(Port Fourchon)- This past Thursday, Friday and Saturday, spearfishing talents from multiple states took part in the Louisiana Freedive Spearfishing Championship in Port Fourchon, in Lafourche Parish to swim after and shoot the biggest fish. These divers wear only gloves, fins, mask and snorkel, wet suit and carry a spear gun. Fueled by their own breaths, they dive down along Gulf oil rigs in search of Red Snapper, Mangrove Snapper, Sheephead, Black Drum, Grouper, Cobia, Jack Cravalle and behind shrimp boats to find Pelagic fish like Tuna and Wahoo. Advanced divers can reach depths in excess of 80′ and hold their breath for over a minute and a half while hunting fish.
Having dove in this rodeo, I can vouch for conditions being challenging this year. Storms forced boats to tie up for several hours on rigs, and some boats that had Radar ran from them. Some days the current was stronger than others, but all three days there was between 15 and 25 feet of “murk layer” to dive through, before the water cleared up enough to see fish well. This murk is caused by a number of things: freshwater river water, storms, and sediment. Murky water makes rig diving much different than the clear water of deep into the gulf, or in Florida where visibility can often be endless. Fish can be difficult to see, as well as sharks.
While freedive spearfishing is a male dominated sport, three women competed this year, two from Louisiana and one from Florida. The top male and female points scorers (points scored by shooting variety of species) were awarded King and Queen of the Rodeo. King of the Rodeo was awarded to Tracy Palmisano of Marerro, Queen of the Rodeo was Abbie Donaldson of Baton Rouge and top three weights in each fish category placed.
Some of the largest fish included a 79.2 pound Yellowfin tuna shot by Brandon Hendrickson of Shawnee, Kansas, a 51.3 pound Cobia shot by Tracy Palmisano. Best Boat went to El Segador run by Vincent LeBlanc.
The rodeo was held in honor of Bill Crawford, a free diver who lost his life to the sport doing what he loved. The William F. Crawford Memorial Scholarship was established in 2013. Through Donations to the Louisiana State Freedive Championships and its activities, the organization has been able to give $8,350 to these recipients to pursue there dream of attending the LSU school of Coastal Engineering.
A number of Sponsors provided great prizes and raffle gifts, including Tementos and Benthic Ocean Sports .