What a fun sport Spearfishing is, combining two of the greatest sports of fishing and hunting into one. We get to go under water with a gun and hunt fish. I have been Spearfishing for over 7 years and learning so much more about the sport every tournament or competition I attend, asking questions to some of the great divers out there that have been doing it for 20 plus years. Last year Nationals was held at Lake McConaughy in Nebraska, I did well but was 1 fish or 3 points short of making it to Worlds, I thought over and over of the fish that I should of shot that would of got me in The Worlds Freshwater Spearfishing Championship but alas I would just have to do better next time. Then just a few weeks before the competition I got an email from Mike McGuire that there was a Ukranian team that needed a teammate and if I would like be his teammate. I said, “yes!” Mike got me in contact with my teammate and now friend Andrii Lagutin, his English was 50% but his knowledge of helping you understand what he was trying to say was 150%. Andrii named the team, Team Laken from his last name Lagutin and my last name Kennedy, with the Ukranian flag and the U.S. Flag, pretty dang thoughtful if you ask me. We had a gentleman by the name of Bill Shaw that volunteered his home and boat and to be our Captain. Bill is a good man and a Vietnam Vet that loves people and adventure. I flew out to Arkansas and met Captain Bill, his home was a Cabin full Taxidermized animals and Fish that he had collected over the years, that where pretty dang cool. He had Fox’s and Racoon’s to Pike and Striper on his walls almost everything native to Arkansas. In the morning was when I met Andrii for my 1st time, I had wondered if he was going to be the hard and serious type or and easygoing type. Andrii was more of the fun-loving give me a hug type of guy with a Mohawk. Both of us knowing nothing of Beaver Lake and what to expect. We all hopped in the truck and took off to the lake, Bill had a slip on the lake where he kept his boat, made it easier for him at his age to be able to go fishing whenever he wanted without having to put the boat on the trailer and drive it on the crazy roads. Speaking of the roads, I got car sick every single time we drove to or from the Lake. We were staying at Bill’s house which is in Holiday Island and from the to the Lake there is no such thing as a straight road and or a level road, it was like getting on a rollercoaster going up and down left and right, high and low. We took the boat out and started diving out by marker 5, the water was not clear, the visibility was 3 feet to 7 feet depending where and what depth you dove. We scouted each day for 3 days getting to know each other and I got to learn what a great man Andrii from Ukraine was. Andrii for the last 5 years has been at War with Russia fighting for freedom, to face such hardships and to stay kind and loving as he was sure was an example for me. We had lots of things in common that we learned of each other besides spearfishing we also loved hunting and adventure. Striper day came and we went to an area that I had seen striper, we dove there and I saw 2 small Striper so I chose not to take it, I chose not to take it for 2 reasons: 1. You only get 1 and I knew that it would be beat by any other striper shot. 2. I know I need 1 for gameday, lets save it incase I don’t find any on gameday, better to get one then none. We used Striper Day as a scout day also. While we where diving I was down at 21 feet looking for fish sitting on bottom when the boat started and I heard it driving off when I was Yanked from the bottom being pulled with the boat, I instantly knew Captain had driven over my float line and I was being dragged with my line stuck in the propeller. I was about to pull my eject button on my weight belt when the boat came to a stop, that was a close one! Poor Bill felt bad for that and my float line getting destroyed but life goes on and we all are ok. We had a few problems that day the boat went over a rock that tore small hole in the boat and mangled the prop. With a mangled prop we limped back to the boat slip and borrowed some tools. Andrii like a Blacksmith worker went to work with a hammer and a rock then a hammer and a metal pole he swung and bent the prop back where it belonged as people around the Marina wondered what this loud mohawk man was doing banging away. Later we took the truck to a trout river Bill wanted to show us and accidently locked the keys in the truck. We had our spearguns in the back of the truck and had a small crowbar we found back there also. Bill made a small gap in the door as stood on top of the truck and shoved a spear shaft inside the gap and when the flange opened up, I used the flang to grab the door lock and lift it up and unlock the doors, it was a sight to see and a crazy day. Game day was now upon us, we got up early in the morning drove out to the slip and got to our spot where we hoped to get a variety of fish including a striper. We started diving and I did not see all the fish we saw before. 30 mins in Andrii shoots a good Striper in 40 feet of water, so I went out and started diving for an hour or more trying to get my Striper. I was diving down 40 feet where the water was a cold 66 degrees and the visibility was about 3 feet and it was dark and cloudy. I got good breathes each time just knowing there had to be another Striper out there, I was doing long dives 2:25 and still nothing. I knew I had to move on and also my body was cold so I went back to the shallows and hunted for cats and Walleye, I shot a pretty good Walleye. We moved to our Catfish spot where we had seen about 20 Catfish 3 days prior, I dove down and saw a huge Catfish, twice as big as my State Record in Utah that was 8.5lbs. I shoot it and it starts rolling and tangling I dive down and grab it with both arms and hug it to my body in fear that it may tare off since it was a gut shot. I though this is so big I need to take it straight to the boat. As I was swimming to the boat the fish locked his fins, and if you know about Catfish, they have spikes on each fin that can lock into place and use as a weapon, I’ve had a few pop my pontoon boat as they thrashed around inside my boat. As I held him tight to me with my hands on his gills, he put up a big fight locking his fins and his spikes went through my wetsuit and through my skin. I tried to give him a little space and he took advantage and rolled out, I grabbed the line and he tore himself right off the line as I watched him swim down to the deep, I just lost a 15 lb./point fish. I couldn’t believe it, I had him in my arms and was swimming to the boat, I should have put him on my stringer 1st, I was mad and frustrated at myself, I should have endured the pain and held tight. I was at this point so disheartened and frustrated; I lost my big fish only 1 Walleye and no Striper. We moved spots again to a spot during scouting we had seen Catfish, we started diving when Andrii who already had his 2 Walleye saw a Walleye and told me, “Mike, come here 30 feet is Walleye”. I went down and waited for the Walleye to come in when I saw stripes, I raised my gun in excitement and nailed it perfectly. I came up and yelled to Andrii, “No Walleye, but I did get a striper!” as I showed it to him. We moved spots again to a Drum area, I started swimming and actually saw a drum from top and started a dead fall where I try not to move at all but I also had to twist my body and swing my gun as he was around left of me and take a 8 foot shot and I nailed it! I love when shots go good like that. Did a lot of dives when I saw a Catfish, I nailed it and secured it to my float to not make a mistake and lose another Cat. I did another dive when I saw another Catfish not too big but still a Catfish, I nailed it in the stomach not a good shot and it tore off. About 15 mins later saw another one that tore off as well how frustrating. I went down again and there was a fallen over log about 20 feet down, 20 feet seemed to have the most fish with the best visibility at 3 to 5 feet. While sitting by the log a good Walleye came in and I nailed it perfectly and brought it in. I know have my 1 Striper, 2 Walley, 1 Drum and 1 Catfish. I do a ton of dives and see a Drum and nail it in the tail but it tears off, half hour later I nail my 2nd Drum. I did 119 dives and shot 6 fish, I should have gotten 1 more Drum and a few more Catfish, I have a lot more work to do tomorrow on rough fish day to make up my loss. I ended up with 27 points and 11th place overall. Rough fish day came and we got up early again and headed to the boat slip like we do every morning. We take our guns and fins home and usually leave the rest. That morning we put in the gate code got to the boat and my Mako weight vest was missing, what are we going to do? I had a weight belt with 4 lbs. that I attach the float line to but that will not be enough, Andrii gave me 4lbs off of him and we had go with what we had. We got to our spot a little late in the commotion a few minutes after 7. I had to dive deeper to stay down, but on my 2nd dive I shot a monster drum, too bad I didn’t shoot him yesterday, he would have been 12 pts yesterday and 2 pts today. I was struggling to stay down, my 3 mil Mako wetsuit had a small Pocket that I stuffed with as much small rocks as I could to weight me down a little more. I then found a flat rock probably 12 inches by 9 inches that I stuffed into my wetsuit that worked. I was able to stay down at 20 feet, I was back in business. We moved to a new spot about 10 am. This was a spot I thought would be good for Carp and Drum. I start shooting and pull in 6 more Carp and Drum. I asked them to come get my fish and they yell back that the Boat isn’t starting, and the boat never worked again after that. We did the best we could with the situation, I tied my fish to an old unused boat dock. I then dove and dove and dove and dove shooting 1 fish every half hour. A family’s boat was stuck and I dove down and pulled their anchor out of a tree stump. Another couple told me how their son had lost his $1200 dollar cell phone. I dove down and instantly found their Iphone. I did 160 dives that day and hauled in 13 fish giving me 26 points. I really thought we did really bad but Andrii shot 26 fish that gave us a big boost. We still had to get the fish in before 4 and some people came with their boat and towed us back to our slip, we got our fish back 15 minutes before disqualification time. We ended up taking 3rd Place as a team, other teams had struggled to find Drum and Carp also, so never give up you never know how others will do. Andrii took 3rd place overall and 2nd in Masters, I took 8th place overall moving up 3 spots. It was exhausting and so much fun at the same time and I had a great time meeting a new teammate and friend Andrii.
