15 Year Old Girl Catches Potential Three World Record Wahoo
Photo courtesy of IGFA
Patrick, Sara and Samantha Hayward with Sara's huge 184 pound wahoo, caught July 29 on the Pez Espada out of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico with Capt. Gerry Martinez. Hayward has applied for three world records for the outstanding catch.
From News Reports
When 15-year old Sara Hayward of Nacodoches, Texas went fishing with her dad on July 29, she was looking forward to a fun day on the water, but probably not imaging landing the potential three world record 184 pound wahoo she brought in that day.
After her mother, sister and brother elected to sleep in that morning, only Sara accompanied her father on the fateful fishing trip. They were fishing from Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, with Capt. Gerry Martinez and mate Marcos Gonzalez on the Pez Espada.
Martinez has been fishing the Baja waters for almost 50 years and headed to a local area known as the 95 Spot. They boated several small yellowfin tunas and decided around noon to troll towards port.
Approximately halfway back in, the Shimano LRS 50 reel began screaming with the sound of a hookup.
As Gonzalez brought in the other lines, Hayward settled into the fighting chair and knew she had something much bigger than anything she had ever caught. She was getting more exhausted and sun burnt by the minute as she fought the fish, yet her father kept encouraging her.
The fight had lasted 45 minutes when Hayward noticed the fish swimming towards the boat and under it. Martinez immediately repositioned the boat to keep her in front of the fish. She looked over her shoulder and could see the fish surface next to the boat and screamed, "He's big!"
Once the huge fish was seen, Gonzalez shouted to Martinez, "It's the biggest wahoo I have ever seen! Come down and help me!" Martinez jumped from the fly bridge and grabbed the homemade gaff they carried on board. While Gonzalez held the leader trying to steady the fish, Martinez gaffed the fish three feet below the surface on the first try, then screamed for everyone to help bring it on board.
As they all hoisted it in they couldn't believe their eyes. They knew it was big, but now it was actually in the boat with them, they were all in shock by its size. Martinez rushed to the VHF radio letting others know that they were coming in with the "The biggest wahoo anyone has ever seen!" He then gave Tim Hayward his cell phone and said, "You'd better call your wife and kids and tell them to get down here."
According to Cabo San Lucas IGFA Representative Minerva Sanez, operator of Minerva's Baja Tackle, “This fish had Sara's name on it.” Sanez was figuratively speaking about Hayward's huge fish which could actually bring three records. Hayward's huge wahoo easily topped the current nine-year old 158-lb, 8-oz wahoo in the all-tackle division caught off Loreto, Baja California, Mexico in 1996 the current 50-lb line class record of 153 lb 8 oz, which is also nine-years old and was caught off San Salvador, Bahamas.
Before an IGFA certified scale arrived from Minerva's Baja Tackle, the dock boys hoisted the wahoo and weighed it on the old city scale. It weighed 192 pounds! Shortly Luis Armando Martinez arrived with the certified scale and they again hoisted the fish for a second weight. When he climbed the platform to see what the scale registered, everyone was silent when he shouted 184 pounds.
“It's unbelievable that she could catch that big fish,” said Sanez. Sanez said the lure was a "Mean Joe Green" rigged with the oldest set of 10/0 tandem hooks she had ever seen and was barely hanging together on monofilament leader that was chafed from the fish fight, from one end to the other and worn thin at the loop. All of this was connected to a barrel swivel which was once black, but now a shiny bronze.
Hayward, who is a band member and on the volleyball and track teams at Nacogdoches High School, has applied for three world records for the 184 lb (83.46 kg) catch: All-Tackle, Junior Female and the Women's 50-lb Line class
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