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+--- Thread: u.s. freshwater nationals - spearfishing tournament (/showthread.php?tid=3976)
u.s. freshwater nationals - spearfishing tournament - freedivernd - 06-13-2008
several of us will be attending this in Pierre, SD july 26th- 27th. should be good. It's not to late to sign up.. 2 person teams, $100 a team. Or you can go as a single but still have to pay the 2 person team fee.
I know last year most were scuba diving but we're trying to change that ;D. There were 2 of us freediving there last year. A boat is pretty much a necessity.
The walleye in lake oahe are huge.. I think the largest game fish last year was about 6 1/2 lbs but there were a lot of 4-almost 6lb fish taken. Only 1 walleye over 21 inches is allowed per day, the rest have to be less, so you have to be careful because the small one in the bunch that you're thinking about for dinner might put you over the 21 inch slot. There are catfish and lots of carp, didn't see any big northerns.. and some panfish but they are very rare. Last year Roland targeted the largest rough fish category and placed 3rd.. I targeted the largest game fish and had 3rd place on day one but got bumped to non-paying 4th place the next day by a 1 ounce heavier fish.
On day one of the tournament last year Roland and I each had over 100 dives a piece.. it was quite a work out but a lot of fun that's for sure! We sure covered ground.
Re: u.s. freshwater nationals - spearfishing tournament - Shooter - 06-16-2008
Are you going to be doing any pre-trips there? I am seriously considering going this year.
Re: u.s. freshwater nationals - spearfishing tournament - freedivernd - 06-16-2008
I wish I could but it's a 400 mile one way trip, and I've got a lot of other trips on the schedule this summer.
What we did last year, and it worked for us but was work.. was, one of us would just drop over the side of the boat.. dive down, check vis, no vis- we moved, vis- the person that dropped over did 2 dives, no fish- we moved, fish- we stayed. Sometimes, if the vis was pretty good, we might scope the area out bit more.. one going toward the shallows, and one covering the deeper water. We didn't have a depth gauge or a fish finder. This year, I'll at least remember my hand held depth gauge.
You should try to get there.. It's super to be able to spear some edible fish instead of the carp or bullheads we always have to spear up here..