It was mid-day on Could 18 when Troy von Blankenburg and his two spearfishing buddies went over the aspect of their 25-foot SeaVee boat, the VonZan Deep. They have been freediving and in search of huge saltwater fish on a synthetic reef about 50 miles west of Tampa, Florida.
The stress was on, too, since Blankenburg, Jared DeBlecourt, and Josh McCann have been competing that day within the 40th annual Crosthwait Memorial Fishing Event out of Brandenton. Vying with a number of different spearfishing groups, the three divers have been looking for the largest reef fish they might discover. The variety of factors they might rack up relied on the species and the weights of the fish, in keeping with event guidelines.
They’d already had a banner morning, taking pictures some large amberjacks that pushed 80 kilos. They headed to a special location that afternoon to seek for different species, and so they have been freediving in 160 toes of water when McCann shot an enormous African pompano that weighed roughly 37 kilos. That’s when von Blankenburg noticed a fair larger pompano about 90 toes under the floor.
“Its 12-inch-wide head was simply 50 toes from me,” von Blankenburg tells Out of doors Life. “I waved so it could see me and are available examine — they’re [typically] very curious. It swam a bit nearer and I speared it behind its head close to the pectoral fin.”
The fish fought violently whereas von Blankenburg headed towards the floor. He was utilizing a spear with a built-in reel like those utilized in bowfishing, and this allowed the fish to peel off line as they swam in numerous instructions. When he acquired to the floor, he began handlining the pompano, whereas staying alert for another predators within the water. (He says that earlier within the day, a six- to eight-foot bull shark had taken one among their fish whereas it was nonetheless speared.)
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“There have been numerous 200-pound class bull and sandbar sharks circling us whereas we have been within the water,” says von Blankenburg, who lives in St. Petersburg. “However my largest concern was a pair of 350-pound goliath grouper that adopted my shot pompano all the best way to the floor as I reeled it in. They wished to eat it, however thankfully they didn’t pull the pompano off my spear.”
With the large African pompano in hand, Von Blankenburg put it within the boat after which went again to diving together with his teammates. They lastly headed in round sundown and made it again to the dock at 8 p.m.
Picture courtesy Troy von Blankenburg
It was too late to weigh the fish on event scales by that time, so the trio put their fish on ice and weighed them the following day. Altogether, their six-fish haul of two amberjacks, two African pompano, a allow, and a cobia weighed roughly 300 kilos.
“It was ok to win the $2,500 first prize for a spearfishing staff within the occasion,” von Blankenburg says.
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His African pompano weighed 55.4 kilos, which is nearly 5 kilos heavier than the present Florida file. However von Blankenburg says it’s not the largest African pompano ever taken by a spearfisherman. That file nonetheless belongs to Valente Qunitero Baena, who speared a 64.7-pound pompano off the coast of Mexico in 2016.
As an alternative of mounting the pending file pompano, von Blankenburg is considering having an ink print manufactured from your entire fish within the Japanese gyotaku fashion.
“That huge one would would look fairly cool inked.”