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Calvert angler hooks third IGFA record
Another for the books
Friday, Aug. 21, 2009
 Click here to enlarge this photo Submitted photo
Calvert fisherman Robert LaVey caught his 27 pound 8 ounce cubera snapper last November in Belize's Sibun River.
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Most anglers dream of catching a record fish some time during their lifetime.
After a memorable catch last August, avid Calvert County fisherman Robert LaVey now has three entries in the International Game Fish Association's record book.
LaVey, who is a semi-retired sports medicine doctor, travelled to Belize last November with his wife, Margaretha, to hunt for snook and cubera snapper.
The 76-year-old Dares Beach resident, who has made about 30 trips to Belize, has also fished extensively in Florida, Costa Rica and the Netherlands.
It was Nov. 19, 2008 and the last day of a five-day fishing trip when LaVey headed out with guide Richard Young, Jr. to pursue snook and cubera snapper.
With his wife back at the hotel –– LaVey fishes alone with the guide for one day each trip –– the anglers had landed several fish in the Sibun River in cold, cloudy conditions before the fishing abruptly turned off.
"We had a couple snook and then the fishing came to a dead stop," LaVey said. "Junior said, ‘Well let's see if we can get some live mullet' so we did and then we went a ways up the river where he had a snapper hole."
On the first drift, something exploded on the bait and LaVey held on as the fish made the first of numerous long runs.
"The fish just ran so I threw the reel into the strike position," he said. "Yeah sure, [I knew it was a big fish]."
If fighting the fish wasn't enough pressure, a crowd had gathered to watch the lengthy, 40-minute battle.
"There was a tour boat coming up the river to deliver tourists and they stopped to watch [the fight]," LaVey said.
Finally, LaVey steered the fish next to the boat and Young netted the leviathan.
"When we got the fish in [the boat] they all took pictures of it," LaVey said. "It was just dumb luck that the fish didn't break off. We got it in the boat and Junior said, ‘Doc, you got [the record].'"
The snapper weighed in at 27 pounds 8 inches and was a qualifying record for six-pound fishing line.
Young filled in the IGFA submission card and, backed by three witnesses, the potential record was submitted to the IGFA headquarters in Islamorada, Fla. Back at the hotel, Young and his wife marinated the fish in milk and then breaded and fried it for dinner.
A few months later, LaVey received notification from the IGFA that his record catch had been accepted and a handsome plaque arrived shortly after.
"It was an incredible catch on the line class because the fish is like a truck, it doesn't quit," he said. "It hits like a freight train when it takes off and in the river where you find them you're just fortunate to get it up."
"He's a good fisherman, absolutely," Margaretha LaVey said. "I thought it was fantastic for him because he has been working on catching one of the big cuberas since 2002."
Robert also has IGFA records for a 22-pound snook (8-pound class) caught in 1975 and a 15-8 cubera (8-pound test) hooked in 2005.
"Absolutely [I feel good], but there's a lot better guys than me," he said. "My fishing friend Marty in Florida has 220 records, so it doesn't feel like anything. I don't pursue the records, only that type of fish."
Big fish are no stranger to LaVey, who spends winters in Miami. He's also landed tarpon to 140 pounds, snook to 33 pounds and a 220-pound monster goliath grouper.
He won the first sailfish tournament he ever entered –– the Palm Bay Invitational Masters –– and his home is decorated with photos of him through the years with gargantuan fish. His best Maryland rockfish was a 46-inch monster he caught back when the gas docks were open to recreational fishermen.
Though LaVey ranked the monster cubera as his second most memorable fish –– a 100-plus tarpon caught on a fly ranked No. 1 –– he said he doesn't get overly excited.
"I don't get excited over things like that at my stage of life," he said. "I think staying alive at the age of 76 is more exciting."
Fishing has been a way of life for LaVey, who was taught how to fish by his father. As a youngster, he would borrow a friend's wooden boat and catch fluke off the Jersey shore. He later lived in the Netherlands, where he hooked walleye and monster pike.
But record fish in the LaVey family don't only pertain to Robert. Margaretha currently holds the women's cubera snapper record with a 12-8 fish on 8-pound test line.
"Oh, it was wonderful," she said. "It was a big surprise, to tell you the truth because my husband really is the fisherman. I just learned through him and from him all the things that you need to know. And also a lot of luck, I guess."
"She's better than I am," he said. "She catches snook with regularity up to 17 pounds. She's already passed me."
Not everyone is hooked
Robert LaVey now holds three International Game Fish Association records and his wife, Margaretha, holds one. But not everyone in the family is so hooked on fishing, as this story from many years back shows.
"I was in the Netherlands and I had my dog fishing out one day as a young puppy. I had a big woolen coat over him to keep him warm. His little tail was sticking out and I caught a northern pike and put it in the boat and the pike bit him on the butt. That dog jumped up out of that coat so fast."
