Electric reels allowed, sort of, for new IGFA fishing records
E-doped fishing reels are okay as long as you’re not using them to reel in a record-breaking catchElectric drills on fishing rods are in – but only for quickly retrieving bait or lures from the depths – but fully electric push-button reels are definitely out under a newly revised rule from the International Game Fish Association.
The US-based association holds a giant global database of size and weight records for numerous species of fish – a number of them held by Australians – that any IGFA member can claim.
However, some fuzziness around the rules around what constitutes an “electric” reel – one using an electric motor and a battery to make winding in much easier, and popular among skull-dragging recreational swordfishers who don’t really care how the fish gets to the boat – was making life difficult.
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But not any more, with an amended rule coming into force this week that clearly defines when a fisher can flick a switch rather than crank a handle.
The rule change comes just as Australia enters the popular marlin-fishing season.
“To preface the new language outlined in detail below, the IGFA would like to stress that it does not, and will not, accept the use of electric reels that aid the angler in fighting a fish,” the IGFA said.
“This new language simply clarifies the use of electric reels in regard to deploying and retrieving baits and/or lures.”
The new rule, effective immediately after the IGFA board of trustees this week gave it the go-ahead, expands from a single line saying power-driven reels that give a fisher an unfair advantage in fighting a fish are banned to a four-part rule allowing e-doping in some circumstances:
2. Power-driven reels are acceptable under the following situation and configuration.
- a) Reels that have power accessories (e.g., electric drill attachments, motors or other power accessories specifically designed for a reel) that can be physically removed from the reel may be used strictly for the purpose of retrieving a deployed bait or lure at depth all the way to the boat.
- b) Power accessories may only be used to retrieve a bait or lure completely to the boat and are not permitted for adjusting the position of a bait or lure in the water column. Once a power accessory is attached to the reel, the bait or lure may no longer be legally used to catch a fish and the bait or lure must be retrieved all the way to the boat for manual redeployment before it may be legally used to hook or catch a fish. Power accessories may not be attached to the reel during the deployment of a bait or lure.
- c) Power accessories must be physically removed from the reel before the act of hooking or fighting a fish. Any fish that strikes a bait or lure being fished with a reel with power accessories still attached – whether or not under electric operation – will not be eligible for record consideration.
- d) Electric reels that do not have removable electronic components that allow them to be completely manually driven are prohibited.
“Changes to the IGFA’s international angling rules are always something we handle with the utmost care,” IGFA president Jason Schratwieser said.
“This rule in particular has been a point of contention for years, and we are pleased to announce this new language that we strongly feel adapts IGFA rules to the technology of our time, while not jeopardising the core principles of IGFA ethics.”
Australians hold IGFA world records for black, blue and striped marlin, swordfish, shortbill swordfish, and Pacific sailfish.
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