Hampl's IGFA Billfish Royal Slam
Christian Hampl recently submitted his application for his first IGFA Billfish Royal Slam. Hampl started his slam in May of 1997 in Costa Rica with a Pacific sailfish. He then landed a Pacific blue marlin out of Los Suenos, Costa Rica, pictured here. Christian then landed the striped marlin pictured here in January of 2005 while fishing off Carillo, Costa Rica. He then crossed two species off the list on a July 2006 trip to the Dominican Republic with an Atlantic blue marlin and a white marlin. In April 2012, Christian landed a shortbill spearfish, pictured here, from Kona, Hawaii, and an Atlantic sailfish from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. While many anglers will travel to Australia to land a black marlin for their IGFA Royal Slam, Christian landed his black in 2019 while fishing Hannibal Bank in Panama. Hampl completed his IGFA Billfish Royal Slam in July 2021, while fishing out of Venice, Louisiana, where he landed this impressive swordfish. Congratulations, Christian on more than two decades of impressive billfish catches!
Gillenwater's Salmon Super Grand Slam on Fly
On August 21, 2021, John Gillenwater Jr. had an unforgettable day of fly fishing. John was fishing the Kamishak River in Alaska, US, when he landed an IGFA Salmon Super Grand Slam on fly. He started off the day with an “chromed out” coho salmon on a streamer fly, followed up by an impressive pink salmon on the same streamer fly. John then landed a nice chum and beautiful sockeye salmon to complete his IGFA Super Grand Slam. Landing an IGFA Salmon Super Grand Slam on conventional tackle is an impressive feat, but to land four separate salmon species in the same day on fly is truly an incredible accomplishment. Congratulations John!