No worries cobber,
I'll be off-site for a day or two and away from the Net, but if I had time I'd like to add some more info about how to lodge IGFA record claims etc. For a start you need to join the IGFA which I did about a month ago, online for US$40. They send you couple of member stickers and a decent size mag with loads of info, plus of course you get a user ID to access the website.
You can download & print the application forms needed to apply for a record and there's loads of support material about the do's and the don'ts. There's a processing fee to lodge a record claim plus if you catch a good size fish that you're proud of and you know it won't break a record, you can send in the stats and have an official IGFA Catch Certificate made up to celebrate the achievement (great to hang on the wall above the beer fridge).
The IGFA have also become more environmentally conscious and fully support habitat preservation and catch & release. Good to see that the organisation is modernising along with the times.
In a day or two I'd like to add some more specific info either in this thread or maybe start another. Is there anything you'd like to find out that might be on the IGFA site?
I reckon I might be on the prowl for a record later this year for barra or more likely black bass as I google earthed the remote Fly River area we'll be fishing and located some previously 'untried & unfished' creeks & lagoons that we'll be able to access. I know these places are unfished as I've been to the area five times before with the fishing club I'm in, and I know the stretches they fish (and where they've never been to yet).
I'm there for a longer stint this time (8 days instead of the usual 4) so will have time up my sleeve to venture further afield into some previously untouched waters. Should be a blast...