The International Underwater Spearfishing Association

International Underwater Spearfishing Association

World Record

5.5 kg. , 12.1 lbs.

Salmon, Chinook Oncorhynchus tshawytscha

Record Category: Women Sling / Polespear

Diver:		Katya Karankevich
Date:		7/16/2023
Location:		UNITED STATES

This King Salmon was shot in Prince William Sound, Alaska using a 13 foot carbon fiber Red Tide roller polespear with a slip tip. This polespear has a roller pulley at its terminus, so that I can hold the bungee cocked for much longer periods without bruising my hand, due to the fractional force from the pulley. I was hunting with my friend Dane, who had slayed a couple kings near me. We were camping in a nearly broken down 16 passenger van, which emulated a salmon in the late spawning phase of life. The weather was miserable for an Alaskan summer but typical for Prince William Sound. Rain and 45F at night and high of 50F during the day. We had poor visibility between 7-15 feet, sometimes closing in to 3 feet. All of this was typical of the area, but I had on my 9mm wetsuit, so I was warm for hours. Glacial silt from summer melting mixing with saltwater and the second strongest tides in the world will consistently churn the water, producing marginal conditions that are difficult to predict. We seemed to luck out as throughout the first day we had arrived, conditions were clearest, even with wind and rain. A school we had been stalking came into focus and I picked the second biggest one that I saw, because I had shot the biggest one with my speargun just hours before. This one was a safe tail shot. Body shots often rip out because salmon will struggle so hard that their soft flesh will work a large hole, negating any flopper or slip tip. I pushed my polespear upright out of the water and grabbed hold of the slip tip so that it was secured between my hands for the swim back to shore.