International Underwater Spearfishing Association
World Record  
7.2 kg. ,   15.9 lbs.
Little Tunny    Euthynnus alletteratus
Record Category: Men Speargun

Diver: Zachary Dunlevy
Date: 6/5/2015
Location: UNITED STATES


We headed out of Oregon Inlet early to try and reach the Gulf Stream and hunt Yellowfin Tuna. On the way to the stream we stopped by one of the many Navy towers located out of Oregon Inlet. We broke out the smaller guns and shot amberjack and a single cobia before continuing to the stream. We shot Mahi once we reached the stream but couldn’t get on the tuna. We stopped at the same tower on the way back in. I realized there were few fish besides Amberjack and Barracuda around the tower so I began to swim further away to see if any fish were circling it. I saw a school of 20-30 tuna out in front of me between 15 and 30ft and quickly made a dive. I leveled out at 15ft and kept my head down so they wouldn’t spook. I swam towards where the school had been and slowly raised my speargun before finally looking up. The school didn’t spook at all and I was able to line up a shot on the biggest fish, located in the front of the school. I pulled the trigger and got a holding shot near the back portion of the fish. The fish took off and began to spool my reel as I surfaced. As soon as I felt the fish slow down I began to fight the fish on the line. After a 10 minute battle I had the tuna in my arms and was swimming the fish to the boat.

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