The International Underwater Spearfishing Association

International Underwater Spearfishing Association

World Record

11.3 kg. , 24.9 lbs.

Snapper, Northern Red Lutjanus campechanus

Record Category: Women Speargun

Diver:		Christine Vartiainen
Date:		7/10/2021
Location:		UNITED STATES

It was our first red snapper season ever and with only 3 days of the legal recreational season to hunt this magnificent fish, we needed to make good use of our time. We did our research and picked St. Augustine Florida as our location to explore. We turned to our good friends at CMOR maps to provide us with the shade map relief chart information that proved to be invaluable for this trip, as we were able to pick areas to hunt that we would normally have passed right over. This was also valuable since there were hundreds of other boats in the area covering up every known spot, making it dangerous to dive most areas. I was diving with Judah Clark and Nicole Burko. We had a successful first two days of hunting while using some chum here and there.. Each of us were limiting out on fish almost close enough to beating records. On our 3rd and final day, we decided to be a lot more selective in choosing our one and only fish for the day and last for the season. I made a few dives sizing up each fish. I eventually picked one that I hoped would be just a few pounds heavier than the two fish we harvested the first 2 days prior. I took my breath and dropped down to 46 foot and had my pick of around 2 to 3 fish below me. I took a shot on the largest one with my Azure speargun. The fish took off into the depths and I pulled on it a bit before loosening up my reel and making my way to the surface. Luckily the bull sharks we had seen just moments before for some reason didn't come in on this fish and it was a fairly uneventful but rewarding pull up to the surface. I thought I might have my record fish so I didn't bleed this one like I normally would. I brained it and lifted it onto the boat and it went straight into the cooler with a slurry of ice and seawater. When we got back to the house, we weighed my fish and surely enough, I had broken the world record. We had an amazing first red snapper season and we plan on doing this every year. There will be a video of this entire experience on my YouTube channel located at Youtube.com/TheFisherTwins and on Judah's channel at Youtube.com/JudahClarkFishingAdventures