The International Underwater Spearfishing Association

International Underwater Spearfishing Association

World Record

3.4 kg. , 7.4 lbs.

Sucker, Utah Catostomus ardens

Record Category: Men Sling / Polespear

Diver:		Ryan Peterson
Date:		6/7/2025
Location:		UNITED STATES

It was opening weekend at a popular local lake and the fish activity was the best I’ve ever seen, with large schools of suckers and trout on nearly every dive. Despite good visibility and targeting more wary fish that can be hard to close the distance on, I decided to set aside the spearguns and only use my new polespear this trip. An 8ft Skeeprong. On the final morning of the trip, after quickly securing a limit of trout, I shifted my focus to spearing a record size sucker. A goal that despite many, many hours of watching hundreds if not thousands of fish swim by, both on this and many previous trips, had so far managed to evade me. With only an hour or two of time left before we had to head home, I finally spotted the fish I was looking for, a six plus pound sucker, just sleeping in the weeds. I made a quick duck dive to close the distance and took what I thought would be an easy shot, only to watch my spear pass and inch over the fish’s back… I watched the fish swim away at a mockingly slow pace and thought I had missed the only chance I would get after years of effort. I re-set the slip tip on the end of my spear that had come off after hitting the bottom and looked up, only to see another, even bigger sucker not far away, facing directly at me, and just laying in the open rocks. I took a slow breath to calm my nerves, pulled the band on my polespear, and made one slow kick forward. I slowly drifted forward, careful to not make any unnecessary movements, and waited until I was too close to miss. I released the spear and my shot landed square on its forehead.
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