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Michael Schweit, president of the Southwest Council of the Federation of Fly Fishermen, caught a pending white seabass world record on 8lb tippet at Santa Cruz Island on July 13. Captured in the eastern end of China Harbor, the fish weighed 11lb 13oz, and took approximately 10 minutes to land.

Michael was fishing aboard the SeaJay, skippered by Capt. John Fuqua. This was a private charter trip, organized biweekly by Michael during the summer months, and was a mixed fly/conventional trip.

“We were catching a mix of big and small fish on conventional gear, so we didn’t really know what to expect,” Schweit said, “When I hooked the fish, we weren’t sure if it was a 6lber or a 40lber.” He played the fish conservatively at first, but once he realized it wasn’t one of the giants, he put a lot more pressure on the fish and brought it to boat-side fairly quickly.

Michael was using a shooting head of LC-13 with Amnesia shooting line. His tippet was 8lb Ande Tournament monofilament, which is IGFA-rated . His fly was a white streamer. Schweit described the fly: “It’s a no-name fly I received some time ago. It has a long-shank hook wrapped in chenille, with white saddle hackle at the tail, and eyes close to the bend of the hook. Definitely a squid simulator.” He fished it by making a long cast and letting it sink. He used a slow, erratic strip to retrieve the fly.

The current 8lb tippet record is 9lb 4oz. “I targeted the 8lb tippet record specifically because of the size of the fish. I thought I had a pretty good chance at the record on 8lb tippet,” recounts Schweit. As it stands right now, Michael has submitted the necessary forms, photographs and other materials to the IGFA, and is waiting to hear back on the outcome. We wish him good luck!