Leading up to the 2026 Tommy Gifford Award Ceremony this Thursday, October 29th, we're highlighting the incredible accomplishments of this year's inductees. Today, we're proud to feature Captain Frank Ardine.
Captain Frank Ardine was born in Queens, New York, in 1903 and lived through the Great Depression of the 1920s and 1930s. As the economy recovered, many Northeastern families relocated to South Florida, drawn in part by the growing popularity of fishing for sailfish. Frank and his family were among them, moving to the Palm Beaches, where he launched a successful charter career and became an influential mentor to future captains.
Ardine began his career after purchasing a Fortescue sportfishing boat from IGFA Tommy Gifford Awardee Curt Whiticar, which became the original Sail Ahoy. He chartered out of Layton’s Park in Riviera Beach, Florida, before relocating operations to Sailfish Center, later known as Sailfish Marina. After several years, Frank and three other charter captains partnered with Bill Bachstet, fishing out of what became Bill’s Sailfish Marina.
He later purchased a 34-foot Rybovich originally named Miss Chevy II, built in 1947 as the first custom sportfishing boat for automobile dealer Charles Johnson. Frank chartered this boat for many years out of West Palm Beach. Despite increasing competition from private-boat charters, he fished relentlessly, earning recognition for consistently leading daily catch numbers. Many days, his charters returned with 15 to 30 sailfish.
At a time when boats traveled shorter distances, Frank primarily fished local waters along Florida’s southern coast, as well as Bimini, The Bahamas and Cuba, targeting sailfish, blue marlin and giant bluefin tuna. He earned a reputation as a “high hook” through hard work. His accomplishments include exceptional daily catch volumes, mentoring young captains, winning the 1957 Silver Sailfish Derby and building a thriving charter business without modern advancements in fishing technology that we have today.
Frank Ardine passed away in 1979 in Jupiter, Florida, but his legacy as a pioneer of sportfishing endures.
Learn more: event.gives/26igfatga/
Katelynn Wells was fishing in Racine, Wisconsin, on October 24, 2022, with guide Andrew Logan, when this beautiful coho salmon struck her lure. After weighing it on a certified scale, it read 67 kilograms (12 pounds, 8 ounces) and set the IGFA Women’s 6-kg (12 lb) Line Class World Record for the species.
IGFA Hall of Famer Andy Mill explains why he fishes by IGFA rules and why they matter. Learn more about IGFA angling rules here: igfa.org/international-angli…
The School of Sportfishing at Pier Sixty-Six started the fall off with a great trip targeting dolphin! Students aboard the Hammer Cat had a great time targeting these fish using their newfound skills. There are still two classes left in 2026 - be on the lookout for the 2027 dates shortly!
2026 Dates:
November 19
December 17
Three years ago this month, NG Yam Pin was fishing in Putussibau, Indonesia, when he landed this beautiful 10.21-kilogram (22-pound, 8-ounce) giant Borneo gourami. Pin was working a crankbait when this colorful gourami struck, and after a quick fight, he landed the fish, recorded its weight on his certified scale, and released it safely. With this fish, Pin set the IGFA All-Tackle World Record for the species, topping the previous record by 9 pounds!
Did you know the IGFA's online Game Fish Database is home to more than 200 species ID guides and profiles? Learn about features, range, similar species, and records for game fish from around the world.
This week we’re spotlighting the red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus), also known as channel bass, redfish, spot tail bass, or puppy drum. Found in the western Atlantic Ocean from Maine to the Gulf, red drum are a schooling species that occur inshore over sandy or muddy bottoms. They inhabit both salt and brackish waters, can tolerate fresh water, and are often found in inlets and channels, with smaller fish turning up in shallow estuaries.
Red drum show coppery red overtones on a silvery gray background, and their most recognizable marking is a large black spot about the size of the eye on each side of the tail. Some fish carry two spots per side, and a few have extra spots along the body. Their lack of chin barbels and longer body set them apart from the black drum. A strong, hard fighter when hooked, red drum can be stalked on the flats like bonefish, worked with jigs, plugs, spoons, and streamer flies, or fished on the bottom with crabs, shrimp, and clams. The biggest fish, known as “bull reds,” are usually females.
The current IGFA All Tackle Record for red drum stands at 94 lbs 2oz (42.69 kg).
Explore this species and 200+ more at igfa.org/game-fish-database.
Joan Wulff turns 100 today.
She was ten when she first took her father’s fly rod out on the water and lost its tip on that first outing. A neighbor fished it out with a rake, and her father, seeing how much she cared, began bringing her to the casting club with her brothers. In 1943, at 16, she won her first national casting title.
Through the 1950s she competed against men in distance events, because there was no women’s division. She became the first woman to win the National Fisherman’s Distance Fly Championship, with a cast of 136 feet. In 1960 she cast 161 feet with a one-handed bamboo rod.
Her most lasting work came as a teacher. In 1979, she and her husband, Lee Wulff, opened what is now the Wulff School of Fly Fishing in New York’s Catskills, where she taught anglers from around the world for decades. Her 1987 book, Joan Wulff’s Fly-Casting Techniques, was the first to analyze the mechanics of the cast.
Joan was inducted into the IGFA Fishing Hall of Fame in 2007. Generations of anglers know her as the First Lady of Fly Fishing.
Happy 100th birthday, Joan, from all of us at the IGFA.
On October 15, 1992, Gerhard von Bonde was fishing Lake Victoria, Kenya, when he landed this massive 75.84-kilogram (167-pound, 3-ounce) Nile perch. With this fish, Gerhard set the IGFA Men’s 6-kg (12 lb) Line Class World Record for the species. He was trolling a lure with Captain John Doyo when the record fish struck. It took Gerhard 20 minutes to land the fish; he then returned to the Rusinga Island Fishing Club for an official weight on a certified scale.
From Kona to the Galapagos: this blue marlin traveled 3,575 nm to win the 2025-2026 IGFA Great Marlin Race, presented by Costa Sunglasses. 🏆
In 2009, Bob Kurz and Dr. Barbara Block of Stanford University started with a simple idea: put satellite tags in the hands of anglers, deploy them on the billfish they catch and release, and let the data show where these fish go and how they live.
That idea became the IGFA Great Marlin Race in 2011. Since, more than 720 tags have been deployed around the world, and each year the tag that surfaces farthest from where it was deployed wins.
This year’s winning tag was sponsored by IGFA Trustee Bob Kurz and IGFA Representative Sally Kurz at the 2025 Kona Pacific Blue Marlin Tournament. It’s the first time one of their tags has won the race they made possible.
Angler Dave Free caught the 200 lb blue marlin aboard "2nd Offense" with Capt. Kevin Hibbard. Over 180 days, the fish circled Hawaii, turned south and then east, and surfaced in the waters west of the Galapagos. The video shows its full track.
🥈 Second place: a striped marlin tagged aboard "Sea Weez" (Capt. Ross Finlayson) in French Polynesia, which surfaced 1,400 nm away
🥉 Third place: a blue marlin tag sponsored by The Big Rock Foundation and deployed aboard "Sea Striker" (Capt. Pete Zook) off North Carolina, which surfaced 1,304 nm away
The second- and third-place track videos, along with full results from this year's race, can be viewed here: igfa.org/2026/10/15/bob-and-…
Thank you to Stanford University’s Block Lab and every sponsor, angler, captain, and crew member who helped this season’s tags collect 5,342 days of billfish data.
🚨 Don't miss out! Registration is OPEN for the 2027 IGFA Open! 🚨
The Open returns to beautiful Marina Pez Vela in Quepos, Costa Rica, March 11-13, 2027. Incredible billfishing, IGFA rules, and live scoring provided by @catchstat.
Last year’s tournament saw more than 1,000 fish released. Get in on the action and join the chase for the title in one of the world’s premier billfish destinations.
Register now at igfa.org/igfa-open
On October 13, 1990, Bob Kurz was fishing aboard the "Equalizer" off San Diego, California, when he landed this 37.64-kilogram (83-pound) Pacific Bigeye Tuna. With this fish, Bob set the IGFA Men's 4-kg (8 lb) Line Class World Record for the species. The record fish struck a trolled feather and was boated after a 33-minute fight. This record still stands today, 36 years later!
“Set your own limit and release fish to furnish sport for the future.” PENN printed that advice in its 1940 catalog and repeated it more than 50 years later in the ad shown here. These catalog pages from our friends at PENN Fishing span 1978 to 1996 and trace PENN’s long relationship with IGFA standards.
These are just a few of the more than 725,000 pages of documents that IGFA is digitizing through the E.K. Harry Digital Archive. Your gift helps preserve fishing history and makes it available to anglers and researchers around the world. Donate today at igfa.org/library.
TODAY: Miami Beach Fishing Access Community Meeting
Miami Beach anglers are encouraged to attend a community meeting to discuss potential fishing restrictions along South Beach, from the South Pointe jetty north toward 12th Street. Come share your story and let city leaders know what fishing means to you.
Thursday, October 8, 2026
4:30 PM EDT
Miami Beach City Hall
1700 Convention Center Drive, 4th Floor
Miami Beach, FL 33139
Mayor and Commissioners’ Conference Room
Join via Zoom: miamibeachfl-gov.zoom.us/j/8…
Webinar ID: 820 9036 5375
Phone: 305-224-1968 or 888-475-4499
Hosted by Commissioner Laura Dominguez
Email Miami Beach City Leaders:
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
Please CC: [email protected]
If you care about fishing access in Miami Beach, make your voice heard.
Two hours left to bid. ⏳
The IGFA Global Online Auction closes Sunday, October 4 at 6:00 pm EDT.
Every bid helps support IGFA's mission. Place your bids before time runs out: event.gives/igfaglobal26/ite…
The IGFA completed another stellar year of angling education events at @NatlParkService (NPS) locations across the country. Building on more than seven years of collaboration with the NPS and with continued support from the @NationalParkFdn, this work continues to advance the Junior Ranger: Let’s Go Fishing! initiative as an effective pathway for connecting youth, families, and park communities with public lands and waters through responsible and ethical angling.
Read the article in the latest issue of the "International Angler" magazine to learn more: bit.ly/46JUrxB
The 2026 IGFA Global Online Auction is officially open! From bonefish in the Bahamas and golden dorado in Argentina to premium reels, gear packages, and limited edition artwork, there's something here for every angler on your list (including you).
Bidding runs through Sunday, October 4 at 6:00 PM EDT, and every bid helps support IGFA's mission. Browse the full catalog and place your bids before time runs out: event.gives/igfaglobal26/ite…
With fall right around the corner, we are excited to continue our School of Sportfishing classes at Pier Sixty-Six. Enjoy this collection of photos from the classes so far, and if you would like to join, please visit bit.ly/4gXanTa.
Our next available classes are:
10/15/26
11/19/26
12/17/26
On this day in 2011, Mark Hope set the IGFA Men’s 1-kg (2 lb) Line Class World Record with this incredible 23.7-kilogram (52-pound, 3-ounce) barramundi. Mark was trolling a 6” Z-Man Swimmer behind his kayak in Lake Tinaroo, Australia, when the fish of a lifetime hit. The massive barramundi jumped repeatedly during an exciting twenty-minute fight before he finally landed it. To this day, Mark still holds five of the thirteen IGFA Men’s Line Class World Records for barramundi 🏆.
Happy birthday to IGFA Hall of Famer, Billy Pate!
A legendary fly angler, Pate was credited with being the first person to catch both a blue and black marlin on fly; he was also the first angler to catch six billfish species on fly. Additionally, he achieved four victories in the International Billfish Fly Championship. Aside from billfish, Pate was also a legendary tarpon angler, with numerous world records on a fly rod, and four victories in the Gold Cup Tarpon Fly Championship.
Pate's mark on sportfishing extends beyond his on-water achievements; together with George Hommell, he helped found the famous World Wide Sportsman in Islamorada, Florida. Pate was also a committed conservationist. He was instrumental in instituting the $50 tarpon tag system in Florida, and founded or sat on the boards of various organizations including the Everglades Protection Association (now part of the Florida Coastal Conservation Association), Trout Unlimited, Bonefish & Tarpon Unlimited, the Don Hawley Foundation, and the Pate Foundation.
Billy Pate passed away in 2011, but he is remembered through his conservation work, induction into the IGFA Hall of Fame and his many angling achievements. Photos, videos and other historical artifacts that memorialize Pate's legacy are now being digitally preserved for the first time as part of the E.K. Harry Digital Archive, a multi-year effort to safeguard the world’s most comprehensive collection of sportfishing history. His letters and millions of assets like them will soon be searchable for the first time.
