International Underwater Spearfishing Association
World Record  
6.0 kg. ,   13.2 lbs.
Hogfish, Barred    Bodianus scrofa
Record Category: Men Speargun

Diver: Paulo Afonso
Date: 10/24/2015
Location: PORTUGAL


The sea was pretty rough on October 24, 2015 in Pico-Azores. So after a long drive around the island, me, John Dornellas and his wife Brenna, finally came to a spot on the south side of Pico were it would let us get in the water from the rocks. John and I jumped in at around 13:30 pm. Choppy sea, 17-20m visibility, 19º temperature and some current. I started dropping down to mid-water and drifting with the current. At the one hour mark, in one of these dives, I saw what seemed to be a big Peixe Cão (Barred Hogfish) nibbling something on a steep ledge. I just glided over it as still as possible and when outside of its field of view I went down to the top of the rock (-27m), crawled flat against the sea floor my way back to that ledge and waited with my speargun (RIFFE Euro 130 with reel) already extended. A few seconds later the Barred hogfish was 2m in front of my spear. With a slight correction of the gun I pulled the trigger. The shaft hit him right under his left eye and exited an inch below his right pectoral fin, a really good holding shot. I loosened the drag on the reel when coming up for air from the long deep dive and pulled the fish up to me from the surface. About 3 hour later I was already on the harbor of my home town, Santo Amaro, waging the fish on a certified scale that accused exactly 6,00kg.

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