What a pleasure to tell you about this extraordinary catch by Mathis (8 years old) on Oct 30,2017. 89.5kg for this doggy ! IGFA approval in progress. Answer within 4 / 5 months.

Mathis 8 years old should long remember his first day of exotic fishing on Black Marlin skippered by Yann Colas on Rodrigues Island in the Indian Ocean. His dad, Guy had come alone, at the end of February 2017, to share a third fishing trip. He thought that his son could compete in the small fry category to beat the world record set by Baptiste Souyris on November 1,2016 with a 9.5kg doggy. This record was in the process of being approved by the IGFA (International Game Fish Association…)

Preparation takes precedence over actio

• Choose an experienced skipper ! Yann has set 12 world records, including 561.5kg blue marlin in 80lbs and 104.5kg dogtooth tuna in jigging. Since then, it is a long love story with doggies! 6 world records in different categories. Rod fishing Club even breaking its own world records in junior women and 224 dogtooth tunas over 50 kg have already been caught on board Black Marlin, including 3 very huge : 104.5kg, 100.240kg and 97kg.

 

• Privatize the boat ! The boat is reserved for 2 sessions of 46h for them only. Mathis will have all the time to train on different fish before tackling doggy.

 

• Do not neglect training ! Mathis has therefore practiced many times, in the family garden with rod and reel, to reduce weights by controlling the distribution of the thread without leaving any slack.

 

• Adapt to IGFA rules by selecting the right fishing tackle. Taking into account the new IGFA rules (April 2017) and Mathis’s stature, Yann decides to make him fish directly in the fightingchair, Black Magic harness adjusted, Melton Kona Rod 50-80lbs with a Shimano Tiagra 50 WLRSA reel filled with 80lbs MAXIMA IGFA line. The brake is calibrated to 7kg (strike and fightt). Low-speed position !

Action

Mathis and his daddy board Black Marlin on October 30th at 08h.… for the first 46h session. The weather ? … a lake for Rodrigues ! Yann decides to stay around Rodrigues. All the fish will be for Mathis, just to complete the training. Early in the morning Mathis, records his first discharge on a live bonito with a shark that will then cut the leader. Failure… but his relaxed touch and during the first few minutes of combat surprised the crew !

A few moments later, at 3:11 p. m., Mathis receives his second big strike. A whole dead bonito mounted on a VMC circle hook is swallowed. The fish perform a 150 m rush before setting up at depth, without setting off again. Quietly but surely Mathis follows Yann’s advice: pump and recover, pump and recover! The fish slowly rise upwards (small speed, brake set at 7 kg).

During the fight, Guy and Yann are more stressed than the young fisherman. The little one doesn’t panic, he rolls without any particular excitement. Strange, the fish doesn’t give a whimsical headache, a real dead weight. It’s only 23m later that the fish is identified… It’s a doggy, a big one, which now floats at 40m ! It’s the euphoria on board… but Mathis doesn’t measure this moment ! He continued to grind until a lineman grabbed the leader… Two gaffes were planted in his head to hoist him on board. It’s really very heavy! It’s just unbelievable… 25mn of fight in total. Everyone congratulates each other, kisses. Indescribable, these moments of intense shared happiness !

We will return to the port at around 7:30 pm for the weighing where about fifty people and the local press are waiting for us. Bets are firing 80,85,92,102kg? The scale scrolls through the digits before stabilizing at 89.5kg. It’s the general euphoria.

His measurements ? 186 cm length and 119 cm girth

The application for registration is completed and will be sent to the IGFA along with the original video rushs of the fight.
On second thought… going from 9.5 to 89.5 kg… at 8 years old is crazy! It takes a lot of luck…
So we are in line with this quote from Pierre Trudeau:
Luck is when preparation and opportunity meet.
Mathis will have plenty of time to appreciate his achievement by thinking about the fine line strokes of young colleagues, all world recordmens, approved by the IGFA in the category Small male fry (to name but a few…)
Koen Norton is 10 years old on April 10,2015 when he caught a 384.5kg bluefin tuna (tuna blue fin, thunnus thunnus) at Fisherman’s Bank, Prince Edward Island, Canada.
Ian Hissey was 10 years old on 27 April 1997 when he caught a 312 kg tiger shark (Galeocerdo shark tiger vat) at Port Stephens NSW Australia.
Robbie Angus was 10 years old on February 02, 2005 when he caught a 227 kg Pacific blue marlin and a 256.27kg black marlin on October,2005 at Ribbon Reef Australia.