The International Underwater Spearfishing Association

International Underwater Spearfishing Association

World Record

9.1 kg. , 20.1 lbs.

Yellowtail, Northern Seriola lalandi dorsalis

Record Category: Men Sling / Polespear

Diver:		Ryan Gattoni
Date:		9/16/2014
Location:		MEXICO

The 20lb Yellowtail was landed on a Tuesday afternoon with a GATKU Ten’er Slip-tip BlueWater setup. You can watch the video on my YouTube page (youtube.com/ ryangattoni). There was a decent current sweeping across a reef ledge. The top of the reef ledge set at around 60ft with a drop off to 100ft. While swimming up current and hanging with a school of Halfmoon blue perch, I had a pair of yellows come cruising down current towards me. I dropped and slid motionless towards their headed direction. I was wearing a HECS suit and the two yellows acted completely unalarmed by my presence. I let the pole spear fly and it connected a few inches behind the pectoral fin along the lateral line. The yellow took off and the battle was on. I worked her back to me by float line carefully until she was about twenty feet away. I then dropped on her again and put a second pole spear behind the head. When she was within arms distance, I made sure to put a solid choke-hold grip on her through the gill plate. The excitement didn’t stop there. A sea lion decided he wanted to try and challenge me for the yellow. We exchanged a few words and a couple of gestures, and thankfully for me, nothing more progressed. I made it back to the boat safely.