The International Underwater Spearfishing Association

International Underwater Spearfishing Association

World Record

11.0 kg. , 24.3 lbs.

Silver Seabream Pagrus auratus

Record Category: Men Sling / Polespear

Diver:		James Wech
Date:		1/14/2016
Location:		NEW ZEALAND

After shooting a couple of fish to use as ground bait, a likely spot was found at the tip of a prominent point in approximately 8m of water. The Seabream (Snapper) is a notoriously spooky fish and a spot was selected with a 2-3m high drop-off and a good covering of kelp to hide in. The bait was chummed and set on the bottom. After 20min of looking around the adjacent terrain the spot was rechecked. A number of large fish could be seen feasting on the remaining fish frames. A couple of dives on the spot confirmed a bigger fish was periodically coming to check out the action and this fish was to be my target. I loaded my new Crist Polespear and dived onto the ledge, carefully concealing my form as much as possible. As I looked over the lip the fish was spotted just to the left near the bottom of the drop-off. With little hesitation I carefully exposed my spear, the fish did not seem to mind my presence and the spear was released a foot from the body. The spear was well placed just behind the pectoral fin and a great holding shot. The fish put up a brief fight but with no float line we had little time to tussle on the bottom. We quickly battled it out to the surface and the fish was dispatched.