Robin's Reports

IGFA Museum - Part 3 - Famous people


Chisie Farrington was an avid lady Angler. She competed in tournaments and even wrote a book, "Woman can Fish."

She has been honored here in the Hall of Fame with her fishing jacket, a trophy dish, her book, photos and a plaque on the wall.



Ernest Hemmingway was inducted in to the Hall of Fame in 1993, although he never got the joy of knowing that in his lifetime. Around the museum, there are several momentos that were his works or personal belongings.

Mark Sosin is also in the Hall of Fame and can still be seen weekly in his fishing show on the Sun Network in Florida. While I did not take a picture of his exhibit, they had a few pictures and a fly lure that he loved framed on the wall.




I don't know who this guy was (sorry, I'm pitiful at not reading each display case) but this seems to be a record or his personal best Marlin picture on the wall. You can see the weight is 1,560 lbs!!!! The replica sits to the left and we all took our turns posing in front of it. It was HUGE!!

IGFA All Tackle World Record Black Marlin caught in Cabo Blanco Peru in 1953 during it's heyday as the world's premier Black Marlin fishery. The fish was caught by an American angler named Alfred Glassell Jr. The women's world record for giant Black Marlin was caught that same year, also in Cabo Blanco and that fish weighed in at 1523 lbs. Swordfish are relatives of Marlin and are also members of the Billfish family but do not grow nearly as big as the Black Marlin does. The world record Swordfish weighed in at 1182 lbs. and to date is the only "grander" (fish weighing at least 1000 lbs.) Swordfish ever caught. 


One thing we remarked on was that we were amazed that the tiny little area of muscle in the tail of a fish could actually be strong enough to hold up that much weight off the ground. How that tail did not snap off is a mystery to us.


To the right of this monster display was the gift shop in the lobby to purchase keepsakes on your way out. As you can see, it is filled with mini-replicas of the fish if you need something for that spot over the fireplace. You had better bring a lot of extra cash. They can run you from a couple hundred to several hundred dollars. 1 ft ones were only $40.

They had many coffee mugs, glasses, stuffed animals, t-shirts, mirrors and prints to purchase. I nearly came home with one of those Jason prints of the Grouper. The featured artist in the top two pictures is Guy Harvey's work. He is infamous for making all those t-shirts with fish on them. Every fisherman has (or should have) a selection for each day of the week of Guy's t's at their home.