The ten heaviest fish ever certified as an IGFA all-tackle world record, ranked by weight.
Quick answer: 1. White shark (great white), 2. Tiger shark, 3. Greenland shark, 4. Black marlin, 5. Atlantic bluefin tuna, 6. Atlantic blue marlin, 7. Pacific blue marlin, 8. Bluntnose sixgill shark, 9. Great hammerhead shark, 10. Shortfin mako shark.
The International Game Fish Association has kept the sport's official record book since 1939, and its all-tackle category records the heaviest fish of each species ever landed on rod and reel under IGFA rules - line strength, hooks, harness, and the requirement that the angler play and land the fish unaided. A certified weight is the closest thing angling has to a verified number. These are the ten heaviest all-tackle records on the books. Six are sharks, three are billfish, one is a tuna, and the top entry - a great white shark landed off South Australia in 1959 - has stood for more than 65 years. Eight of the ten were set before 2003, which says something about both how these fish are now protected and how rarely a record of this size falls.
Alfred Dean's 1,208.38 kg great white, landed off Ceduna in South Australia in April 1959, is the heaviest fish ever certified by the IGFA and the record has stood unbeaten for over 65 years. It outweighs the second-placed fish by almost 400 kg. The species is now protected across much of its range, so the mark is effectively permanent.
Kevin James Clapson's 810 kg tiger shark, taken off Ulladulla in New South Wales in March 2004, is the heaviest record set this century and the second-heaviest of all time. It is the only fish here other than the great white to pass 800 kg.
Terje Nordtvedt's 775 kg Greenland shark came out of the Trondheimsfjord in Norway in October 1987. Greenland sharks are among the longest-lived vertebrates known, growing at roughly a centimetre a year, so a fish of this size was likely well over a century old when it was caught.
Alfred C. Glassell Jr.'s 707.61 kg black marlin, landed at Cabo Blanco in Peru in August 1953, is the heaviest billfish - and the heaviest bony fish of any kind - ever certified, as well as the oldest record in this top ten. Footage of the fight was used in the 1958 film of Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea, which made it the most-seen catch in angling history.
Ken Fraser's 678.58 kg bluefin, caught off Aulds Cove in Nova Scotia in October 1979, is the heaviest tuna ever certified and the only tuna anywhere in this top ten. Bluefin of this size are now vanishingly rare after decades of commercial pressure on the stock.
Paulo Amorim's 636 kg Atlantic blue marlin was landed off Vitoria, Brazil, on 29 February 1992 - a leap day. It broke a record that had stood since 1977 and remains the heaviest blue marlin taken in the Atlantic.
Jay de Beaubien's 624.14 kg Pacific blue marlin came off Kaaiwi Point near Kona, Hawaii, in May 1982, and is one of the most storied catches in big-game fishing. It sits just 12 kg behind its Atlantic counterpart, making the two blue marlin records the closest pairing in this top ten.
Clemens Rump's 588.76 kg sixgill shark was caught on dead bait off Ascension Island in the South Atlantic in November 2002. Sixgills are deep-water sharks that rarely come near the surface, which makes a rod-and-reel catch of this size exceptionally unusual.
Bucky Dennis landed a 580.59 kg great hammerhead off Boca Grande, Florida, in May 2006, one of three marks in this top ten set in United States waters. Great hammerheads are now assessed as critically endangered and are protected in Florida state waters.
Luke Sweeney's 553.84 kg shortfin mako, taken off Chatham, Massachusetts, in 2001, closes out the top ten. The shortfin mako is the fastest shark in the ocean, which is why it is prized by big-game anglers, and this fish weighs several times what a typical adult mako does.
| # | Name | Weight | Angler | Location | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | White shark (great white) | 2,664 lb 0 oz | Alfred Dean | Ceduna, South Australia | 1959 |
| 2 | Tiger shark | 1,785 lb 11 oz | Kevin James Clapson | Ulladulla, Australia | 2004 |
| 3 | Greenland shark | 1,708 lb 9 oz | Terje Nordtvedt | Trondheimsfjord, Norway | 1987 |
| 4 | Black marlin | 1,560 lb 0 oz | Alfred C. Glassell Jr. | Cabo Blanco, Peru | 1953 |
| 5 | Atlantic bluefin tuna | 1,496 lb 0 oz | Ken Fraser | Aulds Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada | 1979 |
| 6 | Atlantic blue marlin | 1,402 lb 2 oz | Paulo Amorim | Vitoria, Brazil | 1992 |
| 7 | Pacific blue marlin | 1,376 lb 0 oz | Jay de Beaubien | Kona, Hawaii, USA | 1982 |
| 8 | Bluntnose sixgill shark | 1,298 lb 0 oz | Clemens Rump | Ascension Island | 2002 |
| 9 | Great hammerhead shark | 1,280 lb 0 oz | Bucky Dennis | Boca Grande, Florida, USA | 2006 |
| 10 | Shortfin mako shark | 1,221 lb 0 oz | Luke Sweeney | Chatham, Massachusetts, USA | 2001 |
Ranked by certified weight of the IGFA all-tackle world record for each species, using the kilogram figure as certified, with the pound-and-ounce weight shown alongside. One entry per species: the all-tackle record is by definition the heaviest fish of that species accepted by the IGFA, so no species can appear twice. Line-class, tippet, junior and length records are excluded, as are catches that were never submitted or were rejected. Records are certified only after the IGFA reviews the application, line sample, photographs and witness statements, and unresolved or pending claims are not counted. Records that have since been superseded by a heavier catch of the same species are replaced by the current record. Note that some of these species are now protected, catch-and-release, or subject to fishing restrictions in the waters where the record was set, so several of these marks are unlikely ever to be broken legally.
A 1,208.38 kg (2,664 lb) great white shark, landed by Alfred Dean off Ceduna, South Australia, on 21 April 1959. It is the IGFA all-tackle world record for the species and the heaviest fish the association has ever certified in any category.
All-tackle is the IGFA category for the heaviest fish of a species ever caught under IGFA rules, regardless of the breaking strain of the line used. Separate records exist for individual line classes, for fly tackle, for junior anglers and for length, but the all-tackle record is the outright weight record for that species.
Freshwater records are far smaller than the saltwater giants above. The heaviest commonly cited is a 135 kg (297 lb 9 oz) wels catfish taken by Attila Zsedely from the River Po in Italy in 2010. Nothing in fresh water comes close to the top ten here, all of which were caught at sea.
Legally, most of them are close to untouchable. Great white sharks, great hammerheads and shortfin makos are protected or heavily restricted across much of their range, Atlantic bluefin of record size have been fished down commercially, and several of the record waters now operate catch-and-release rules. The most recent entry in this top ten was set in 2006.
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