385-Pound Shark Reigns As New Record For Fly Tackle

IGFA world records coordinator Rebecca Reynolds made the official announcement that Dr. Martin Arostegui, Coral Gables, Florida, had caught the heaviest fish ever documented on fly tackle, beating a nearly 40-year-old record.

Last year, Arostegui, a retired Miami-area physician, received a lifetime achievement award from the IGFA for over 100 world record catches through 2004 and this past March took home a grand slam of honors at the IGFA World Record Achievement Awards ceremony for the most world records in 2005 in saltwater, freshwater and on fly.

None of his other catches has ever been this heavy on any tackle, said Arostegui.

Continuing his relentless pace for world records with extensive travel, planning, preparation and review of the IGFA World Record Games Fishes annual and continuously updated IGFA web site of world records, Arostegui’s original plans were to catch and release a tiger shark on 20-pound tippet to beat the current 11-year old record of 220 pounds.

Guided by Capt. Ralph Delph, Key West, Fla., and fishing near the Marquesas Keys west of Key West, Florida, Arostegui used the scent line of a filleted barracuda to entice sharks onto the flats.

Instead of a tiger, a lemon shark smelled the scent so Arostegui switched to another fly rod with 12-pound tippet and a bright orange seven-inch long feathered fly streamer in an attempt to break another record he held. Like the tiger shark the lemon shark is a member of the whaler shark (carcharhinidae) family and once hooked Arostegui battled the fish for over an hour.

As he muscled the fish next to the boat, Arostegui said the toothy shark attacked the hull of Delph’s 29-foot Contender.

“When it opened its huge mouth, I said to myself this shark could eat half of me in one bite,” joked the diminutive former emergency room doctor who stands 5 ft. tall and weighs 125 pounds.

Next in a carefully orchestrated technique that Arostegui and Delph have used before, Delph gaffed the shark in the soft, fleshy part of its tail as Arostegui dropped the fly rod and lassoed the fish in front of the tail with a cleated rope.

After a breather they enlisted the help of another flats angler and guide fishing nearby. The four men were able to wrestle the shark, while controlling its dangerous head, through the transom door into a specially designed eight foot long, three foot deep aerated, hydraulic live well. After an hour long ride back to Key West the pair, with the help of Delph’s son Mike who is also a noted Keys guide, finished documenting the catch. For that Arostegui used a portable briefcase-sized ScaleMaster II from International Weighing Systems along with a special canvas sling to cradle the fish.

“Since I bought the scale in the Rolex/IGFA Offshore Championship tournament auction last year in Mexico, I’ve used it for documenting six other IGFA certified records, but nothing this heavy.” Minus the weight of the ropes and cradle the lemon shark weighed 385 pounds (174.63 kg).

The avid angler who has practiced catch and release on over 90 percent of his fish catches slid the shark into the water of a nearby basin and while resuscitating it -- himself in the water -- measured the shark for its girth (49 inches) and length (90 inches) plus took photos.

Later, as he looked at the photos of himself and Capt. Mike Delph standing in the water before releasing the giant fish which an hour before had been biting the boat, Arostegui chuckled and said, “I don’t recommend getting this close to a lemon shark, especially in his environment.”

At the IGFA headquarters after preliminary line testing and documentation review, Ms. Reynolds said the 12-pound tippet over tested at 13 pounds so Arostegui’s fish was entered in the 16-pound tippet line class.

The previous record for heaviest fish on fly has been on the IGFA record books since March 15, 1967 for a 356-pound (161.48 kg) goliath grouper caught by Bart Froth in Islamorada, Fla., USA, on 12-pound tippet.

Arostegui also beat his own 257-pound IGFA mark for a lemon shark that he recorded two years ago and also the heaviest shark on fly beating out a 353-pound hammerhead shark caught two years ago, also in the waters near Key West, by Rick Gunion.

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