Following a successful 2022 US National Championships at Lake Powell, it was decided that NFSA would be the hosting organization for the World Championships. We immediately started our preparations and evaluated what went well with nationals and what we could adjust to create an even more successful World event. We decided to try and schedule the championship for mid May when water temps would be warmer and the target species would be higher in the water column. We also knew that placing the tournament before Memorial Day would be the best option to limit the number of other boaters that would be on the lake. Water level was also of huge concern and we knew that the Castle Rock cut would still be closed, which meant competitors would have to take a 45 minute boat ride through the no wake zone to make it to the start location. Armed with all of this knowledge, our board decided to move forward and plan for all contingencies. 10 countries, 58 competitors, 2 days of fierce competition, last second drama and storylines, lots of laughs and camaraderie later, it is fair to say that the World Freshwater Spearfishing Championships was a booming success!
In addition to running the event, I also had the honor and privilege of representing the United States as a competitor in my second World Championships. I competed at the last World event held in Beaver Lake, Arkansas in 2021 where I got to dive with the legendary Calvin Lai, finishing 4th place in the men’s team and 7th individual. What made this opportunity so special was the fact that I would be diving with one of my best friends, Kenny Western.
Scouting – We arrived at Lake Powell on May 10th to begin scouting. We wanted to cover as much area as possible and so we broke up the boundary into sections and prioritized our time based on the target fish we needed to find. We also wanted to devote some time to hunting outside the tournament area to dial in our gear and shoot fish. We quickly realized that the event would present some very unique challenges due to the rapidly increasing water levels. We were finding that the fish were very unpredictable and areas that were full of fish one day were empty the next. We changed our strategy and were more focused on the conditions where we were seeing fish. What was the structure in the area like, water temp, depth, visability, ect.? We were not planning on scouting the day before the tournament in an effort to rest and prepare but we felt like we needed to go and check our best spots one last time just to make sure our plan was sound. This proved to be extremely beneficial because when we returned and checked we quickly learned that we could not see our hand in front of our face and any chance of getting fish in those areas were gone. We went home very apprehensive and unsure of what we would do. We took pen to paper and wrote out our best strategy based on the new found information. We did not feel confident at all and decided to just have fun and try to stay positive and hope for the best. I am a firm believer in victory favoring those who are prepared and I knew we had done all that we could.
Day 1 – Game fish day – We arrived at the start with great anticipation and nerves about what the day’s result would be. It was exciting to see all the competitors and everyone was happy and friendly. It showed me that despite the fact that this was the World Championships that everyone was genuinely happy to see each other and wishing everyone to have a successful and safe day. We made it to our predetermined first spot and waited patiently on the boat for the “guns in” start time of 8AM and then we were in. It felt like I didn’t get my first fish until about an hour in. Kenny had already shot 3 fish. I went to the very back of the canyon where it narrowed to almost a shoulder width or less. I was able to shoot one more fish. We left our first spot with Kenny having 4 fish and I had 2. We arrived at the next location and I immediately found some submerged tumbleweed. In our scouting I knew that walleye could be found on top of tumbleweed. I was right. I shot 2 walleye very quickly and also managed to land a striper. Off we went to our third spot. It was a shallow sandy bay and visibility was between 5-10 feet and a little bit cloudy. This made for perfect conditions for catfish. I shot 3 catfish in about 20 minutes and also landed a striper. At this point in the day both Kenny and I had landed 8 fish each. We had time for one more move and we went to a spot in the same canyon where there was some debris where we had seen striped the day before. We only had an hour left and fortunately we were able to shoot 5 more stripers between us. By the end of day Kenny had shot 10 fish and I landed 11. We were sitting in second place as a team and I had done enough to be 4th place individual and Kenny 5th place.
Day 2- Carp day – We went into day 2 feeling like we each needed to shoot 100 fish in order to have any chance at overtaking our good friends Justin Lee and Mike Kennedy for first place. We had a very nice spot picked out and we knew it would be very important to get there first to secure the bay. We had seen hundreds of carp spawning in the shallows. We knew there would be enough fish in the bay to keep us there all day as long as they stayed huddled up in the shallows. We also planned to bring our pole spears to try and take some of the carp that were in the very shallow water where visibility was a foot or less. We would only pull those out if the carp in the 5-10 foot range dried up. We did secure the bay by arriving before anyone else and in the first hour Kenny was off to a very fast start landing 20-25 fish. I was a little behind that with about 15. In hours two and three I shot even less. With about an hour left in the day Kenny was at about 60-70 fish and I was half of that with just over 30. I was feeling very discouraged and getting very nervous. Kenny gave me a good pep talk in the boat as we moved to our final spot. I jumped in the water and quickly found a nice little corner of the bay where I was shooting a fish on every drop. I ended up shooting 30 fish in the last hour finishing the day with 62 carp and Kenny landing 81. I was doing a half a minute bottom time and the same as a surface interval. It was extremely exhausting to say the least. I have never dove so hard in my entire life and I knew that I had left it all out there. We still didn’t know if it would be enough. We saw Mike and Justin on the way back to the check in and they told us they had only shot about 80-90 fish combined. With our 143 combined fish we felt like we could possibly take first place, depending on how the other teams behind us had done. We made our way to the weigh in and with one more team to weigh in we were feeling very confident. One more USA team Darvil and Fernando weighed their fish and with an astonishing 221 fish they catapulted into first place, going from tied for last place after the first day into first place for the competition. Huge props to them for doing enough to secure the win. We were content with the result knowing that we had done our very best. We would finish in 2nd place team and Kenny ended up in 3rd place individual and I 5th after losing in a tie break to my other best friend Mike Kennedy.
We ended the week with an amazing awards banquet catered by Gone West restaurant. On the menu was prime rib and chicken with a variety of delicious sides. We took time to honor all competitors and paid special tribute to the top divers in each category. As each individual and team was recognized, standing atop the podium you could feel the great national pride and accomplishment that each felt as they accepted their award. I also had the privilege of recognizing a truly great man, Mike McGuire, for his tremendous contribution to the sport of spearfishing. We played a photo montage depicting memories from the many events over the years and the countless divers that he has mentored and influenced through his selfless service. Brett Leable then presented a special award that we have named the “Mike McGuire Sportsmanship Award”. This award, affectionately nicknamed “The Golden Moustache” is a golden carp with a moustache to represent Mike. It will be given at each nationals and World tournament going forward and will be awarded to the individual that shows the most selfless support and sportsmanship. We also took time to recognize G.R. Tarr for his being named US Athlete of the Year for 2022 and presenting him with a trophy.
I feel very pleased with the event and extremely grateful to have been able to participate. I met so many great divers from around the world and developed friendships that no doubt will carry on long into the future.
