The International Underwater Spearfishing Association

International Underwater Spearfishing Association

World Record

24.4 kg. , 53.8 lbs.

Grouper, Orange Spotted Epinephelus coioides

Record Category: Men Speargun

Diver:		Victor Serraventoso
Date:		8/1/2020
Location:		MOZAMBIQUE

It was a beautiful winter’s day, and we had not been out spearfishing for about one month, and despite low visibility, the conditions were fantastic with no wind and nearly no swell. We launched from Clube Naval, in Maputo, and travelled northeast for about an hour to arrive at the spot. The team was me (Victor), my wife Ashley, and Raúl the skipper. After reaching the furthest spot and spending about 4 hours in the area hunting pelagics, we slowly started the trip home, working our way back through a series of spots along shallow reefs on the way. With the sun getting low, around 3:30pm in the afternoon, I made one of my last dives at the second to last stop on the way home known as Boia 2 Norte, located about 45 kilometres from Clube Naval. I entered the water, and the visibility was poor and the water extremely milky. Nearly as soon as I entered the water and dove, I was approached by two orange spotted groupers, one rather small and the second sizable. Laying horizontal in the sand on the bottom of the reef at about 21 meters, I took the largest one with a good shot just behind the gills as the grouper turned to move away. I knew it was a world record. I surfaced as the reel released the line, and I quickly realized the grouper had stopped in the reef to hide. I carefully started pulling in the line and the grouper began to swim again. As the boat approached, Ashley gave me a second gun to stone dead the fish and land it swiftly in the boat. We returned to Clube Naval as the sun was setting, and I sent a message and some pictures to the whatsapp fishing group and I contacted Fenias Muhate, IUSA member, and who happens to be the previous record holder for the species. That evening, as we put away the boat, Fenias Muhate and his wife Karina, arrived at Club Naval to witness the fish firsthand as an impressive prototype of the species. Note that Fenias and I belong to the same club (Clube Naval) where we are members of the Board, and the same scale was used for both his catch and my catch.
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