Closing Out the Season on a Record Note

Bo Nelson and Michael Swerdlow closed out the season in record fashion, catching what could be the two latest entries into the International Game Fish Association World Record Book.

The two catches are currently before the world records committee and could just make the 2009 edition of the IGFA record book.

Nelson, of San Francisco, Calif., landed a monster bull trout weighing 13 pounds, 8 ounces, August 24 on the Flathead River in Canada, a catch that would shatter the current record by more than three pounds. He caught the bull on a 16-pound tippet on a trip guided by Kim Sedrovic. The current IGFA record is 10 pounds, set in 2004.

Swerdlow, of Islamorada, Fla., caught a 15-pound, 6-ounce bonefish on Nov. 27 in the Florida Keys. The fish hit an Epoxy Martin fly on a 16-pound tippet, landing the fish after a 20-minute fight from a shallow-water skiff. The current IGFA record is 14 pounds, 12 ounces, set in 2001 near Swerdlow’s hometown, of course.

Courtesy IGFA