The International Underwater Spearfishing Association

International Underwater Spearfishing Association

World Record

21.7 kg. , 47.8 lbs.

Catfish, Flathead Plyodictis olivaris

Record Category: Men Speargun

Diver:		Mark McCloskey
Date:		6/25/2023
Location:		US

On a Sunday morning I went to a spot near my house for a quick shore dive in hopes of shooting a few sheepshead to eat for the week. I regularly go to this spot to harvest enough for a meal or two for my family depending on the visibility as it can turn into chocolate milk with any kind of wind. The water clarity was decent, but I had only seen a one very small sheepshead after about an hour of being in the water. As time went on, I had only seen three small sheepshead and in an effort to harvest something for dinner I decided to shoot a few. As I made my way around the rock jetty, I saw a concrete pipe in about 12’ of water. Knowing that catfish are scarce in this area but sometime find homes in places like this, I poked my head in there. As my eyes adjusted, I saw a MONSTER catfish head looking at me. Knowing, I wasn’t prepared for this kind of fish at that moment, I decided to go to the surface to get some air. With my heart racing, I did everything I could to try to calm down and breath up for what would likely be a long fight. The gun I had was my JBL 38 special that I regularly shoot in dirty water. I’ve shot hundreds of fish with this gun and some even upwards of 30lbs. However, knowing this was going to be a head shot, I didn’t know if it would be enough to get the job done. While breathing up, I checked all my equipment to make sure everything was ready to go. I took a huge breath and dove down. Once I got to the pipe, it was cloudy like the fish might have swam away. However as I put my head in the pipe and when my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I saw he was still there. I pulled my head out and due to the lack of viz, I shot from the hip into what I hoped was its head. As soon as I shot, the fish went crazy and shot out of the pipe. At this point, I saw the size of it, and it was WAY bigger than I had thought. Knowing the gun was greatly underpowered for the fish and shot, I gently held the steel cable attached to the spear. As I fought the fish, I saw where the spear tip was barely lodged underneath the fish’s skin. Knowing the fish could potentially pull off, I swam to it, and grabbed its jaw with both hands and wrestled it up the to the surface. Once I was able to get a breath, I fought the fish to shore. However, as I was about 10’ from shore, the cable got lodged around an underwater rock. Knowing I couldn’t get go of the fish, I had to swim farther out into the lake, then back underwater to untangle the cable while still holding on to the fish. Once I got it to shore, the adrenaline was starting to wear off, and my hands and forearms were burning from holding onto the fish’s jaw and wrestling it. I had to climb up the 10’ tall rock jetty with my fins on to get to flat land where I was finally able to let go of the fish. I’ve been spearfishing both inshore and offshore in all kinds of situations, and landing this fish took every bit of my 13 year spearfishing experience. And a little luck too.