The International Underwater Spearfishing Association

International Underwater Spearfishing Association

World Record

12.3 kg. , 27.1 lbs.

Barracuda, Great Sphyraena barracuda

Record Category: Men Sling / Polespear

Diver:		JEREMY CAULKINS
Date:		1/18/2014
Location:		UNITED STATES

WORLD RECORD APPLICATION – “DISCRIPTION OF THE HUNT” My name is Jeremy Caulkins and I am the president of the OC Spearos in Orange County CA and a F.I.I. instructor here in Orange County. Recently I went on a spearfishing trip with Keith Love, Dam Nhuyen, Dave Rice, Kyle Doder, and Taylor Lashlee to the Gulf of Mexico. Our trip was focused around spearfishing Wahoo roughly 100-200 miles offshore from Surfside Texas. We left port on Friday night 1/17/14 and arrived early Saturday morning (roughly 2-3 am) 1/18/14 at an oil rig near the area we planned to dive. We tied up to the rig and got a few hours of sleep before awaking and running to a high spot where we dove for the next 6 hours. By the afternoon we had landed 11 wahoo between 45-94lbs and decided to stop by an oil rig for a quick dive as the fish holds were full. When we reached the rig, everyone jumped in while I set-up a pole spear for a break-away system on the boat deck. By the time I was completed with the rigging (roughly 30 minutes) the guys were already on their way back to the boat with catches in hand. I asked them to spot me (safety diver) so that I could get a quick dive in as my intentions were to shoot a World Record Amberjack. I completed one dive to roughly 40’ where I leveled off to look for a fish. I was unable to get and Amberjack close enough to shoot and at the end of my breath hold I took a shot at a good sized Barracuda as it swam outside of the oil rig. The 8’ Crist pole spear (w/ 24” threaded shaft extension and slip tip) hit the fish mid-body and my break-away sliptip deployed inside the fish for a secure hold. Lucky for me the Barracuda swam away from the oil rig into open water where I pulled it to the surface with the connected bungee. Roughly 2-3 minutes went by from shot to landing the fish and once I got the fish on the boat we decided to leave. The group had landed 3 Amberjack, 1 Almaco Jack, and 1 Barracuda at the oil rig. After a few pictures with our fish Keith, Dave, Kyle, and I talked Dam into jumping in the water at the Wahoo spot for a quick hunt before the sun went down (Dam had not shot a fish to this point of the trip as he was shooting underwater video/ pictures the entire time). Keith raced the boat over to the Wahoo spot and he was able to put Dam on some fish immediately. Dam shot 2 Wahoo in roughly 30 minutes (55-80lbs) and we headed home with 13 Wahoo, 3 Amberjack, 1 Almaco Jack, and 1 potential World Record Barracuda. The trip was nearly perfect from beginning to end – usually is when you fill the fish holds, fish bags, and have 7 fish on the deck for the boat ride back to port. Only down side was that we had planned to dive for 3 days and were forced to come home after our first day of diving due to lack of space and ice for the fish. Special thanks to Keith Love for putting the crew on fish as usual! Gear used: I was using a Crist 8’ pole spear with 24” threaded shaft (5/16” thick) extension and a break away slip tip. I made the 24