World Record !

Day two of our ultra-light tackle World Record hunting quest turned into a day to remember when we found the first wahoo pack....
With three rods set and a Boone Sundancer teaser run down the prop wash, carnage ensued when the wahoo pack mass attacked. Three reels instantly lit up and a seriously mauled teaser flashed a mayday as it was repeatedly struck by multiple wahoo. We didn't stand a chance as one after the other, we got bitten off. With such a large pack right under Bite Me and lines cris-crossing the surface waters, anything moving got chomped...including leaders, swivels, plaited doubles...
So, we re-tie doubles, re-set with new leaders and lures and off we go again...
At around 12.00 we run over another wahoo pack and once again everything lights up. This time though its curtains for the teaser as its is again repeatedly struck by one wahoo after another. Deckie Joe hauls it in as fast as he can watching one wahoo after another tear in for a bite. Just as the teaser clears the water the last wahoo screams in and launches at the teaser in mid air. For a second I thought the fish was going to clear the transom and land in the cockpit but it missed the corner by a couple of inches and landed beside the boat, along with the disintegrated remains of half the teaser...
Probably a good job too what with us being connected to three wahoo on 4kg at the time...not exactly what you want flipping and snapping about the cockpit floor !
Now we got lucky...with Tim on a rod, Bill on a rod and Matava Resort Director Richard on a rod and each wahoo steaming off in a different direction, something had to give. Richard's wahoo headed back to the pack and 'chomp' went the pack on Richard's lure, leader, swivel and double.
The other two however headed away from the pack - Now we have a chance !
Tims fish seemed to not be able to make up its mind where it actually wanted to go and we almost got an early shot at the leader but just a few feet shy of Joe's grasp the fish finally came to a decision and headed off left and down deep. Meanwhile Bill's fish stayed shallow but headed right...
Hmmm...Interesting dilema for a skipper... Go backwards hard for a shot at the shallow fish and probably at best lose a lot of line to the deep fish...or stay put and keep that deep fish in range.
We didn't know which was bigger so we sat still. Now it was down to angler skill for a while.
For the first half hour Bill's fish just cruised the surface as Bill fought to turn its head or coax it into a circle towards Bite Me. Tim's fish just crept line off the spool as Tim applied the maximum pressure he dared with a little extra finger pressure on the line. At one point Tim had upwards of 500 yards of line out and Bill a good 400.
The next half hour was pretty much a stalemate with me gently nudging Bite Me backwards whenever I could help the anglers make some line. At about the 50 minute mark Tim's fish finally started to tire and after Tim managed to just get the head angle up a fraction he began to slowly plane the fish upwards in gentle circles.

Here we go, we probably have one shot at this as the wahoo circles in towards Bite Me. Everybody on board is holding their breath as they see the big wahoo dorsal and tail break the surface and circle in towards us. Tim steps back, Joe takes the leader and Richard goes in with the gaff....and nails it perfectly. Textbook !

Cameras flash

When we see the wahoo's head come over the covering board Tim's realises that not only did he just hook, fight and land a good wahoo on 4kg...its a VERY good wahoo...in fact its possibly a World Record wahoo !

A World Record smile !

I have never seen a grin that big before ! Lots of high fives and cameras flashing but hang on - Bill is still hooked up !and his fish is starting to tire...and Bill is now making line back on the reel...He works the fish till Joe calls "Colour !" and BANG ! The little Shimano TLD 5 spool implodes under the extreme line pressure.. $#$$ !! Unfazed, Bill grabs the line off the rod tip and with fingertips keeps the pressure on and the fish is still coming up...a birds nest of line at his feet....a minute later, Joe grabs the leader and Tim goes in with the gaff..Success ! 2 wahoo landed on 4kg line class and some serious bragging rights earned for the resort bar happy hour.

Bills excellent wahoon on 4kg complete with birdsnest line and wrecked spool

Bills fish looked to be over 20kg but Tim's fish was bigger and had us all guessing. With the existing World Record standing for the past 10 years at just over 25kg we knew we might well have done it...but nobody wanted to celebrate yet.
We carefully put the wahoo in a kill bag with the lure and leader and over 50ft of line attached and floored it for Matava Resort, an IGFA Weighstation.

The fish weighed in at 31.60kg and is now a pending new IGFA World Record.

Yeah Baby !