As a high school sophomore, Cruz Strohmeyer, of New Orleans, Louisiana, already has bragging rights most anglers spend a lifetime chasing. The 15-year-old angler landed a 228.8-pound tarpon last Sunday while fishing waters east of the Mississippi. The fish could land him the International Game Fish Association’s junior world record.
Strohmeyer was fishing with veteran tarpon guide Lance Schouest when he hooked the monster on an orange Coon Pop, a lure Schouest invented. It consists of a lead head with a PVC pipe body filled with BBs and a soft plastic trailer, all of which are connected to a breakaway circle hook. The lure rattles and flashes in a way tarpon can’t seem to resist, and it’s been a staple in Louisiana tarpon circles for years.
“He picked up a spinning rod with a 6000 reel with 60-pound test line, and on his third cast … BAM!” Schouest told The Advocate.
Strohmeyer said the fish didn’t feel like much when it first hit, but once he started to reel, the monster made its first jump just 8 feet from the boat.
“Once I saw the fish, I was very excited,” Strohmeyer told reporters. “I knew it was a once-in-a-lifetime fish.”
Over the next two hours, the fish made run after run, testing both Strohmeyer’s stamina and the tackle. Tarpon are famous for their aerial displays, and this one didn’t disappoint, making several cartwheeling jumps and dumping plenty of line before tiring out enough that Stohmeyer could wrangle it to the boat.
After a 2-hour, 10-minute battle, Strohmeyer finally landed his first-ever tarpon. They weighed the fish at the Cyprus Cove Marina in Venice, where it tipped the scales at an impressive 228.8 pounds, making it a contender for the IGFA junior record book for anglers ages 11 through 16. Joey Rufin of Clearwater, Florida, currently holds the junior world record for a 222-pound 9-ounce tarpon he caught in 2002.
The current all-tackle IGFA world record tarpon weighed 286 pounds, 9 ounces, and was caught by Max Domecq in Guinea-Bissau in 2003.
“Whenever you talk about the IGFA, it’s always pending because there are lots of rules,” Schouest said. “We should know something in a couple of months.”
The process for obtaining any IGFA World Record is lengthy. Anglers have to complete the application form with catch details and signatures from witnesses and the weighmaster. They also have to send photos of the fish and the scale it was weighed on, along with a line sample, to the IGFA for review. The entire process can take up to a year to complete.
Established in 1939, the IGFA maintains and recognizes record catches for 1,222 species of fish. They certify everything from line-class records to junior and all-tackle world records, and their standards are considered the gold standard in sportfishing.
Tarpon are a prized summer target in Louisiana, especially in the waters around Venice, Grand Isle, and the passes near the river’s mouth — an area anglers call the Tarpon Triangle, where migratory fish stack up in the warm months. Florida may regularly steal the tarpon spotlight, but the Mississippi Delta quietly flies under the angling radar, producing consistent giants season after season. Strohmeyer’s catch is proof that sometimes the fish of a lifetime can show up practically in your own backyard.
