The International Underwater Spearfishing Association

International Underwater Spearfishing Association

World Record

11.6 kg. , 25.6 lbs.

Barracuda, Yellowmouth Sphyraene viridensis

Record Category: Men Speargun

Diver:		Paulo Afonso
Date:		9/21/2015
Location:		PORTUGAL

On September 21, 2015, at around 3pm, I and my friend Tiago Oliveira (skipper) anchored my boat (7 m semi-rigid named Pérola Negra) to a seamount located at the eastern end of Pico Island. I was focused on Wahoo and the conditions were perfect. Sunny day, flat sea, low current, 20m visibility and water temperature at 22º. I got in the water equipped with my Wahoo system, Riffe Mach 5 speargun, 23m float line connected to a 10m bungee and a Riffe 3 ATM float. Almost immediately one large school of Yellowmouth barracudas, common in this type of marine structures, passed beneath me at 10 m deep, all 2 to 4kg fish, but among them was one that standed out greatly in size from the remaining. I managed to put myself directly above it and went down very quietly. At about 10 m deep when I extended out the gun for the shot I made a slight noise that the fish felt and took off very suddenly, but only a few meters ahead it turned around passing in front of me 4 to 5 m away. I took the opportunity and pulled the trigger hitting it in its center just 10cm behind the head with an 45º angle from the top. The fish took off to the bottom but I knew I had a detached slip tip on a very good holding shot, so I pulled the fish to me without much restraint, it only took about a minute until grabbing it. Killed it with my dive knife and handed it to Oliveira. I stayed another hour on the spot but no Wahoo. On the 8 nm return trip to the harbor we discussed the possibility of having a world record there in the boat, although it seemed to be the biggest Wellowmouth I had ever caught I wasn't quite sure of its weight. But the impressive 11,6 kg accused on the certified scale withdrew all doubts.
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