First he landed a whopper salmon, then Tom Aufiero landed himself in the record books.
Aufiero, of Lafayette, Ind., became a certified world-record holder last week when the International Game Fish Association announced his 26-pound, 12-ounce landlocked salmon caught on Michigan's Torch Lake last October qualified as the new all-tackle record for landlocked salmon.
The Grand Rapids Press reported the 54-year-old Indiana man caught the salmon fly fishing a mysis shrimp fly on, get this, 6-pound test line, leading to a 15-minute fight before he finally landed the fish.
Aufiero was being guided by Matt Supinski of Gray Drake Lodge on the Muskegon River. The two anglers not only recorded all of the necessary details to submit the catch to the IGFA, but also released the fish unharmed.
The catch broke the previous record of 24 pounds, 11 ounces, caught by Frank Jensen in June 2010 on the Klaralv Forshaga in Sweden.
Here's a look at the other landlocked salmon fly fishing world records by tippet class as reported by the IGFA (hint, if you're searching for a world record yourself, head to Michigan):
- 2-pound tippet: 4 pounds, 2 ounces, John Regan in Dec. 1999 on the Swift River, Mass.
- 4-pound tippet: 8 pounds, 4 ounces, Michael Romano in May 2010 on the Muskegon River, Mich.
- 6-pound tippet: 11 pounds, 7 ounces, Neal Long in May 1985 on Plum Creek, Wisc.
- 8-pound tippet: 3 pounds, 10 ounces: Leroy Baldwin in April 1996 on Thornapple River, Mich.
- 12-pound tippet: 8 pounds, 11 ounces: Frank Ruszkiewicz in March 1986 on Belle River, Mich.
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