Puerto Rican freediver Tony Dooley speared 80.2 pounds/36.4 kilos of fish at the eighth annual Wrightsville Beach Spearfishing Tournament in North Carolina last weekend, coming away with the title of overall Master Hunter.
The event had the largest number of competitors — 83 — since its inception, organizer Ryan McInnis told the local newspaper, the Lumina News.
There also were prizes for inshore fish, pelagic fish, bottomfish, a separate Lionfish category, and “heaviest lobster.”
Sondra Vitols — who used scuba equipment during the tournament — came away with the “female master hunter” prize for her catch of a 40-pound/18 kilo African pompano.
McInnis told the Lumina News that freedivers amounted to approximately 40 percent of the participants, with the rest competing with scuba gear.
McInnis said on the tournament’s Facebook page:
“Spearfishing is a pastime and identity that binds all 83 of our competitors with the great responsibility of portraying our activity in the most honest and accessible fashion, hoping that public opinion and local/state/federal regulators will all benefit through our efforts to openly educate.”
Check out the full story at the Lumina News, or go to the tournament’s Facebook page for the day-to-day results. The final overall results are below.