THE ULTIMATE ANGLING BUCKET LIST

From memory, on the day, the Scottish lads stuck to two, three, and four Kg, sometimes taking bigger
fish on the lighter breaking strains, and certainly getting smashed up by very big fish up into double
figures even at the heavier end of the range.
Somewhere in the region of forty pollack were caught and released that visit, three of which when
weighed quickly in the boat in flat calm conditions, well beat existing IGFA records.
At one point I even suggested taking the boat in to nearby West Tarbet Bay to comply with the IGFA
weighing rules, which state it must be done on solid ground, but they weren't bothered, so the fish went
straight back. Knowing they'd beaten the records was good enough for them.
Claiming an IGFA record however doesn't automatically mean the fish in question has to be killed.
Providing the weighing is done in accordance with all the rules and suitable photographs are taken with
a tape measure in shot, the fish can still go back. The tippet then needs to be retained and must
accompany the claim to ensure it parts at or under the breaking strain being claimed.
Coalfish action Cushenall, Northern Ireland Some companies guarantee their monofilament to
meet IGFA standards. Understandably, these are a
little more expensive. Otherwise it's a case of the usual witnesses and scales accuracy certification, all
of which, along with the records themselves, is detailed on the IGFA website.
That trip, and a repeat with yet more unclaimed records the following year, convinced me that this
would be my best chance of ticking off the world record I so badly wanted. So when an opportunity to
go over to Northern Ireland came up which included the potential to catch coalfish on the fly, as you
might imagine, based on my earlier Scottish fly fishing observations, I jumped at it.
That trip was to explore the potential of Hamish Currie's thirty foot charter fishing RIB 'Predator II'
working out from Cushendall. All sorts of inshore and offshore options were on the cards, dependant
of course on the weather, one of which was a couple of hours around the farmed salmon cages anchored
out in the middle of the bay.
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