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  • Walton Rods
    • Oct 14, 2021
    • 4 min read

Can you beat these fly fishing world records?



It's not about breaking fly fishing world records, but wouldn't it be cool if you did?


For a vast majority of the fly fishing community, we don't care about fly fishing world records. It's being a part of the outdoors, chasing a native fish, being in beautiful places, and just spending time with friends on the water that we enjoy. However, if you've caught a big fish on the fly, and I mean a really big fish, you'd be curious about how close to the record that fish actually was. Well, let's dive into it a little deeper and find out if you could have owned the top spot.


The International Game Fish Association, or IGFA, keeps a list of all-time fly fishing world records in several categories. There is the all-tackle record which is the biggest fish ever caught by any method, then line-class records, and finally length records. Several categories are even broken down in men's and women's divisions. For the sake of this article, we are going to look at some of the records for a few popular species that can be beaten by tippet size. If you see the list yourself, you'll see some are just nuts and will stand for a long time.


The below tippet size world records are for the men's categories. The next article we do will feature the women's division. Make sure you subscribe at the bottom for the latest content. For now, grab your favorite fly rod, select your tippet size, and get after it. One thing though, don't go chasing a record at the expense of the fish. It's your right to keep a trophy fish, but killing fish to chase a trophy isn't right.


 

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Tippet Size Fly Fishing World Records


2lb Tippet

  1. Rainbow Trout - 7.48 kg (16 lb 8 oz)

  2. Brown Trout - 7.71 kg (17 lb 0 oz)

  3. Brook Trout - 3.40 kg (7 lb 8 oz)

  4. Cutthroat Trout - 3.88 kg (8 lb 9 oz)

  5. Largemouth - 3.62 kg (8 lb 0 oz)

  6. Smallmouth - 3.43 kg (7 lb 9 oz)

  7. Carp - 10.85 kg (23 lb 14 oz)

  8. Muskie - 4.42 kg (9 lb 12 oz)

  9. Atlantic Bonefish - 5.44 kg (12 lb 0 oz)

  10. Tarpon - 14.51 kg (32 lb 0 oz)

4lb tippet

  1. Rainbow Trout - 13.30 kg (29 lb 5 oz)

  2. Brown Trout - 8.61 kg (19 lb 0 oz)

  3. Brook Trout - 4.08 kg (9 lb 0 oz)

  4. Cutthroat Trout - 5.78 kg (12 lb 12 oz)

  5. Largemouth - 4.41 kg (9 lb 11 oz)

  6. Smallmouth - 2.49 kg (5 lb 8 oz)

  7. Carp - 13.34 kg (29 lb 6 oz)

  8. Muskie - 4.88 kg (10 lb 12 oz)

  9. Atlantic Bonefish - 6.80 kg (15 lb 0 oz)

  10. Tarpon - 54.06 kg (119 lb 3 oz)

6lb tippet

  1. Rainbow Trout - 10.46 kg (23 lb 1 oz)

  2. Brown Trout - 12.53 kg (27 lb 10 oz)

  3. Brook Trout - 3.80 kg (8 lb 6 oz)

  4. Cutthroat Trout - 7.03 kg (15 lb 8 oz)

  5. Largemouth - 6.41 kg (14 lb 2 oz)

  6. Smallmouth - 2.72 kg (6 lb 0 oz)

  7. Carp - 14.37 kg (31 lb 11 oz)

  8. Muskie - 7.82 kg (17 lb 4 oz)

  9. Atlantic Bonefish - 6.35 kg (14 lb 0 oz)

  10. Tarpon - 63.62 kg (140 lb 4 oz)

8lb tippet

  1. Rainbow Trout - 11.11 kg (24 lb 8 oz)

  2. Brown Trout - 12.70 kg (28 lb 0 oz)

  3. Brook Trout - 3.85 kg (8 lb 8 oz)

  4. Cutthroat Trout - 7.26 kg (16 lb 0 oz)

  5. Largemouth - 7.60 kg (16 lb 12 oz)

  6. Smallmouth - 3.66 kg (8 lb 1 oz)

  7. Carp - 18.99 kg (41 lb 14 oz)

  8. Muskie - 8.33 kg (18 lb 5 oz)

  9. Atlantic Bonefish - 7.03 kg (15 lb 8 oz)

  10. Tarpon - 57.60 kg (127 lb 0 oz)

12lb tippet

  1. Rainbow Trout - 14.05 kg (30 lb 15 oz)

  2. Brown Trout - 15.93 kg (35 lb 2 oz)

  3. Brook Trout - 3.45 kg (7 lb 10 oz)

  4. Cutthroat Trout - 6.80 kg (15 lb 0 oz)

  5. Largemouth - 6.58 kg (14 lb 8 oz)

  6. Smallmouth - 2.86 kg (6 lb 5 oz)

  7. Carp - 19.56 kg (43 lb 2 oz)

  8. Muskie - 13.80 kg (30 lb 6 oz)

  9. Atlantic Bonefish - 6.91 kg (15 lb 4 oz)

  10. Tarpon - 88.22 kg (194 lb 8 oz)

16lb tippet

  1. Rainbow Trout - 13.38 kg (29 lb 8 oz)

  2. Brown Trout - 13.61 kg (30 lb 0 oz)

  3. Brook Trout - 4.87 kg (10 lb 12 oz)

  4. Cutthroat Trout - 8.62 kg (19 lb 0 oz)

  5. Largemouth - 5.76 kg (12 lb 11 oz)

  6. Smallmouth - Vacant

  7. Carp - 19.05 kg (42 lb 0 oz)

  8. Muskie - 6.10 kg (13 lb 7 oz)

  9. Atlantic Bonefish - 6.91 kg (15 lb 4 oz)

  10. Tarpon - 86.45 kg (190 lb 9 oz)

20lb tippet

  1. Rainbow Trout - 11.20 kg (24 lb 11 oz)

  2. Brown Trout - 16.50 kg (36 lb 6 oz)

  3. Brook Trout - Vacant

  4. Cutthroat Trout - 7.03 kg (15 lb 8 oz)

  5. Largemouth - Vacant

  6. Smallmouth - Vacant

  7. Carp - 13.40 kg (29 lb 8 oz)

  8. Muskie - 9.07 kg (20 lb 0 oz)

  9. Atlantic Bonefish - Vacant

  10. Tarpon - 91.85 kg (202 lb 8 oz)


 

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All length Fly Fishing World Records


So maybe the total weight of the fish seems a little challenging. Well, the length is definitely an option as well. The whole list here is expansive, but here are some of the targets most in the US can chase. Also, some of these numbers were rounded up to the nearest inch. To beat these fly fishing world records, just catch a bigger fish and release it alive. That's it.

  1. Brown Trout - 38 inches all-tackle / vacant in fly fishing

  2. Rainbow Trout - 37 inches all-tackle / vacant in fly fishing

  3. Brook Trout - 23 inches in fly fishing

  4. Blue Gill - 11 inches in fly fishing

  5. Largemouth Bass - 25.5 inches all-tackle / Vacant in fly fishing

  6. Smallmouth Bass - 21 inches all-tackle / vacant in fly fishing

  7. Atlantic Bonefish - 29 inches in fly fishing

  8. Black Crappie - 15 inches all-tackle and fly fishing

  9. King Salmon - 46 inches in fly fly fishing

  10. Snook - 45 inches all tackle / vacant in fly fishing

So...which fish is on your list to target for the next world record?


 


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