The International Underwater Spearfishing Association

International Underwater Spearfishing Association

World Record

35.4 kg. , 78.1 lbs.

Seabass, White Atractoscion nobilis

Record Category: Women Speargun

Diver:		Nikki Tang
Date:		4/20/2024
Location:		UNITED STATES

After hiking down the trail with my gear and getting in the water, I swim to the kelp bed and start moving along the surface scanning the murk. Visibility is pea soup and the water is cold-55 degrees. I see a big gray shape 5 feet below the surface and diagonal from me. Moving only my ankles to minimize splash and to get a tiny bit closer, I pull the trigger. Then it’s on and I’m getting dragged through the kelp. Suddenly, my reel jams and when I start being pulled under, I let go of my gun and grab my float line while trying my best to keep putting the brakes on. Then very abruptly, it all stops and I’m wondering if it tore off or if it got tangled. I follow my float line to my gun which was somewhere mid-water twisted in kelp and then follow the reel line where, to my delight, the fish is very solidly on. The sea bass was ensnared in a kelp/reel line/shooting line web of its own making so it was quick work to grab it and dispatch it. While I was doing multiple dives disentangling it, I notice a shark starting to feed on the fish. I give the shark a little poke with my knife but when I dive down again it’s still there, jaws latched on shaking its head. This time I knife it hard in the head and it scrams. Once I get the sea bass up to the surface and swim it back to shore, it’s so heavy I have trouble dragging it up onto the beach. I dial up my friend who drives over, hikes down and helps me carry it up.
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