyes on the fish and I was able to finally get him to arms length we had three failed gaff attempts but after some fancy knife work by big Joe we had the fish bleeding, I sunk the gaff under his chin and gave a number of good thumps with our fish bat and then waited. Finally thirty minuets later I was able to get a rope through his jaw, tie him off to the boat and the fish was mine.

With a little team work from my pals to carry him to the truck we got him home and measured him at 63in. and 127.8 lbs (estimated).”