The International Underwater Spearfishing Association

International Underwater Spearfishing Association

World Record

6.4 kg. , 14.1 lbs.

Salmon, Chinook Oncorhynchus tshawytscha

Record Category: Women Sling / Polespear

Diver:		Katya Karankevich
Date:		6/28/2025
Location:		UNITED STATES

My new fishing buddy Eric Speck (not the dog pictured who definitely licked this fish) and I were swimming about in the cold Alaskan waters after a boat ride to the location within the protected waters of South East. I was shivering already and a few fingers were numb from being in the water for several hours. He caught a bigger king that got grabbed by a sea lion, taking him for a jetski ride as he held onto his gun and tried to stay floating. The giant ocean bear let go and there were only big scratches across the fish from the teeth, no major meat damage. Fun fact- a sea lion jaw and a grizzly bear jaw are almost impossible to tell apart. The week before this day, I had spent 10 days with a couple girlfriends in the inside passage hunting kings off a 25 foot boat where we encountered rough seas and did not see a single salmon the entire time due to poor timing of the run and the variability annually in king salmon populations. We didn’t bring protein with us for this remote trip as we were extremely confident that we could get unlimited fish. We ate a lot of harvest sea kelp and drank all of the gin after encountering swell that made me lay on the bottom of the boat, hugging the mast with my eyes closed because adding more ballast was all the benefit I could bring to the situation. I was so glad when Eric invited us to his part of the state to try again for the fattiest of the salmon species. My polespear pictured here is collapsed in half. It was set up for 12-14 foot mode, which was my personal request to the RedTide Spearfishing team, as I’m not sneaky enough to use something shorter and salmon are spooky as hell, needing that long reach. It’s a roller with a dyneema slip tip, as metal slip tips cut the fish too much, making escape likely. There were a lot of dog salmon mixing with the king school but if I was patient, I could wait until they forgot about me. Visibility was great for Alaska - meaning 15-30 feet. A sea lion splashed 50 feet from me, throwing a king in the air and ripping it in half. Then it dove down in my direction and I knew it would drive a big school toward me at high speed and toward a shallow choke point up from deeper water. I just hoped sea bear wouldn’t get too close as they are 1,500 lbs and could take whatever they want, including my entire head in their mouth. I got this fish right in the spine within 30 feet of water from the fleeing school, and it was lights out. No fight.
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