If you’ve ever dreamed of catching a world record fish, tie on a Rapala®.
The International Game Fish Association (IGFA), the nonprofit association that records and approves world record fish caught with hook and line (conventional and fly fishing), recently announced its annual list of new world records set in 2021.
And which fishing lures, outside of live bait, accounted for the most new world-records in 2021? You guessed right — Rapala fishing lure.
Among the 422 world records approved for 2021, Rapala lures figured in nine prominent world records, which included:
Papuan Black Snapper – Caught by Shirley Yip, Papua New Guinea on a Rapala X-Rap® Magnum®. Yip’s fish weighed 29 lbs. (13.15 kg) and set the women’s 24 kg (50 lb.) line class world record.
Speckled Peacock Bass – Caught by Rodrigo Ribeiro de Almeida, Rio Negra, Santa Isabel, Brazil, on a Rapala® X-Rap® Subwalk. This fish tied for the IGFA All-Tackle Length World Record at 90 cm.
African Red Snapper – Caught by Lucas Couto, age 13, with a Rapala® X-Rap®, in Kuanza, Angola. Couto set the IGFA Junior World Record with his 71 lb. (32.5 kg) catch.
Payara – Caught by Emilio Reyes Uribe, Age 11, with a Rapala® Magnum®, on the Rio Manacacias in Columbia. His 16-pound, 1 oz. (7.30 kg) catch set a IGFA Junior World Record.
Taimen – Caught by Viacheslav Braylyan on the Tugur River in the Far East of Russia on a Rapala® X-Rap®. This 110 lb. 3 oz. (49.98 kg) catch was achieved with a Rapala® X-Rap® and set an IGFA All-Tackle World Record.
Squaretail Coral Grouper – Caught by Omar Khalifa on a Rapala® X-Rap® in the Red Sea off Egypt. The fish weighed 4 lb. 7 oz. (2.00 kg) and set the IGFA All-Tackle World Record.
Bonito, Atlantic – Caught by Elizabeth R. Thompson off Nantucket Island, Massachusetts. Weighing 12 lb. (5.44 kgs) this fish set the IGFA Female Junior World Record for the species and was caught on a Rapala® X-Rap®.
Squaretail Coral Grouper – Caught by Karim Wahid Badr on a Rapala® X-Rap® while fishing the Red Sea off Egypt. This fish weighed 5 lb. 8 oz. (2.50 kgs) and set the IGFA All-Tackle World Record for the species.
Orange-Spotted Trevally – Caught by Omar Khalifa while fishing off the coast of El Gouna, Egypt. This fish was caught on a Rapala® X-Rap® and set the IGFA All-Tackle World Record weighing 6 lb. 3 oz (2.80 kgs)
Rapala® lures are legendary for their ability to catch fish just about anywhere in the world.
Since the late 1980s, when the IGFA started to track artificial baits that were used in world record catches, Rapala lures have accounted for more world record fish than any other lure. According to the IGFA, Rapala lures have been listed for 615 world record fish.
“Based on our records, there’s no other fishing lure that comes close to that number,” said Zack Bellapigna, Angler Recognition Coordinator for the IGFA. “Year in and year out, Rapala just keeps adding to its tally of world records.”
“The IGFA has been tracking world record fish since the organization’s inception in 1939. There are most likely dozens of other world record fish caught on Rapala lures that simply weren’t recorded as such because our organization didn’t track lures for world records until the 1980s,” says Bellapigna.
In analyzing world record fish caught with Rapala lures, Bellapigna also notes that there’s no lure that has caught so many different types of fish in so many different parts of the world.
“Rapala lures have set world records on all continents except Antarctica,” added Bellapigna, “and in 59 countries, so far.”
And when you do land your world-record fish, what scale should you have ready at hand to weigh it? You might want to consider a Rapala digital or manual scale, which according to the IGFA, have been used to weigh 751 world-record fish approved by the IGFA.
“We are humbled by how many world-record fish that have been caught with Rapala lures,” said Matt Jensen, VP of Marketing for Rapala VMC USA. “These world records are a true source of pride for the Rapala organization. I can’t tell you how much we enjoy hearing about another world record being caught with a Rapala.”