Pacific sailfish, Istiophorus platypterus, the fastest fish in the world – 68 mph. Photo was taken by Rodrigo Friscione of NOAA – a public domain image.
Chasing speeders
By Skip Clement
Walking on the beach with three under ten years old, a Jersey winter visitor asked us: “Is it okay to swim here?” “Are you crazy,” said Steve. Within 15-feet of the shoreline were spinner sharks devouring mullet and whatever else they had pushed up against the shoreline. And as far as one could see, spinner sharks.
A friend who returned from Panama after a week in Pinas Bay said he had no idea fish could swim that fast
Marty is a trout angler with Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania roots and ties to the Appalachian mountains as they rumble northeasterly through Bedford, Pennsylvania. An area just north of the Upper Youghiogheny River, a world-renowned plus Class V rafting challenge.
Marty Chen says three of his four fellow anglers had sliced fingers trying to put the skids on sails too early in the fight. “We all arrived home with bandage souvenirs,” said Marty.
A time when excesses were the norm for the famous and well heeled. American author Ernest Hemingway with his wife Pauline, and sons Gregory, John, and Patrick Hemingway and four marlins on the dock in Bimini, 20 July 1935. Source, Ernest Hemingway Photograph Collection, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston. Photographer not identified – a public domain image.
The Finals:
10. Tarpon – 35 mph
IGFA World Record on a Fly: 202.8-pounds on 20-pound test, Chassahowitzka, FL – May 2001
9. Four-Winged Flying Fish – 36 mph
IGFA does not consider it a game fish.
8. Swordfish – 38 mph
IGFA World Record on a Fly: 89.15-pounds on 16-pound test, Watamu, Kenya – December 1998
7. Bonefish – 40 mph
IGFA World Record on a Fly: 16.8-pounds on 20-pound test, New Caledonia – July 2013
6. Blue Shark – 43 mph
IGFA World Record on a Fly: 189-pounds on 12-pound test, Montauk LI, NY – September 1989
5. Bluefin Tuna – 44 mph
IGFA World Record on a Fly: 196.9-pounds on 20-pound test, Morehead City, NC – January 2001
Tarpon safe in-water release. Photo provided courtesy of Bonefish & Tarpon Trust.
4. Mako Shark – 46 mph
IGFA World Record on a Fly: 224.3-pounds on 20-pound test, Sidney, Australia – August 2010
3. Wahoo – 48 mph
IGFA World Record on a Fly: 77.2-pounds on 20-pound test, Sidney, Australia – August 2010
2. Black Marlin – 50 mph
IGFA World Record on a Fly: 222.10-pounds on 16-pound test, Bank Islands, Vanuatu – February 2016
Striped Marlin – 50 mph
IGFA World Record on a Fly: 240.15-pounds on 20-pound test, Whangaroa, Australia – March 2013
1. Sailfish – 68 mph
IGFA World Record on a Fly: 136-pounds on 12-pound test, Piñas Bay, Panama – June 1965 (Stu Apte, Florida Keys Guide and IGFA Fishing Hall of Fame member).
