Enrico Capozzi - IGFA Fishing Hall of Fame

Описание: Enrico Capozzi is one of the world’s most accomplished light tackle billfish anglers. Born in Milan, Italy, in 1961, Enrico’s journey to becoming a famed world record seeker started when he was a child. Taught to fish by his mother, Enrico was given his first fishing rod as a young child. During the summer, he was a fixture on the docks of Portofino, where he fished for mullet and other small fish.

When he got older, Enrico began traveling with his father on business trips. At the age of 11, while visiting Mauritius, he saw the mount of a world record blue marlin at the local fishing club and became immediately obsessed with the species. While fishing there, he saw what he still believes to be the largest blue marlin he’s ever seen. This event would profoundly change his life forever.

During his teens, Capozzi went to school in Italy, England, and Switzerland, where he found that he had a talent for languages, eventually becoming fluent in six. At 17, Enrico began working with the family business of high-end fashion stores. During this time, his family business opened stores throughout the Caribbean, which allowed him and his father the opportunity to fish extensively throughout the Caribbean and Central America.

Enrico retired when he was 28 and relocated to the Caribbean, where he would feed his passion for fishing full-time. At first, he was consumed with catching large numbers of billfish and would travel seasonally to famed locations such as St. Thomas, Venezuela, Panama, and Cabo San Lucas. After several years, his focus shifted to catching billfish on light line, eventually leading him to seek IGFA World Records.

Capozzi started chasing records on conventional tackle in the early 1990s. By the early 2000s, he’d amassed a total of 33 IGFA World Records for 11 different species, including four species of billfish. His crowning achievement was a 735-pound 3-ounce black marlin caught in Australia on 6-pound line. This catch still stands as the current IGFA world record and is the heaviest multiple-to-one catch ever recorded for a billfish. During this time, he was constantly innovating with tackle, boats, and other fishing gear. He also taught himself to fish light line with the reel in and out of free spool, using his fingers as drag to prevent fish from breaking off.

Enrico spent several years trying to break the men’s 2-pound conventional sailfish record of 111 pounds that was set in 1993. However, he came to the realization that fish of that size were no longer in abundance. So, he switched to targeting billfish records on fly, something with which he had no prior experience. During that time, he taught his longtime companion Stacey Parkerson how to catch IGFA records on light line, who would later become an accomplished IGFA record holder in her own right. Enrico spent countless hours learning how billfish can be caught on fly, while at the same time designing fly rods and customizing reels. His first IGFA fly record was caught in 2007, which was a Pacific blue marlin weighing 104-pounds 2-ounces on 12-pound tippet. And in just five years, he amassed a total of 10 IGFA fly records on six species of billfish. All but three of those records still stand and he is the only man to have IGFA fly records on 2-pound tippet for Atlantic sailfish, Pacific sailfish, and white marlin, as well as 8-pound tippet records for Atlantic and Pacific blue marlin.

Capozzi’s fishing accomplishments extend beyond IGFA records. He has caught over 10,000 billfish, 14 IGFA Billfish Grand Slams, an IGFA Billfish Super Grand Slam, and an IGFA Billfish Royal Slam. Enrico was awarded 27 times by the Billfish Foundation for most billfish releases and was awarded the IGFA Bob Herder Light Tackle Award in 2008. He readily acknowledges that his success has been a team effort and said, “I loved fishing with my team including Stacey, Captains OB O’Bryan, Scotty Jones, Bruno Larica, and mate Pelon Ruiz. We drove each other to be better. I was proud to fish with them and hope that they were proud to fish with me.

When asked what fishing has given him, Enrico said: “Fishing has given me passion, a challenge, and unforgettable memories. I’m a perfectionist that loves to learn. Fishing has taught me that billfish species have their own personalities, and, over time, I got to learn them well.”
For his considerable angling accomplishments, the IGFA welcomes Enrico Capozzi into the IGFA Fishing Hall of Fame.