US Freshwater National Tournament 2024
By: Brett Leable
How can you have a Spearfishing tournament with no boats, no canoes, and no kayaks?
Nearly 80 of the United States top spear fisherman took to beautiful Lake Geneva with just their fins, masks, snorkels and Spears in pursuit of finding the fish to win!
This revolutionary freshwater tournament took place on September 27 in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Teams had 10 days to scout before hand, and a small practice zone to try and shoot their quarry.
Top competitors pushed the boundaries of their physical prowess and fish IQ to find the elusive carp, which was the largest of the two species that would score points for their chances to take home trophies.
The tournament organizers knew the Clearwater of Lake Geneva would provide a challenging environment for these intrepid men and women to find the podium.
The smallest fish in the lake , and the most abundant, was on the menu for success: The Rock bass. To be successful competitors had to shoot 20 of the largest rock bass they could find, and in the end, only one fish out of 1,000 weighed over 500 grams.
The second species for scoring points was the common carp. In this body of water, this fish is considered an invasive species. The reason for the classification is that they filter feed all the invertebrates that provide the base to the lakes food source and ecosystem. Secondarily in their filter, feeding, the carp vacuum up a lot of Gamefish eggs that are lying in nests on the bottom. For that reason, the organizers targeted this species to help the overall health of the lake. Along with being a nuisance in the lake , the carp are some of its biggest residents!
In fact, one of the competitors set a new international underwater Spearfishing record with a 43 pound carp during this event! According to Hunter McBride, the lucky carp was minding its own business in about 50 feet of water when he slammed a spear into its side.
Grit and determination won the day for the top men’s team: REDTIDE. Ritchie Zacker, the overall Men’s individual champion managed to swim his impressive bag of 25 fish 3 miles back to shore, all while nursing his recovery from a “Widow Maker” heart attack suffered in a spearfishing tourney the previous year. His Partner, Individual champion in the Masters division, and owner of the Red Tide Spearfishing company: GR Tarr hauled his winning fish in by shear determination after his spearing float sank in the wind chopped waves from the gale that blew in during the tournament day!
The second place men’s individual winner, Spencer Vivian, had his own fight for his life cut out for him when he repeatedly dove 40+ feet in the middle of the lake while un noticing recreational boats fished all around him!
The difference between Ritchie and Spencer was essentially two scales and an eyeball, as Ritchie had .06 of a pound Or just 27 grams more total weight than Spencer!
On the women’s side of the competition, Julie Higgs delivered another smashing Performance! She outpaced the competition by over 35% in points, brought 5 carp to the weigh table, and wound up in 4th position against all competitors!
Her Team Hammerhead, took first place in the mixed division easily, while a disqualification let Team Oceanammo squeak into 3rd place after Masters competitor and perpetual sportsman, Mike VanHeale reported himself ineligible for not making it back to shore in time!
The Masters Team Division was a close one, with two veterans of the competitive Spearfishing World: Gerald Lim and Ken Lee of Hawaii, Squeaking by Mike McGuire and Anne Doherty with less than 5% point spread between the experienced spearos! The oldest competitor ever, Dale Sanders a Team USA representative in 1970, dusted off his speargun and placed 5th with an incredible performance on Rock Bass!
There were many new teams and individual competitors to the event who all caught one thing: lots of fun and camaraderie in the Freshwater Nationals!
