Florida Freedive Spearfishing Championships First Place!!!

For some reason I always seem to miss the FSDA Florida Spearfishing Freedive tournament held each year in Tarpon Springs.
I think for excuses I’ve blamed weather. Girls. Warm beds. Dirty Water. Small fish. Cold Water. Big fish somewhere else. Work etc etc. Girls is the only excuse that I ever thought was any good but those are the ones that get you in the most trouble and catch the most shit from my friends.
This year it worked out though and I listened to my cousin Blake Gaylord and Charter captain Ed Walker and teamed up with them to participate in the yearly tournament. We watched the weather the week before and I cursed the bad vis I was seeing and predicting black out conditions and that no one would show up and blah blah blah.
Preparing for the worst I packed my 5mm suit, three prong pole spear and 75 cm break down Riffe gun thinking I’d just make the most of the day and try out the new equipment.
Morning of the tourney found that I was wrong.
Thank god!
We had 9 teams of three and a good mix of new and old divers from around the state. After a shotgun start with Pit’s 38ft Intrepid leading the way with his triple 350 Yamaha’s throwing a roostertail way way way up ahead of us all, the rest of us followed as fast as we could but even running at 55 mph we were no where near catching him.
Fast or slow everyone had an equal chance this year with the species list reduced by taking Amberjack and Cobia off.
Now we had to concentrate on a solid stringer of good fish but couldn’t really hope for anything massive to even the score except the wild chance of a big King Mackerel to jump away from the pack.

On the menu were:
10 sheepshead
5 Mangrove Snapper
5 Hogfish
2 gag Grouper
5 spanish mackerel
2 king Mackerel
1 red grouper

By taking Cobia and Amberjack off the smaller boats were saved long runs trailing the bigger faster boats who could get to the best spots first and shoot those key fish. Now it would just be a solid days catch with as many species as possible to fill a 20 fish limit. Each fish counts one point per pound plus one point per fish with a maximum of 20 lbs for fish therefore a 20lb Grouper and a 100 lb Grouper would both count for only 21 points.

Arriving at the first spot we found good vis and cool water and not another boat in sight. We anchored up and within seconds the three of us were in the water and fish were on the stringer steadily for the next few hours. After shooting the first one with the gun I was restringing and fiddling with the stringer and float line and got frustrated and put the gun in the boat to give it a go with Three Prong Riffe Pole spear.
First dive a solid 6lb Sheepshead swims past at speed and I track him lining up the shot when he is only 5 feet away. It hits him in the head and his momentum carries him a few more feet as I swim forward to catch him. By the time I hit the surface he is already off the spear and on the stringer and 45 seconds later I’m ready to leave the surface again for another. This is the way to go!
Next five minutes found 2 more good sized sheepshead taken in similar fashion.
Meanwhile Blake and Ed are filling their stringers with Big Sheepshead and their grouper within the first two hours in the water!
On one dive I was cruising down and saw a 20lb Gag slipping through the rocks on his way out. I approached as non confrontational as possible and almost had him but at 7 feet away and a quartering shot I held back and surfaced to tell the other guys who had guns.
Next dive down I find two other gag grouper cruising and this time anticipate their path and am able to stone my biggest fish of the day from only 4 feet away! Stoked.
Ed and I found one good spot for a while and both managed to take 3 Spanish mackerel each mine with the pole spear (except for one) and he with the Euro taking the largest mackerel of the trip and tourney at a modest four lbs.

We hit a few more spots and were in need of snappers, hogfish, and another grouper so we made a move only a few miles away and hit pay dirt. The vis was in and out but Blake quickly had a few mean looking little hogs who despite their 3 lb actual sized fully believed with their dark snouts and markings they should have in the Middle Grounds shouldering other 20lber’s out of the way.
Watching Blake as we did one up and down working a ledge taking a Hog on almost every other dive. As he is coming to the surface with a nice hog at the end of the line I see him look to the right and instantly kick harder and try to bring his gun up as a 7 ft shark rushes up to him. The shark veers off and swims wide and he continues to bring the fish up as the shark streaks in again. I dive to intercept and the shark changes direction and comes straight up to me at speed and turns only a few feet away to continue his circling. Blake pulls the hogfish out of the water as the shark circles and with some convincing I get him to give it to me and stuff it in my wetsuit and continue down the ledge instead of losing the spot and heading back to the boat.
We continue for the next ten minutes taking 4 more hogs and don’t see the shark again and then move to another spot.
Ed and Blake have their 20 fish so Ed puts me on a “grouper” spot as they position to Anchor. First dive I shoot a legal gag and have him in my hands on the surface taking the shaft out. I was kind of in that zoned out mode where you forget everything around you when a movement underneath me instantly materializes into a 7 foot shark blasting up and into me and the fish. I always push to fight sharks for your fish and this time I had no choice but to toss it as the shark was already only a few feet away and coming so fast I thought sure he was about to take my hands and the fish.
As I tried to push the fish away it scared the shark and he turned on a dime and was so close his wake pushed me sideways through the water.
The guys got a good laugh at me wussing out with only a 7 ft shark but the aggressive little buggars seemed to hit almost every boat in the tournament so we weren’t the only ones who the tax collectors visited but like most we denied any requests for handouts.

We take an easy run back the dock and then see the blue bullet (Pit on the Intrepid) coming up from the horizon and despite Ed hammering the throttle down a bit further they pass us with ease and we are only able to catch up by running across the flats at 50+ and backing off only fifty yards behind the others.

At the dock all the boats are there and everyone is visiting and comparing catches and it looks like most everyone has about the same stringers.
I think my favorite part of tournaments is catching up with all the divers that are together and have shared a good day on the water. The vibe is good and everyone is stoked just to be there and everyone is catching up and giving each other flak from trips gone past.
We weigh our fish and there is a bit of a buzz that it is solid and the best so far.
Ed Blake and I were all only a few lbs difference so as a team we knew we had a chance and there was no one that really stood out. We worked together and during the day called each other over when we found a good spot and it paid off steadily shooting good fish hoping that we would get a monster but not throwing it all to luck.

Weigh in complete Ritchie makes the announcements and Team Running with Scissors (Blake, Ed and Cameron) is on top by a good margin and I’ve taken 3rd place individual.
Stoked!!!
Thanks to all the guys that came out and making it a good fun tournament.
So many good and beginner divers alike shy away from tournaments after witnessing the craziness and unsportsmanlike attitudes that has infiltrated the sport in years past.
We all spearfish because we love it and tourneys are a way of having fun, getting everyone together, and testing our skills against our friends.
When guys cheat, trade fish, argue at weigh ins, make up lies about others in the tournament and get them disqualified, run to the Bahamas or shoot outside of the boundaries it takes away from the value that everyone gets from the sport.
This was a solid tournament with good quality divers, well run, fair, and fun.
I hope that the success of this one brings more divers next year!
Cameron

Final Results

Top 3 Shooters:
1st- 102.25 points Ritchie Zacker
2nd- 99.55 points Austin Burneo
3rd- 95.20 points Cameron Kirkconnell

Biggest Fish:
Austin Burneo-18.90lb Grouper

Teams:
1st- Running with Scissors- Ed. Walker-89.15, Blake. Gaylord-93.05, Cameron Kirkconnell-95.20 =277.40 points
2nd- Red Tide- Sasa. B-58.55, Ritchie. Z-102.25, Eric. G-85.40 = 246.20 points
3rd- TBSC Apollo Beach- Aaron. S-93.25, Bill. V-78.25, T.A. M-70.05 = 241.55 points
4th- Fintrepid- Pit. G-77.25, Jason. W-92.95, Ben. F-65.40 = 235.90 points
5th- E-Searider- Pat. B- 48.55, Chris. H-79.05, Austin. B-99.55 = 227.15 points
6th- Pescasub- Jose. S-62.30, Eric. S-80.55, Ciro. L-81.80 = 224.65 points
7th- Stinky Pinky- John. P-66.65, Conner. E-66.30, Bill. F-63.05 = 196.00 points
8th- Seals#1- David. S-62.55, Skip. L-64.80, Gary. D-60.10 = 187.45 points
9th- Scales- Bryan. A-57.55, Trey. S-72.00, Chris. G-35.15 = 164.70 points