Brownsville breaks Guinness world record with 2,206 anglers

For the second time in barely three weeks, Brownsville has set a Guinness world record — this time for the number of people at a fishing tournament.

The Guinness adjudicator on hand for Saturday’s gathering at the Brownsville Events Center certified that 2,206 people fished, organizer David Mendez said.

It blew the old record of 796 — set last year in Mansanillo, Mexico — out of the water. And this time, all the participants were children.

“I hope this record will hold for a while,” Mendez said. The record set three weeks ago in Brownsville was for the number of people at a zumba class.

City officials said they estimated Saturday’s crowd at the fishing tournament at about 5,000, counting parents and others who were watching.

Guinness required that an overall winner be declared, which hadn’t been planned, but when 4-year-old Maryhan Saleh hooked the longest fish — a 27½-inch catfish — she was named the winner, Mendez said.

“She was very excited,” he said. “She got onstage and took the microphone and didn’t want to give it up. She was so cute. She stole the show.”

There also were three winners in each of three age categories, 6 years and under, 7 to 11, and 12 to 16.

“For many of the families and children, it was their first experience fishing — and their first experience with a world record,” City Commissioner Melissa Zamora said. Earlier she had explained that a purpose of the event was to introduce young people to the sport of fishing.

The resaca was restocked with catfish before the event, she said.

Long line

Even before registration started, the line went around to the tennis courts at the Events Center, Zamora said.

In fact, people started lining up shortly after midnight, hours ahead of the 6 a.m. start for registration.

“They were camping in the line and in their cars,” Zamora said.

Each child who turned in a registration form got a wristband. Some 150 volunteers stood along banks to make sure everyone with a wristband was actually fishing.

If they weren’t fishing, they had their wristband removed and weren’t counted in the total trying for the Guinness record. Only 30 bands were removed, out of more than 2,000 young anglers, Mendez said.

The Guinness adjudicator commented how impressed she was that virtually all the children actually had their lines in the water, he said.

Serious anglers

“She was surprised at the number of kids that were fishing,” he said. “They were there to fish. They were serious about fishing.”

The adjudicator, Johanna Hessling, flew in from New York Friday night, and left Brownsville later Saturday for Mexico for some other Guinness attempt, Mendez said.

Las Huellas Fishing Kids, which sponsored Saturday’s tournament and of which Mendez is treasurer, paid $5,600 to have a Guinness official on hand, he said.

If you don’t pay the fee to bring in an adjudicator, you have to send substantial documentation to Guinness in England and then wait weeks to find out if you set a record, Mendez explained. This way, you get the answer right at the end of the event, he said.

“I think it was well worth the money,” he said.

“I am so happy we broke the record,” he added. “I am super happy with the turnout.”