The International Underwater Spearfishing Association

International Underwater Spearfishing Association

World Record

18.7 kg. , 41.2 lbs.

Pompano, African Alectis ciliaris

Record Category: Women Sling / Polespear

Diver:		Stephanie Schuldt
Date:		9/7/2021
Location:		UNITED STATES

Jason Wilson has been inviting me up to Georgia for 3 years now. Finally the timing aligned, and I made the drive from Florida to Georgia with my friends Hylt, Amz and Laurent. We road 60+ miles offshore on Jasons boat and jumped in the water. The seas were calm, but the previous weeks of windy conditions stirred up the water. The viz was clear at the top with a strong, cold, pea green thermocline at 40ft. I made a drop down into the merk and started grunting as I slowly scanned around me. As I turned to the left, I saw two large African Pompanos coming in to check me out. When I made eye contact they turned and started swimming away. I immediately froze, slowly loaded up my nomad roller pole spear, looked down, grunted a bit more and started wiggling my fingers towards them. At the same time, Hylt, my dive buddy, was at the surface and saw my body language change. He worked the flasher a bit and the fish got curious again and turned towards me. As they swam closer I was able to close the gap and get a shot off on the bigger fish. Because the viz was so bad, I wasnt sure if my shot penetrated the fish so I put a little pressure on my float line as I made my way to the surface. At the surface, I swam with my float relieving the pressure on the line as I chased the fish down. Hylt swam next to me making sure the bull sharks didnt come in for a bite. After 3 strong runs, I got the fish up to about 50ft and Hylt made a drop to check my shot placement. He saw that the shot had penetrated and the slip tip toggled perfectly behind the gill plate. He gave me a thumbs up and I pulled the fish to the surface, secured It by the gills and got It to the boat. A huge thanks to Jason for taking me out for this fish of a lifetime, to my dive buddy Hylt for being an epic dive buddy and my friends Amz and Laurent for being my biggest cheerleaders!