Over the next few weeks I’ll share a couple of my favorites with you…

Joseba Kerejeta is the best spearfisherman you will ever meet.  After a trip to Venezuela a while back a friend put me in touch with him saying that he was the only person he had ever heard of that traveled and speared as much as I did.  Joseba and I kept in touch over the years and usually just missed each other in the different hot spots around the world and through our travels dove with a lot of the same people. Last year he won the World Spearfishing Championships and that combined with his bluewater and reef prowess confirms that he is the best in the world.  For more on Joseba check out his website.

This picture had me thinking and frothing a bit but knowing the location where it had come from I wasn’t too worried. Joseba has placed a great shot on this fish but he isn’t straining to lift it which was my first tip off.  Also the Doggies head has the telltale marks of little sharks teeth which can be confused with scrapes on the bottom when they take you into the rocks but I am pretty sure those are Reef Sharks marks, Lastly he doesn’t look nearly as excited as I know all of us are when we land a monster fish so I didn’t stress to hard about this one and called out the photographer on it and waited for the reply.

Here is the whole picture:

Joseba with all too common of a sight when hunting Dogtooth tuna

Send me your best Dogtooth Tuna story and any pics you have of them getting chawed by sharks to blueh2oboy@yahoo.com

The best one will get a slot on Spearblog.com’s VIP access membership when the first round of spots opens up just after the new year.

No one is immune to the Dogtooth curse!  Join in our misery and send me your best and biggest

Why you need an Official Scale. World Record Dogtooth Tuna

Yesterday I was moved to tears by the most incredible fish i have ever seen in my life. 
Diving in Indonesia is one of the most frustrating and difficult projects I have ever embarked on and without an amazing amount of patience, stamina and skill there is no way that you can be successful in a diving environment such as this.
Starting the day we jumped in to a mere 4 knots of current and drifted for 4 hours landed two Dogtooth tuna 40 and 100 lbs which are both excellent fish in any locale. 
Taking a break during the day we went and visited a deserted beach on a faraway shore and as we explored teh little spit of sand and the surrounding countryside Craig and I gave thanks for such a beautiful and unspoiled place on earth that we were able to enjoy.
With the two fish in the boat and our time expired we decided to head back to the mainland 2 hours away. Something in me felt wrong though and I persuaded the boat driver to stay another hour ($15 more) so that we could dive in the ever increasing current for one last shot. 
With a rain squall coming hard on us and the visibility darkening we decided on one last drift. Craig had just broken one blade on his fin and told me, “This is the last drift, make it count, I’ll ride shotgun and bring the second gun so you can shoot your fish twice…”
5 minutes later i was relaxed and diving down through the warm surface layer to the cooler water below relishing the change in temperature that these type of Tuna love so much. At 50 feet i stopped kicking and glided down to find a school of dogtooth tuna surrounding me from 15 to 120 lbs. Patiently i glided deeper and caught sight of the black back of a slightly bigger one on the bottom at 90 feet. Passing the other smaller tuna the big fish turned slightly just as i reached the end of my float line and i squeezed the trigger.
Thunk!
The fish immediately shook his gills and then made two circles on the bottom banging the shaft against the coral in an attempt to break free of the object now lodged in his after half. 
As the great fish strained for deep water i pushed hard for sunlight and grabbed my passing floats on the surface just in time to tell Craig, ” I shot a TOAD!!!!”
Nervous the the fish would pull out i fought him as gingerly as possible and within a few minutes we had him in sight. As he neared the surface I could see he was hurt bad but there was no way i was going to lose this fish and I grabbed my 115 Omer America with a reel from Craig, cocked it, dove and approached him. At 12 feet my lungs were screaming for air at the exertion of the last few minutes and I prayed that my shaking hands would aim true.. whoosh! The fish went stiff and i surfaced pulling the ever growing fish to me.
Oh my god. Oh my god.
I can’t wrap my arms around him! I have never screamed so loud in my life. The rocky cliffs a mile distant reverberated with the sound of my voice and then mingled with that of Craigs and the boat driver. 
With a raging 10 kt current approaching I handed the tail of the fish to the boat driver and jumped in the boat to relieve him but even with Craig and I pulling we could not budge the fish from the water. Trailing the fish to calm waters the three of us pulled the beast into the boat and then there was complete silence.
Looking at the 6 ft long fish at my feet my mind shut down and I was flooded with emotion at what I had before me. Never in my life could i have imagined this possible. Craig and I stared in utter silent disbelief. 
Dogtooth Tuna. What I have always preached as the most challenging and difficult fish in the world to land. Diving 30 miles from civilization in 6-10 kts of current. The whitewater rafting we had done the week before doesn’t even compare to the whirlpools and down currents and 5 ft standing waves we encounter every drift here. 
I can’t describe to you how incredible this day is and how meaningful it is to me. Of all the fish in the world this is the one record i have coveted the most. 
200.6 lbs. 6 feet long and 4.5 feet in girth.
I am the luckiest man alive. 
Cameron

VIDEO:

World Record Dogtooth Tuna on boat

Craig Clasen Enormous Dinosaur of a Tuna and Cameron Kirkconnell

Craig and Solid Doggie over 100lbs and the Porpoise looking 201lb WR